Count Dracula

Gary Oldman's Dracula is the most romantic vampire in cinema — a medieval warlord who became a creature of the night out of grief for his dead wife and spends centuries searching for her reincarnation. Francis Ford Coppola's lush, operatic film gave Oldman room to play Dracula across centuries and across emotional registers: ancient monster, seductive aristocrat, tormented lover, feral beast. The red armor and the elaborate hairstyles are peak gothic excess.