Dracula Untold (2014)

Both the world of books as the world of movies are filled with characters which are widely loved. There is something about these characters that people feel a connection with, making them care for them and their adventures. As one of these characters starts appearing in more books/movies you come into them with specific expectations of what that character would do. You wouldn’t expect Rambo to suddenly start giving ballet classes. Bram Stoker wrote the story of Dracula in 1897 and the character became popular, a vampire looking for blood in order to spread his curse. It resulted in many plays and movies, which made him a legend. According to Dracula Untold a part of his life was never shown. Maybe there was a reason for that?

The thing which Dracula Untold does is to take the famous Dracula story and mix it with the history of “Vlad the Impaler”. Vlad (family name Dracula) was a historic figure who was known for his cruelty and his preference to impale people. As a 13-year-old child he was held as a political hostage by the Turks and taught to fight.

In this movie that history plays an important role. Dracula (Luke Evans) has severed his ties with the Turks and rules his empire. But when a helmet is found of a Turkish scout he know he is about to be attacked. Before he returns to his castle he discovers a cave in which a mysterious creature lives who has already murdered many people. Dracula tries to talk to the Turkish leader, Mehmed (Dominic Cooper), to negotiate, but when he hears the demand to hand over his son he decides to fight. Because he knows he won’t stand a chance against the huge Turkish army he decides to head back to the cave and talk to the creature who gives him a power which will mean he can defeat the approaching army.

The expectation you have when it comes to a Dracula movie is one of tension, fear and typical vampire elements. Unfortunately it only shows the latter (and very sparingly at that). In this film Dracula is a superhero who can transform into a flock of bats, can run at high speeds, can see in the dark and has exceptional hearing.

He’s an action who, like Rambo, is able fight an army consisting thousands of soldiers by himself, easily. There are some minor moral dilemmas, but they are just small moments to give the viewer an idea why he makes specific decisions related to his actions. It makes Dracula Untold a soulless movie which doesn’t succeed in adding an exciting new chapter to the legend of Dracula. Some stories are better left untold and this is an example of that.