In 1899,
Arthur Holmwood is diagnosed with
syphilis soon after becoming engaged to
Lucy Westenra. Knowing that the disease would kill both him and his fiancée, he contacts an
occult group called the Brotherhood, which is being led by a man named Alfred Singleton. Singleton claims that they know someone who can cure him of the disease, but for a price. Lucy's best friend is
Mina Murray, who is engaged to
Jonathan Harker, a solicitor. Arthur hires his firm to sell several properties to a
Count Dracula in
Transylvania. Soon after his departure, his employer Peter Hawkins is murdered, and all documents about the transaction go missing. Singleton calmly confesses the deed, telling Arthur the "young man" will never return from Transylvania. In Transylvania, Jonathan meets Count Dracula, a 900-year-old vampire. Dracula murders Harker, assumes a youthful appearance after drinking his blood, and is soon en route to England aboard the
Demeter. The
Demeter eventually reaches
Whitby but struggles to dock during a storm. The beached ship is revealed to be empty the next morning, save for the deceased captain and some empty crates. Mina senses that something has happened to Jonathan, and Lucy invites her to stay with Lucy and Arthur in Whitby. Mina's worries are confirmed when she discovers that Jonathan was supposed to have been aboard the ship. Arthur is becoming cold and distant, and Lucy expresses anxiety over their marriage not yet being consummated. Later on, she encounters Dracula, who consoles her. He introduces himself to Lucy, who invites him for dinner. Arthur, enraged to find Dracula in his home, finds himself powerless as Lucy suddenly falls victim to the vampire. Arthur's old friend, Dr.
John Seward, is suspicious when Arthur refuses to take Lucy to the hospital. He then forces Seward at gunpoint to give her a blood transfusion from his own arm. However, Lucy dies the next morning, and Seward is convinced that Arthur is responsible for her sudden death. He investigates and finds the
Chelsea home of the Brotherhood, where Singleton and others have been murdered. In the basement, surrounded by crosses made of twigs, he finds Professor
Abraham Van Helsing, living like an animal, who insists they must free him at once. Van Helsing explains that he was employed as a folklorist by the Brotherhood to investigate vampires. He eventually found Dracula and was released with a message to the Brotherhood: he would come to them if invited, but only if provided with property. Frightened by Van Helsing's ordeal with Dracula, they sent Jonathan instead and imprisoned Van Helsing. Seward attempts to explain this to Mina, but she is skeptical. Seward confronts a grief-stricken and remorseful Arthur, who explains that his syphilis prevented him from consummating his marriage. He arranged for Dracula to come to England, hoping that he would cure him of the disease. The three go after a now
undead Lucy while Dracula pursues Mina, who soon realises Seward was telling the truth when Dracula attempts to bite her. However, Arthur is forced to destroy Lucy when she attempts to bite him and Seward. Dracula senses this, allowing Mina to escape. Seward, Arthur, and Van Helsing meet her at her home, where they agree to go after Dracula, just before dawn, where he will be at his weakest. They arrive at Dracula's crypt, where Dracula appears and attacks Mina. Arthur sacrifices himself to Dracula to buy Mina an escape. Van Helsing distracts Dracula with a cross, giving Seward the chance to stake him from behind. Mina has moved on and starts a new life with Seward sometime later. After Mina and Seward bid farewell to Van Helsing, who is leaving for Holland, a decrepit Dracula appears and watches the couple as they walk down the street, apparently having survived Seward's attack. ==Cast==