Dracula Untold review

Sometimes the world no longer needs a hero. Sometimes it needs a monster.

Thus begins the predictable descent of Vlad III the Impaler Tepes from noble hero into tortured antihero in Dracula Untold. This debut feature film from director Gary Shore ticks all the boxes for a safe, major Hollywood release these days. Gritty reboot of an established property: check. Central antihero making morally questionable choices for ostensibly good reasons: check. Beginning of a multi-film, interconnected cinematic universe: also check. More on that later.

Although sexy vampires have been all the rage in pop culture for the last few years, this is actually the first big budget film about Bram Stokers famous blood sucker since the critically-panned Dracula 2000. The hook of this particular outing is that rather than retreading the familiar, 19th century narrative of Jonathan Harker and Doctor Van Helsings encounter with the undead lord, it goes back to 15th century Wallachia to tell his origin story. Dracula Untold ties the vampire mythos directly into the historical Vlad III Tepes upon whom Stoker based his famous creation.

Thus begins the predictable descent of Vlad III the Impaler Tepes from noble hero into tortured antihero.

As a side note, while the broad narrative strokes do line up admirably with history, one unforgivable inaccuracy was the particular method of impaling. Historically Vlad would slowly run wooden pikes up through his victims torsos from the perineum up a horrible way to go before mounting them upright as a dire warning to any who would oppose him. In the film people are impaled perpendicularly through the chest. While certainly an unpleasant death, it is an inaccuracy that does somewhat diminish the sadism of the act that defined Tepes.

An ancient, terrifying vampire has set up shop in a nearby mountain cave, played in a welcome but all-too-brief cameo by Charles Dance (known to many as Tywin Lannister). Legend conveniently has it that he is awaiting someone to come and assume his powers so that he can be free from the cave. After an expository run-in with his impending sire, Vlad returns home to establish himself as a loving husband and father before a Turkish emissary comes to ruin his day by asking for a thousand young boys to join their army, including Vlads own son.

When Vlad refuses to hand over his son, bringing the wrath of the massive Turkish army down onto his little, demilitarized kingdom, he turns to the vampire in order to exchange his mortal soul for the power necessary to save his family and countrymen. This films version of vampirism has a try-before-you-buy model, though, giving Vlad three days of vampire superpowers to save his kingdom. If he can resist the growing thirst for human blood in that time, he will return to his mortal self. Give in and he is a monster forever, bound to his sires vaguely-alluded-to quest for vengeance.

Dracula Untold puts the horse before the carriage, by attempting to build something bigger before its earned our interest.

As for the former scenes, Vlads most visually impressive power while he tears up armies single-handedly like Cchulainn is the ability to turn into a swarm of bats, which he puts to good tactical use by making himself into an amorphous, fast-shifting target in melee. Unfortunately, the frenetic battle scenes already lack visual clarity, and Vlads rapid transformations only serve to further muddy the action.

It makes a certain amount of sense to capture the confusion experienced by the Turkish soldiers, but this is Draculas film, and in all other respects it attempts to give you the power fantasy of wearing his shoes. A particular combat sequence shown entirely in reflection on a sword exemplifies how aspirations toward style are lost in a haze of imprecision.

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Dracula Untold review

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero