Review of Dracula Untold (2014) by Geoffrey C — 24 Jan 2017

As a vampire flick, Dracula untold is "cleaner" and simpler, eschewing the over-burden of plot that comes with modern characters. The story is a fictionalization of the history of Vlad Basarab Dracul of Wallachia and his conflict with the Turks. The actual historic character of Vlad Dracul is seen as a hero of the people in Romania, and up until recently, the people there sought to distance him from the Bram Stoker character. Realizing the capital gains to be had, they have relaxed that stance. In view of that development, this movie blends a skeletal framework of events from Dracul's history with the supernatural elements of the Bram Stoker character, creating a fictitious "origin story" for the titular vampire.

I found Luke Evans to be a good fit for the lead, being handsome in a warrior sort of way, who also proved he could wear the fangs pretty well. Not every actor can rock the fangs believably, so being able to do that much is very very important. The original legends have been progressively ignored in recent years, pulling vampires into a weird almost ambiguous level of I-don't-know-what-the-heck-kind-of-thing-the-hero-is-supposed-to-be Twilightness that makes no sense at all.

I like my vampires like the old legends painted them: conflicted undead characters that are consumed with a lust for blood, unable to cope with their undeadness by roaming the earth and trying to hold onto their humanity while putting family members at risk by being near them. Denied the light of day and confronted by the sheer horror of what they have become and the murders they have commited. Anything less than this is too far away from the legends for me.

After seeing the movie Dracula Untold, I didn't hesitate to go right out and buy my own copy of the DVD. Luke Evans' portrayal resonated, and I appreciated the added love interest of his wife and child, and the dislike I had for the exotic and interesting Turkish adversary. Even the ancient sealed vampire was cool in his own creepy way..

There are those who will feel the story is too simple, but I liked how it was presented and I enjoyed it far too much to give it anything less than 5 stars. It just goes to show how much we differ on what we go to the movies to see.