Dracula Untold (2014)
Certified: 15
Duration: 92 minutes
Directed by: Gary Shore
Starring: Luke Evans, Sarah Gadon, Dominic Cooper, Samantha Barks, Art Parkinson, Charles Dance, Charlie Cox, William Houston, Ferdinand Kingsley
KRS Releasing Ltd
Gary Shore’s Dracula Untold takes a step back from Bram Stoker’s Dracula and opts for a special effects-laden origin story that is more in tune with the style of the Games of Thrones TV series than anything else ever featured on the big screen.
The inspiration and bringing together of fantasy, gothic horror and history is taken from the real-life historical figure of 15th-century Transylvanian prince Vlad Dracula that was known as Vlad the Impaler.
Luke Evans is Vlad who, when still a teenager, had been taken by the Ottoman Turks. Vlad returns home to his family and country and there is peace between the two nations. However, everything is hanging by a thread and everything hits rock bottom when Mehmed II (Dominic Cooper) takes the throne as the new emperor of the Turks.
Mehmed had been both friend and rival to Vlad when they were still boys and this will affect the politics and struggles between the two figures and countries. He demands that Vlad’s small country offers 1,000 of their young men to become warriors in his army and these must include Ingeras (Art Parkinson), Vlad’s own son.
Dracula Untold does not attempt to scare its audience; it is more designed as an action fantasy film
Inevitably enough Vlad does not accept and so he prepares to lead his small nation against the juggernaut that is the Ottoman Empire. But he has an ace up his sleeve: he has discovered a cave in which resides an ancient vampire/sorcerer (Charles Dance). This leads to Vlad being recruited into vampirehood and given enough power to be able to counter Mehmed and his army on a level playing field.
Dracula Untold does not attempt to scare its audience; it is more designed as an action fantasy film.
The special effects are well carried out and are very seamless as we see Dracula transforming into a colony of bats and wreaking havoc.
The film also brings in melodrama into all these bat-changing scenes and over-the-top battles.
Evans walks and acts imperiously throughout the proceedings. Sarah Gadon brings to the screen an icy beauty as Vlad’s wife Mirena, while Cooper is as over-the-top as can be and he seems to be having a ball.
However, the true star of the film has to be veteran actor Dance, who brings to his role a deep and gurgling gothic feel that symbolises treachery so excellently.
The film sits well next to the recent retellings of well-known tales such as Snow White and the Huntsman. The finale featuring Vlad tackling the whole Ottoman army is chock-full of effects and a fan boy’s giddy dream.