One of the biggest problems most versions of Dracula make is that they try to make it a romance; they try to make Dracula a sensitive gentleman, when he is,in reality, nothing but a cold-blooded bloodsucker who uses Mina to achieve his ends (uses her to find out what Van Helsing, et al are doing to try and stop him). I have read the book several times and I have found nothing to suggest this gentle side of Dracula. It seems that not one of the screen adaptations sees this in Dracula; they all want to turn it into a romance and such, and this does the book a disservice.
But I guess they have to because what drove Stoker to write this novel in the first place is now out-of-date; the late 1800's were a period where women were starting to express their sexuality openly, and so what better way to dispatch a female vampire than to drive a stake (phallic symbol) into her heart and kill her.
Obviously this view of women would be lost on today's viewers because the filmmaker would have to go into some explaining about the morals of that time period, and that would slow the story down. So, it's better that they recreate Dracula in their own image.
As the film stands, I don't find it hard to watch.
But I guess they have to because what drove Stoker to write this novel in the first place is now out-of-date; the late 1800's were a period where women were starting to express their sexuality openly, and so what better way to dispatch a female vampire than to drive a stake (phallic symbol) into her heart and kill her.
Obviously this view of women would be lost on today's viewers because the filmmaker would have to go into some explaining about the morals of that time period, and that would slow the story down. So, it's better that they recreate Dracula in their own image.
As the film stands, I don't find it hard to watch.