Gary Shore
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Filmography
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Van Helsing (2004)
Directed by Stephen Sommers
influenced Dracula Untold (2014)
Plot Characters Themes
Some of these are likely beyond his control but they result in a generic vampire tale in the Underworld vein that comes closer to the infamous Van Helsing than a memorable re-interpretation of a legendary monster.
Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 Dracula was one of first films to recently paint the world’s most famous vampire as a tragic figure less bent on global domination (see the ridiculous Van Helsing for details).
Such as in 2004’s “Van Helsing” with the vampire hunter Hugh Jackman, sometimes Dracula is just a character within a larger story.
It had the odd effect of making me look back on a previous Universal monster mash, the miserable Van Helsing, with a degree of fondness; its Dracula was played with efflorescent wit by Richard Roxburgh, who knew how to do it — play with the accent as though it were taffy, and be more arch than a roomful of drag queens.
It’s no Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (and it’s a hell of a lot better than Van Helsing), but Dracula Untold can at least take credit for being a slick, quick, and almost willfully silly genre concoction.
The legendary clash between Vlad The Impaler—Stoker’s real-life inspiration for Dracula—and the Ottoman Empire is the fact-based backdrop, with the film’s screenwriters entertaining the notion that a supernatural influence accounted for Vlad’s 300-like vanquishing of the Turks.
Although it appears Shore’s been studying 300 and wanted to try and replicate and then outdo some of its visual effects, overall the action scenes are well staged and better than might be expected after watching the pre-release trailers.
Luke Evans certainly isn’t the worst choice to play Vlad, but while he has the right look and brooding presence, he delivers every line like he’s performing a Shakespearian adaptation of “300” – all bark and no bite, quite literally at times.
Up until this point, “Dracula Untold” was starting to look like that dreadful recent “300” sequel — all brooding CGI nonsense and distracting camera moves.
Since 1979, we’ve seen from other studios 1992’s “Dracula” from Bram Stoker with Gary Oldman, 2000’s “Dracula 2000” from Wes Craven with Gerard Butler and 2012’s “Dracula 3D” from Dario Argento with Thomas Kretschmann.
As an origin story, this is slightly less loony than the one offered by Dracula 2000, which posited that Dracula was actually Judas Iscariot.
And cinematographer John Schwartzman (" The Rock ," " Armageddon ") reminds you why Michael Bay used to love working with him in every day-for-night landscape shot.
And cinematographer John Schwartzman (" The Rock ," " Armageddon ") reminds you why Michael Bay used to love working with him in every day-for-night landscape shot.
While it lacks the ethereal atmosphere of Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre or the imperious production design of Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula , this latest interpretation flies high on the wings of Luke Evans's commanding take on the iconic figure.
And as in “The Lost Weekend” (1945), starring Ray Milland , we have an addict trying to white-knuckle it through a very long three days.
One of the great unspoken ironies of The Invisible Man is that by finally abandoning the quest for a Dark Universe franchise (with fumbled and failed twice with Dracula Untold and then The Mummy), Universal has stumbled into something that’s quite franchisable.
A wannabe sci-fi-horror fantasy for the age of #MeToo and “gaslighting,” this new “Invisible Man” is Universal’s latest attempt to turn its classic monster films into a cash cow for the 21st century after the failure of its unfortunate Dark Universe films “Dracula Untold” and “The Mummy.”
Then, after the 2014 disappointment “Dracula Untold” and the 2017 flop “The Mummy” came out, the powers that be decided that maybe that wasn’t what audiences wanted after all.
The Dark Universe actually started not with The Mummy , but with 2014's Dracula Untold , which starred Luke Evans as Vlad Dracula, and tried very hard to marry a very creative version of "history" with Bram Stoker's vampire character, to pretty much no success.
The studio finally realized how much of a wasted opportunity this was and went about creating the Dark Universe — infamous characters were cast, 2014’s Dracula Untold was ret-conned, photo-shoots were undertaken, 2017’s The Mummy was bungled into an action misfire — before disbanding the entire thing.
And boy, is it an even greater improvement over the idiotic uselessness of 2014’s Dracula Untold and 2017’s The Mummy , Universal’s addle-brained attempts to launch an interconnected “Dark Universe” from its stable of creatures.
“Dracula Untold” has about as much to do with Bela Lugosi’s “Dracula” as “The Wolf of Wall Street” does with “The Wolf Man.”
Only an ages-old vampire in the nearby mountains (Charles Dance) who resembles a cross between Emperor Palpatine and Ingmar Bergman’s vision of Death in The Seventh Seal can offer him a way out.
Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 Dracula was one of first films to recently paint the world’s most famous vampire as a tragic figure less bent on global domination (see the ridiculous Van Helsing for details).
“Dracula Untold” has about as much to do with Bela Lugosi’s “Dracula” as “The Wolf of Wall Street” does with “The Wolf Man.”
Evans (“The Hobbit” series), a chiseled Welshman, portrays Prince Vlad as a once cruel warrior now settled down into family life, like Clint Eastwood in “Unforgiven.”
We've had comedic Dracula ("Love at First Bite"), sexy Dracula (Frank Langella), black Dracula ("Scream Blacula Scream"), hairdoed Dracula (Gary Oldman, directed by Francis Ford Coppola).
We've had comedic Dracula ("Love at First Bite"), sexy Dracula (Frank Langella), black Dracula ("Scream Blacula Scream"), hairdoed Dracula (Gary Oldman, directed by Francis Ford Coppola).
Since 1979, we’ve seen from other studios 1992’s “Dracula” from Bram Stoker with Gary Oldman, 2000’s “Dracula 2000” from Wes Craven with Gerard Butler and 2012’s “Dracula 3D” from Dario Argento with Thomas Kretschmann.
Untold isn’t great, but there are certain camp pleasures to be found within, and it fares a lot better than The Wolfman or Van Helsing did — though that’s not exactly high praise.
That’s far more intriguing than anything here and something we might never see if standalone films like this and 2010’s “The Wolfman” continue to stink, and tank, so greatly.
The latest is Holidays , an anthology featuring segments from the directors of Dracula Untold , Tusk , Dark Skies , The Pact , and other recent horror movies of varying critical reception.
Gary Shore's (2014's "Dracula Untold") "St.
The St. Patrick’s Day one comes from Gary Shore, the director behind Dracula Untold.
There are two special effects the production leans into: a misting smoke (which they even adapt for the opening credits) and an “explosion of birds,” both of which look inspired by the director’s work on Dracula Untold ; they’re both overused, but they work well enough.
Much like Maleficent and Snow White and the Huntsman before it, Dracula Untold takes on an inherently evil figure and tries to humanise him through an origin story, with the “Prince of Darkness” presented as feared warrior turned Transylvanian Prince, Vlad III Tepes (or also known as Vlad the Impaler) whose dream of ruling a peaceful kingdom is threatened by invading Turks led by Sultan Mehmed II (Dominic Cooper).
But Sarah Gadon is rather bloodless as his bride, and Dominic Cooper in pancake makeup is about as convincing a Turk as poor Jose Ferrer in "Lawrence of Arabia," itchy under his false moustache.