starring: Luke Evans, Dominic Cooper
genre: Thriller, Drama,
year: 2014
format: Cinema
plot: Prince Vlad, already having earned his name as the Impaler, is now forced to either hand over his son to the Sultan just as he had been years before by his own father, in order to keep the peace, or fight an army larger then his own. Refusing to give in to the demands, Vlad seeks out the one person who is feared in his land, Caligula, a vampire. He makes a deal with Vlad, where if Vlad can resist the thirst for three days he will not be trapped as a vampire. I sat watching the opening scenes, thinking this is my new favourite Dracula. The first hour and ten minutes flew by without feeling like that much time had lapsed. The movie is so intriguing, at lest is was for me, that the fast pace of it absorbs you.
It was a lovely departure from the usual Dracula stories out there, delving more into the "real man" behind the legend then the fable. The lead actor Luke Evans, manages to capture the idea behind the Prince of Wallachia, giving him the respect he deserves. Though, I couldn't help but keep comparing this film to the 2000 Rudolf Martin movie Dark Prince the True Story of Dracula, which followed a similar plot. There were also moments where the second Crow film, Crow City of Angels, which starred Vincent Perez, came to mind.
I understand this is suppose to be the jumping off point for the reboots of Universal Monsters films, and the ending sets up for ...wait for it...a sequel to Dracula. Which, me personally is the best movie news since I learned Star Trek III was in production.
Dominic Cooper as the Sultan of Turkey...I was expecting him to have a larger roll, but he filled out the "villain" role-supporting role- perfectly. And the fact they pulled from folklore about silver made me happy. Giddy in fact. I love when a new take on vampires happens, but I love real folklore being used more.
Obviously, I loved this movie. I've got nothing bad to say about it, other then I would have liked to have seen more on screen time of Dominic Cooper, and maybe a little more back story on the Renfield character. With the promise of a sequel, I personally am hoping/expecting the Renfield character to have more to do with things.
This really isn't a horror movie in any sense of the word. It's a war film if you want to get picky about things. Which, also makes sense given it's suppose to be a take on Vlad Tepes. I do however love the nod to Easter, when this happens (the whole movie is suppose to happen within the three days of Easter weekend). He was said to have had a feast on Easter where he forced his highest ranking families to build a wall/castle.
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