Official Website

Director: Gary Shore

Writers: Matt Sazama, Burk Sharpless,

Runtime: 92 min

Main Cast:

• Luke Evans as Vlad
• Sarah Gadon as Mirena
• Dominic Cooper as Mehmed
• Art Parkinson as Ingeras
• Charles Dance as Master Vampire

Review: by Anthony and Lee

We saw the first trailer for Dracula Untold in theaters and I (Anthony) turned to Leanne and said "we HAVE to see this movie."

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Dracula Untold tells the tale of Vlad of House Dracula, Prince of Transylvania, who, after being given up as a royal hostage to the Turkish Empire, became a child warrior and eventually the feared general known as Vlad the Impaler.  Vlad continues to rule as Prince of Transylvania, though he is under the watchful eye of the Sultan of the Turks to whom he must pay tribute.  When the Turks resume their old ways and demand that Vlad deliver his kingdom’s young men to serve in his child army, it threatens the peace his people have known and enjoyed.  Unwilling to subject his own son to his same childhood fate, Vlad turns to a supernatural force to attain the power needed to protect his people and his family.

What We Liked:

We saw Dracula Untold in an IMAX theater, and it was great.  The action, the run time, and the simple, straight forward plot all led to a better than anticipated movie for us.

The huge battles scenes and even the smaller fights were intense and brutal, and the special effect of the swarms of bats circling over the battlefield and Dracula weaving in and out of battle was epic.

The overall story and motivation for Vlad was bare bones and by the book in terms of action movies, and we say that in a good way.  The vampiric lore was handled quite well and stuck as best as it could to the traditional vampire rules that we know.  When he was exposed to sunlight, his skin burned and sizzled, peeling away.  He was weakened by pure silver and repelled by the holy cross symbol.   The special effects used to display his enhanced senses of sight and sound were cool too.  It was as though he had an echo-location/heat-signature thing.

The movie clocked in at a quick 92 minutes, which was perfect.  There was little, if any, down time or slow parts; rather, it was straight to the action and battles.

Also, we like Luke Evans. We like him as an actor, and we’ve lovingly dubbed him “not Orlando Bloom.”  As Vlad, he did a perfectly fine job. After starring in multiple action movies where he’s fighting with swords and the like (Immortals, The Hobbit, The Three Musketeers), becoming Dracula had to have been a walk in the park for him.

What We Didn’t Like:

While we enjoyed the movie and found it better than expected, there was plenty to find fault with in Dracula Untold.

Primarily, the trailer led us to believe the movie would’ve been larger than it was.  The short runtime doesn’t help dissolve those feelings either.  The plot, while trimmed and lacking fat, also lacked substance and really could have benefited from a stronger story.  There was virtually no character development, and the relationship-driven motives really suffered from that, especially in regards to his family.

The action, while plentiful and brutal, was pretty tame at the same time.  In a movie with huge battles, swordplay, and vampires, one would think there would be bloodshed everywhere, but that was sorely lacking.  The PG-13 rating really limited how gruesome and gory this movie could have been.  It would’ve been great to see how Vlad the Impaler, the walking war legend, could transform into an even more feared monster who not only slayed his enemies but fed from them as well.

Images Courtesy of IMDB