30 Underrated Movies, Day 5

One of my first celebrity crushes was John Bender, the “bad boy” from The Breakfast club. I remember my mother mumbling “Oh no,” under her breath as she realized her daughter was attracted to the rebellious streak at an early age.

I was the typical preteen, thought she knew everything, always had to have the last word, and questioned EVERYTHING. But, I was never really disrespectful, I’ve just never been one to conform to a rule if it doesn’t make sense to me. So when I was told I couldn’t stay at a friend’s when I hadn’t been grounded in a while, I was achieving good grades, and we didn’t have any plans, I didn’t understand and I questioned it.

Forgive me, I am rambling, my point of all this is that I worried my mom once again as full blown puberty hit, I was officially in my teen years, and I became obsessed with dragons, witches, and vampires. I read Dracula, my mother forgetting how sexual the book really is, and I was seduced. I made the mistake of telling my mother I could easily see how women fell for his charms, and I think she might have had a mini hard attack. Being attracted to the teenage rebel was one thing, being attracted to a creature of the night is another.

Still quite taken with Vampires, (Dracula, not the kind that sparkle in the sun,) this leads me to my 5th choice.

Kristian’s 5th underrated movie is:

Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) Directed by Francis Ford Coppola

While I may not consider this the most underrated horror movie, I do think it is the most underrated Dracula movie, well one of them, at least.

A lot of people didn’t like this version because it was so sexual, but it stays relatively close to the book. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is very melodramatic and focuses mostly on the love story between the count and his bride, Mina.

Gary Oldman and Sir Anthony Hopkins are hands down the best actors in the film, but I found this version to be the most entertaining, and we see Dracula in all of his forms. It’s also one of the few versions where we learn his origin story.

I found the movie to move slowly at times, but I enjoyed poking fun at Keanu Reeve’s horrible accent. Not that I could do any better, but Neil kept ad-libbing his parts, saying lines such as “Like, whoa, count, that’s not cool,” in his worst British accent, and I will never watch this movie the same way again. Hahaha.

If you enjoy a little sexy with your horror, (I know I do,) this is the movie for you!

I recommend pairing this movie with Lambrusco, a sweet, velvety, rich, red wine.

Have you seen Bram Stoker’s Dracula? Did you enjoy it? What underrated movie(s) do you recommend? I would love to read your thoughts.

Love & life lessons,

Kristian