Vampire movies have been done and redone hundreds of times. What hasn’t been done is an origin story for the famous Bram Stoker vampire, with historic accuracy to boot. Director Gary Shore delivers an emotional and creative story that is well supported by Luke Evans (The Hobbit trilogy)playing the titular vampire.
Wallachian Count Vladimir Dracula (also known as Vlad the Impaler) ruled in a peaceful kingdom, until the Ottoman Sultan, Mehmet II (played by Dominic Cooper) demands the servitude of 1000 boys for his army, including the Count’s son, played by Art Parkinson (Game of Thrones). Choosing to fight the Sultan instead of submitting tribute, Vlad approaches a mountain-dwelling vampire played by Charles Dance (Game of Thrones). Granted the powers of the night and the classic vampire weaknesses of sunlight and silver, Vladimir takes the deal, hoping to exploit a loophole: If he can resist feeding on blood for three days, he will revert back to a normal human.
Because this is a vampiric thriller (and involving the famous Dracula, no less), it was completely expected that Vlad would succumb eventually. However, that didn’t stop Shore from building up the tension on the protagonist, and that made me like the story even more. Furthermore, he made the story flow in a concise 92 minute run-time.
Also of note is the historical accuracy of the setting and the characters. Vladimir Tepes, aka Vladimir Dracula (called Vlad the Impaler after death), ruled over a small kingdom called Wallachia (Bram Stoker’s setting of Transylvania is just to the south). The name Dracula, as mentioned in the film, has two possible translations: “son of the Dragon” or “son of the Devil”. The film leans more towards the Dragon translation because both Vladimir and his father before him were members of a Christian order called the Order of the Dragon (in case anybody wondered about a vampire being in a church/monastery). This Order was tasked with protecting the interests of the Church in Eastern Europe, which at the time were the Ottoman Turks. While the film never explicitly mentions the Order, the cross and the armor Vladimir wears are both little easter eggs.
There was only one bit I disliked, the main feature being actress Sarah Gadon, playing Mirena, Vladimir’s wife. Her performance was very bland, which was a strange offset to the amount of effort and emotion Evans put into his character. It was very clear one of the two took the film seriously, and the other did not so much.
Overall, Dracula Untold earns itself a 9 out of 10 for a flowing and original storyline, a great performance by Luke Evans, and historical accuracy to the characters and setting.
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