25 Things You Didn't Know About Bram Stoker's Dracula

20. There Were Barely Any Post-Production Effects

Bram Stoker's Dracula
Universal Pictures/Movie Plus News

Despite Coppola's insistence that all FX remain 'in camera,' one particular sequence, a memorable moment from the novel, required the use of an optical effect. As Harker approaches Castle Dracula, the coach passes a ring of blue flames rising into the night sky, repeating one after the next.

"Suddenly, away on our left, I saw a faint flickering blue flame. The driver saw it at the same moment; he at once checked the horses, and, jumping to the ground, disappeared into the darkness" writes Harker in his diary.

These shots stand, amazingly, as the only post-production effects work in the entire film.

Contributor
Contributor

A lifelong aficionado of horror films and Gothic novels with literary delusions of grandeur...