Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

MisterWhiplash What does it mean exactly to say that Guy Maddin's Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary is stylish? Movies that, conversely, have a seeming "lack" of style like a minimalist movie ala Jarmusch em to get the short end of the discussion, while Maddin tries his hardest to make his images and movements of cinematic dexterity *pop* like cracking of knuckles on a movieola. It is a crazily inspired vision, stylized with urgency and a force to be reckoned with as far as taking silent film and pushing it into a new kind of expression: the ballet. Whether or not this will please people looking for a solid Dracula movie is another matter, since it isn't much, at all, a coherent telling of the Stoker story.And maybe rightfully so; people need to know right up front that Pages from a Virgin's Diary is one of the most unconventional vampire movies ever, and not because it changes around anything with the myth or even with many of Stoker's characters (although there is a Cowboy or other in the film that I don't remember in Stoker's story or Coppola's film). It's the expression of the story, told through the characters dancing and going through pantomime and detailed choreography that is both dazzling and frustrating. Unless you're really heavy into ballet and dance, after about half an hour some of this becomes just too much, and too much in the repetitive sense. Characters also keep popping up with title cards extended for them, but with the exception of Renfield (who's given a face by the actor that is remarkable), I couldn't entirely follow who was who, except that a Chinese guy drifted in and out and turned to be a vampire, yada-yada, etc.I shouldn't be this dismissive of the story, or the manner in which it was told. And, besides, I didn't go into the film thinking I would get an instant classic of the most noted (maybe too noted) source of vampire lore in history. What I did get was a fever dream, nd kaleidoscope, and experiment tossed into a blender of 1920s expressionism given more freedom than ever with 21st century technology, and hints of what was to come a few years later with Sin City's attempts at giving black and white film-making some "color" from time to time. The symbols come flying out almost as much as the dizzying camera-work, sometimes going as fast as the dancers, and for someone looking for just inspired direction on a familiar theme this is definitely where to look; in fact as far as the kind of Nosferatu story goes, this is as daring as Herzog's film.It just isn't entirely involving on an emotional level, and Maddin sets it all up and knocks it down like a very small-range technical exercise. Few exercises are this exhilarating or with such inventiveness with the process and history of film-making, but it's an exercise nonetheless. B+

FromBookstoFilm The ballet is well choreographed and the story is faithful to Stoker's novel. Beautiful cinematography reminiscent of the silent films of the 1920's and talkies of the 1930's. The Chinese actor in the lead does a fine job of acting and ballet if one forgets that he's Chinese and not Caucasian like most actors who have played the part but then in Dracula Istanbul Dracula was played by a middle eastern Turkish actor and in a university stage play video tape version that is showed part by part on YouTube Dracula is played by an exotic actor of African descent and in the American version of the musical The Three Musketeers Athos was played by a Black American.It's the performance that matters not the race. I appreciate this version because it didn't streamline the characters like so many other Dracula adaptations. They didn't combine the characters of Arthur and Quincy together like some of the other versions have done and it didn't leave characters out either. They're all here in this production Dracula,Van Helsing,Dr.Seward,Arthur Holmwood,Quincy Morris,Jonathan Harker,Mina Murray,Lucy Westenra,Renfield,Mrs.Westenra and the vampire Brides. In my humble opinion this is one of the best versions of Dracula and should be in any Dracula film fanatics collection.I do regret that it wasn't longer in running time because it sure was enjoyable to watch!

kintopf432 Despite the extreme, extreme familiarity of the source material and the stuffy associations of the ballet form, Guy Maddin's 'Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary' emerges not only as one of the best 'Dracula' movies ever, but also as one of the best films about the Victorian Era (ranking with 'The Elephant Man' and 'Topsy-Turvy'). Maddin achieves the first feat with his insight into Stoker's novel (it's exciting to see somebody touch on the misogyny and xenophobia for once), and the second through a fascinating and completely appropriate aesthetic synthesis. Combining a 19th-century novel with a 19th-century pop art form, and setting it to 19th-century music (Mahler's from the wrong country, but so what), is a good beginning, but what makes it work, of course, is shooting it all in a mock-19th-century style. OK, so the silent horror films we think of date from a little later; still, Maddin does what he can to give the film a primitive, experimental, moving-daguerreotype effect, and the result feels like an actual window to the past, even if it's all just an artificial aesthetic construct. If this all sounds a bit self-conscious and over-the-top, it sort of is, but viewers will almost certainly be surprised at how unpretentious the effect actually is. The more explicitly balletic moments occasionally slow things down a bit for non-fans, but Maddin wisely keeps the running time at 75 minutes, and this helps the film retain a surprising accessibility. Not for all tastes, of course, but worth the effort for just about anyone. 8.5 out of 10.

MovieAddict2016 An interesting retelling of the famous "Dracula" tale, this time performed as a musical. There's not much to say about the plot, because everyone knows it. Essentially the film is eerie, creepy, and the most erotic film about Dracula you'll probably ever see. Look for it on TV, they put it on sometimes late at night.