Party-Goers Check Out Dracula’s Place

The Scene: The world premiere Tuesday of Columbia’s high-stakes entry in the holiday film bazaar, “Bram Stoker’s Dracula.” Francis Ford Coppola’s lavish ode to hypodermic buckteeth screened at Mann’s Chinese under a full moon. “We made a very unusual movie,” said the director. “It’s exciting to show it tonight.”

The Locale: After the movie, everyone was ferried by bus to the “House of Dracula” (the American Legion Hall on Highland Avenue where “Tamara” has played for years) for a massive party that benefited American Film Institute. Guests in the hall’s darkly decorated three floors roamed like revelers at a Transylvanian frat party past smoke machines, live mannequins in coffins, red lighting and swathes of black crepe.

Festive Theme: An enthusiastically erotic, blood-sucking vampire outstays his earthly welcome by a few hundred years. Is that a great idea for a party, or what?

Who Was There: Director/producer Coppola; co-stars Winona Ryder, Gary Oldman and Sadie Frost; studio execs Peter Guber, Mark Canton and Sid Ganis; plus 1,400 guests, including Dan Aykroyd, Anjelica Huston, Kiefer Sutherland, Jason Priestly, Liam Neeson, Jean Firstenberg, Jeff Kleeman, directors Barbet Schroeder, Bob Zemeckis, Garry Marshall and John Singleton.

The Buzz: This Coppola guy makes one helluva movie. Oldman is one of the great actors of his generation.

Alternative Titles: Loathsome snipers called the film “Bonfire of the Vampires” before they saw it; “Silence of the Vamps” and “Dances With Ghouls” were batted around at the party, but the best was “One Through the Heart.”

Dress Mode: Just when you thought it was safe to wear pastels, black is back with a vengeance. The perfect accessories were bleached white flesh, long seductive fingers and listless green eyes.

Chow: A dozen buffets from Along Came Mary that ranged from pasta to caviar. Never has rare roast beef quivered with such trenchant meaning.

Quoted: “I wanted it to be a surreal erotic dream,” said Coppola. “So I kind of went all out in that direction.”

Also Quoted: Asked the difference between his Dracula and Bela Lugosi’s, Oldman said, “Well, I’m in color.”

Money Matters: In the current economy, there’s about as much chance of getting a studio to finance a “Howard the Duck” sequel as underwrite a benefit premiere. In this regard, Columbia has been exceptionally generous. Because of it, the American Film Institute netted $200,000.

Last Word: One film buff said, “Now this is the movie Coppola should have had Brando saying, ‘the horror, the horror.’ ”