In the late 15th century, a Transylvanian knight named Dracula returns from battle to find his beloved wife, Elisabeta, has killed herself after receiving a false report of his death. Enraged and heartbroken, Dracula denounces God, declaring that he will rise from the grave to avenge Elisabeta with all the powers of darkness. He becomes a vampire and retreats into a shadowy existence haunted by his lost love.

Centuries later, a young English lawyer, Jonathan Harker, travels to Dracula's crumbling remote castle in the Carpathian Mountains to assist the count with the purchase of several London properties. Harker becomes a prisoner in the castle as he realizes Dracula's true nature. Meanwhile, Dracula, having seen a picture of Harker's fiancée Mina, who strikingly resembles Elisabeta, is driven by the longing to meet her. Dracula travels to London, leaving Harker in the clutches of his vampiric brides. In London, Dracula ingratiates himself into Mina's life, exerting a dark and dangerous influence over her as mysterious illnesses and deaths begin to plague the city.