Entertaining albeit badly paced and somewhat poorly acted, director Gary Shore’s unimpressive “Dracula Untold” isn’t necessarily an entirely bad film, it just isn’t great or even good either. Taking primarily its title as well as a rather diminutive shred of relevance from Bram Stoker’s more memorable classic vampire tale, this film acts as a piece of heavily sensationalized “historical” fiction which focuses entirely upon the real-life medieval figure of Vlad the Impaler (1431-1477), who in fact acted as Stoker’s inspiration for his fictitious Count. However, despite being grounded in a truly fascinating piece of history that would’ve otherwise made a much better film than a recycled cliché of the quintessential monster myth, “Dracula Untold” is a film that in the end manages to largely disappoint. Taking place during the fifteenth century, the film’s story presents its audience with the character of Vlad III, a skilled warrior and Transylvanian prince. Orphaned in his youth to the Turkish Sultan by his father as a political hostage, Vlad III grew to hate the Turks immensely, and in his manhood he eventually became a blood-thirsty soldier who garnered the reputation of ‘Impaler’ due to his said method of torturing and killing Muslim Turks on the battlefield. Ruling the province of Wallachia from 1456 until 1562 – the initial period of the Ottoman conquest in the Balkans – Vlad became renowned in warfare as a strong but thoroughly brutal defender against the Ottoman Turks, and it was because of this that he later took on the name ‘Dracula’, which in English translates into ‘son of the dragon’; his father, Vlad II, was named ‘Dracul’ (‘Dragon’). Like his father, Vlad the Impaler served under the emblem of the Order of the Dragon, a military organization which was exclusively created for the protection of Christianity in Eastern Europe. Such remains the TRUE and more stimulating history behind Dracula – “Untold” brings only a smidgen of these facts to the fictitious table. In the film, Vlad seems to maintain his kingdom by providing political as well as militaristic services to the Turkish Sultan whenever they are required. Conversely, Vlad also aids those who oppose the Sultan, whoever they might be. Vlad returns to his castle after supplying thousands of Turkish rivals on the frontline – so we’re told – and he now enjoys peace in his native land alongside his family and loyal subjects; but the Turks are always threatening Vlad and his countrymen. During a celebration on the feast of Easter, an envoy is sent to Vlad who speaks for the young Sultan, known as Mehmed. Turns out Vlad’s capricious opponent demands that 1,000 boys be secured from Transylvania and dispatched to the Turks for the sake of serving as their military slaves. Vlad, of course, has a son, so he looks for a way to amplify his abilities, protect his kingdom, and save his family. His journey leads him to a cave in the mountains where he encounters the Master Vampire, a demonic creature who gives him the dark power to destroy his enemies at the cost of his mortal humanity. Vlad becomes a vampire, and he uses his supernatural strengths to defend his people. “Dracula Untold” would’ve sincerely pissed me off had it not been the film it turned out to be. Had it been concentrating on Stoker’s novel while promoting the exaggerated whiz-bang effects it promoted, it wouldn’t have been as entertaining; in fact, as a fan of the novel, it would’ve been downright insulting. I can only think that Stoker himself would’ve rolled over in his grave if that’s the direction they would’ve chosen to go in. But thankfully, “Untold” doesn’t sink that low. Instead, the audience is given a mediocre but decently riveting adventure story about the titular vampiric fiend based in history as opposed to horror literature. Where it concerns legitimately adapting Stoker’s novel to the big screen, I’m not interested in seeing a Dracula movie in which the titular character is a loving father. I don’t want to see a Dracula movie where he’s a caring husband. I’m not at all that interested in a movie that shows Dracula making heroic sacrifices to strengthen Transylvania’s military might and protect the nation’s people. If the novel alone were to be followed, Dracula must be what people have always envisioned him to be: something irredeemably terrifying, something as seductive as sin itself, an evil monster who feeds on other people’s blood – in short, I wouldn’t want what “Dracula Untold” is selling if it were actually rooted in Stoker’s tale. Thankfully, it isn’t. Delving into an origin story which is sure to fuel spin-offs or sequels, “Dracula Untold” finally taps into an affably thrilling vein, transporting a lethal and immortal beast into our world, where untold horrors can unfurl. Prior to that, though, this is the lamest Dracula movie fans have been offered in quite some time, and that’s mainly because it tries almost too hard to straddle the line between campiness and credibility. The audience is meant to laugh when a minion purrs “Yes, master” to Vlad, because it obviously calls to mind the catchphrase of Doctor Frankenstein’s cinematic (not literary) stooge, Igor. But “Dracula Untold” also wants to somehow be taken seriously…most of the time. For the majority of its one hour and fifteen-minute run, “Dracula Untold” just has an identity crisis which prevents the film from ever choosing a proper thematic lane. It combines some elements of horror with a heavy amount of action and adventure, blending the genres in an uneven way, and it’s never really scary, though vampires finally get to hunker down on unsuspecting soldiers during a battle that is too long in development. That’s ultimately the film’s greatest downfall: it just isn’t scary, it’s not scary at all. “Dracula Untold” feels less like legitimate horror and seems more like Rambo if he were supernaturally savvy and couldn’t be out in sunlight. It just feels confusing. It’s more swords-and-sandals, with characters giving “Braveheart”-esque speeches from the backs of horses, and Vlad battling Mehmed with swords in the climactic finish. I never thought I’d see a Dracula movie that ended with a sword fight; now that I have, I can tell you it doesn’t work. Narratively unbalanced and evocative of characters who lack three-dimensional integrity, “Dracula Untold” works best as one of those movies that you see on a slow day when you’re so bored that you’ll see anything, even crap, and not care what it is. Sure the set pieces and costumes are indefinitely the most convincing elements of the film altogether, but the film itself doesn’t really take hold of your imagination or your curiosity, and it never chillingly unnerves you the way a film about Dracula ought to; you just see it to pass the time you’d ordinarily spend doing something far more constructive. Don’t expect anything exceptional if you decide to see it. youtube/watch?v=hZFZxEnB7ws
Posted on: Wed, 29 Oct 2014 23:13:52 +0000
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