If history is anything to go by there are many different ways of telling the legend that is Dracula and even more when it comes to covering the subject of Vampires of which Dracula is seen as the King or at least the one who started it all.
King of the Dracula movies so far has been Ford Coppola’s 1992 version, but here akin to the recent films such as ‘I Frankenstein’ what we have here is a dramatic retelling of the origin story, complete with armies in the style of 300, stop motion capture in the style of The Matrix and battles in the style and glory of Game of Thrones and more bats than Batman Begins. If Francis Ford Coppola had access to CGI effects like these who knows what he would have created. Instead it is down to director Gary Shore to capably show us his vista of the hows and whys of Vlad ‘the Impaler’ Tepes earning his supernatural powers and becoming a creature of the night.
Set in Transylvania during the 15th century, Transylvanian prince Vlad is enjoying a long period of peace. He served the Turks well and his brutal style of combat has earned him the name of “The Impaler”. When Sultan Mehmed (Dominic Cooper); heir to the Turks throne demands 1,000 boys including Vlad’s own son to participate in his army with the ultimatum of not doing so being war and mass slaughter of his people. Vlad chooses to make a stand and seeks out an old mythical mountain and a nightmare creature (Charles Dance) in order to save his family and kingdom.
Striking up a bargain, Vlad is allowed to experience what it’s like to be a vampire for a short period of three days, giving him the strength of 100 men, the speed of a falling star and enough power to destroy his enemies. However, the catch is that he will also have an insatiable thirst for blood. If Vlad succumbs to this thirst he will forever be damned as a vampire and the evil that was contained within the mountain will be released. The story cracks along at a fairly fast pace; a solid film debut for Gary Shore who has directed from a script written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. The dialogue is fantastic, very much the piece and the direction wise enough to have just enough scares without it crossing the boundary into actual horror territory. This film takes the honourable sympathetic approach to Dracula’s virtues – a man who is willing to risk all, including his humanity and sanity to save his son, his family, his kin and his kingdom.
Special effects alone cannot carry a movie and there are some great performances, Dominic Cooper and Charles Dance all carry their roles capably but it has to be said it is the charismatic presence of Welsh actor Luke Evans (Fast and Furious 6) which really anchors this film. It is incredible how he shines in this role, able to bring real emotions and real anguish to a character not yet previously seen. Thanks to him, you believe in Vlad’s cause, compromise with his predicament and feel empathy with his character when he seeks to exact revenge.
There is no doubt that Dracula Untold is a competent film, for many either they will either like it or hate it. There is just enough vampirism and love enough to soothe Twilight fans and more than enough action to suit the man cubs out there.
The slight let down is the ending which blatantly sets things up for a sequel. Hopefully if the film does well things could be very interesting indeed.
The Verdict
If you are into modern day imaginings, was a fan of the Twilight series and like Game of Thrones or Gladiator this film is your thing
8/10