Dracula Untold

**Spoiler Alert**

Director: Gary Shore/Starring: Luke Evans, Dominic Cooper, Sarah Gadon and Charles Dance

First feature director Gary Shore contributes his own vampire tale to a movie sub-genre that seems to be on the wane, only with more CGI screen filler to further deaden our senses. Dracula Untold isn't the lethally tedious gore opera the dreary previews promised, but like Dracula's victims, it lacks life and blood; figuratively speaking of course.

Luke Evans plays the infamous Vlad the Impaler, a Transylvanian who was forced to fight in the oppressive Turkish army in his youth but now rules his country. And like the historical figure who shares the same name, he delights in impaling his victims.

Vlad and his people live under the constant threat of the Turks, whose aggressive tendencies demand they conscript foreign youth into their armed services. As the Turks press Vlad for soldiers, he defies them, thereby incurring the Turkish leader Mehmed's (Dominic Cooper) wrath. After Prince Vlad dispatches a Turkish unit who comes to collect, he realizes his modest army is no match for Mehmed's forces, which are sure to mobilize after the prince's defiant act.

While the Turkish army assembles for an invasion, Vlad and some of his men scale a rocky mountain-side to reconnoiter. In doing so, they come upon a cave, where something vicious and animal-like kills several of his men. Before Vlad can escape, he sees the face of the killer; a man with an old, ravaged face.

As a Turkish force prepares to invade, Vlad becomes desperate, knowing his people cannot hold out for long against a numerically superior force. Fearing for his people and his son's capture, Vlad seeks out the vampiric creature he encountered in the cave; having witnessed his extraordinary speed and ferocity. As Vlad wanders inside, the man/creature (Charles Dance) comes to him. Vlad explains that he cannot protect his people from the Turks and seeks the power to do so. The vampire explains that once he is bitten, Vlad will have a great yearning for blood and if he feeds within three days, he will become a vampire forever. Seeing few alternatives, Vlad agrees. The vampire bites him, thereby transforming him. He warns Vlad of his susceptibility to anything silver and of course, daylight. Of course the vampire hopes Vlad will feed, which will liberate him from his curse.

As the Turkish army arrives to lay siege, Vlad returns to his people and they begin to realize something is amiss. One of his men notices his aversion to sunlight and begins to grow suspicious. When the Turks assault his castle, Vlad flies to the invading army by way of a CGI-generated swarm of bats and once there, uses his superhuman agility, speed and strength to lay waste to the Turkish army. But his defense is not entirely successful, for the Turks manage to invade his castle and make off with his son while also murdering his wife Mirena (Sarah Gadon). Heartbroken and angry, Vlad relocates the survivors to a castle high in the mountains.

Mehmed holds Vlad's son captive while organizing a larger invasion force. Vlad realizes he cannot oppose Mehmed's army all alone, which necessitates transforming some of his people into vampires, but in doing so, he violates the three-day feeding prohibition, which curses him but releases the master from his undead bondage.

Gathering a large vampire force to meet the enemy, Vlad takes the initiative against the Turkish army and Mehmed, who is well aware of whom he faces.

There are few surprises beyond what the trailer offers. Though this Dracula is compelled to become a vampire for altruistic purposes, little else is of interest in the story. And of course great silliness, abetted by anachronistic clothing and armor more medieval than Renaissance, Transylvanians and Turks who more resemble Anglo-Saxons than near Middle-easterners, and Vlad's kryptonite-like weakness in the presence of silver coins leave the film languishing in a cartoonish limbo.

Dracula Untold is a film I wish had been bad; one campy enough to be funny and maybe self-deprecating. But no, it's only ordinary. It seems to have been mid-wived into existence by a corporate committee with a let's-come-up-with-a-surefire-hit-but-confine-your-ideas-to-how-we-can-make-CGI-look-bitchin' agenda.

First-time director Gary Shore can hardly be blamed for what is essentially a costume/effects fantasy. It can't be classified as horror because it isn't frightening for a moment so let's assign it the moniker Opera of the Undead.

And can any $70 million dollar film simply be without a franchise lying in wait? The studios don't even wait to see box-office revenue anymore; they simply forge ahead with sequels and hope that product familiarity takes hold. The original Star Wars spawned a trilogy because the first film was an unqualified success, which justified expenditures for a saga. Now, even box-office receipts are irrelevant. As long as a movie can sustain sequels, it must, irrespective of artistic vision or commercial success.

I guess this is good news for the cast, especially Luke Evans; whose charisma and talent could better serve a better film. If you would prefer to see the film yourself, then I advise streaming, which shouldn't really detract from its modest visual ambitions. If my take on the film has spooked you into avoiding its big-screen mode, then all the better. You could just have easily taken paper currency from your pocket and let them be carried away in a gust. That might be a better application of one's funds.

Stick that in your coffin, Drac.