Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary

In this unforgettably daring re-envisioning of the most familiar vampire legend of all, director Guy Maddin (The Saddest Music in the World) marries b&w silent-horror-movie style with beautifully eerie ballet in a succulently cinematic, lustfully melodramatic adaptation that is at once wholly unique and uncommonly faithful to Bram Stoker's classic novel. Blessed with intense, wordless, brilliantly stylized performances that pulse with repressed Victorian sexuality, the film was born from a hugely successful production by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. But in Maddin's extraordinary vision, the dance is merely one piece of a perfectly integrated narrative that uses strategic splashes of illustrative color and sound (beyond that of the haunting score), slow-motion and super-imposition, and heady symbolism to create a chilling, gorgeous, magnificently staged and inimitable artistic experience. Although a small handful of scenes drag slightly or seem somewhat arbitrary, it's impossible not to get lost in the film's powerfully ominous and seductive atmosphere. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include Canadian TV-aired “making of” featurettes and a director's commentary offering in-depth insights into the film's themes (although in a regrettable gaffe of sound engineering, Maddin's voice is occasionally drowned out by the film's music). Bottom line: overall, a good extras package for an amazing film.] (R. Blackwelder)