Dracula Untold (2014)
Directed by Gary Shore
Vlad Tepes is a great hero, but when he learns the Sultan is preparing for battle and needs to form an army of 1,000 boys, he vows to find a way to protect his family. Vlad turns to dark forces in order to get the power to destroy his enemies and agrees to go from hero to monster as he's turned into the mythological vampire, Dracula.
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28 films that influenced Dracula Untold
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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.
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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.
“Dracula Untold” has about as much to do with Bela Lugosi’s “Dracula” as “The Wolf of Wall Street” does with “The Wolf Man.”
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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.”