Mini Film Review – Dracula Untold

Yesterday I watched Dracula Untold; and it was very weird! Directed by Gary Shore, and starring Luke Evans, Sarah Gadon, and Art Parkinson; Dracula Untold is an action horror film, which creates an alternate origin story for Dracula, rather than using that of the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker. In this version; Vlad the Impaler is the Prince of Wallachia, and Transylvania, and must harness a dark power, in the hope that it will save his people, and his family from Sultan of the Ottoman Empire! Dracula Untold sheds the the work laid down by Bram Stoker, to create a new story, one which could turn Dracula into an unlucky hero, one who does bad things for good reasons, and in order to do this, must accept a dark gift. It’s an interesting take on Dracula for sure, but one that is executed both poorly, and strangely. The film tries to set itself in a very real historical situation, but doesn’t provide enough background for you to either (or more likely both) understand, or care about. It basically comes down to a Sultan and a Prince, who don’t get along. And in addition to taht, the film makes reference to some dark power that Vlad already had/did when he was a soldier in the Ottoman Empire…but that never gets fully explained. Early on however the film still feels rather promising, with majestic grand visuals of mountain ranges, and the film’s main highlight, that conversation with Charles Dance. It’s a fantastic moment, as a battle of wills have an almost friendly chat, and you spend the moment hoping and wishing, that there are more of these uncannily peaceful conversations to come. But they don’t, and this is where the weirdness begins. The badass battle sequences featuring a pumped up Luke Evans, are really fun to watch, but also very brief. The Prince is of course now under threat from turning fully into a vampire, but these moments of personal inflication, are also very brief and under developed. Basically, the film is too short to really tell this story, and whilst there are good fight sequences, everything else that should emerge regarding his new weakness, are only lightly talked about. And then the film reaches what should be a moment that changes the pace of the entire film, by highlighting a couple of things Vampire Dance briefly touched upon. What happens when he is finally free to leave his cave, and who is it that he himself wants vengeance on. Well if you want to know, don’t watch this film, because it’s never explained! The film’s ending is trying too hard to setup a sequel, rather than giving us all the information we need to fully understand just this one film. So the film just sort of ends, and sets up things to come, that never came, and it makes you wonder; what was the point of it…any of it?