Geek Review: Dracula Untold

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.

Why We’re Excited About Dracula Untold

Since Bram Stoker’s 1897 book Dracula, vampires have been a popular media monster. In the 2014 film Dracula Untold, director Gary Shore plans to go back to Transylvania and the historical inspiration for Count Dracula: Vladimir Tepes, also known as Vladimir Dracula or Vlad the Impaler. Only one trailer has been released for the movie(which you can find here), but it looks to be a historical origin story for the Count, along with the return of some forgotten vampire powers/weaknesses.

First, we open the history books to find that the titular antagonist of Stoker’s book was inspired by Romanian noble Vladimir Tepes. Transylvania, the home of Count Dracula, was a part of Romania a bit to the south of Tepes, who ruled over the region known as Wallachia. Vladimir ruled from 1456 to 1462, and from the beginning of that rule waged a bloody war against the the Ottomans who invaded his land, killing his father and brother. As the post-mortem “Impaler” nickname suggests, he was known for impaling his enemies, the victims mainly being nobles and aristocracy. The Dracula name comes from his family name Dracul, which roughly translated to “son of the devil” or “son of the dragon”. Oddly enough, Vladimir’s father was a member of the Order of the Dragon, a chivalric order charged with protecting Christianity from the Ottoman Turks. Vladimir also had a habit of excessive violence and torture.

Dracula Untold tells the story of Vladimir Dracula facing off against the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, also known as Mehmed the Conqueror. Also historically accurate, Mehmed was a brilliant tactician, taking Constantinople at the age of 21. According to the upcoming film, Vladimir will turn to the blood magic of a vampire to gain the strength necessary to stop the Sultan’s army.

If inspected closely, we can even see his legendary sword known as the Kilij which is often overlooked.

Now let’s talk about the vampiric powers and weaknesses revealed in the trailer. First off, we have the return of bat powers, with Dracula being able to control and/or turn into a swarm of bats. He does not have a reflection, and gone is the age of sparkling vampires. His skin burns in the sunlight! A small detail to be excited about, but I, personally, am sick of the sparkling Twilight vampires.

It seems that Gary Shore works to make Bram Stoker proud, which makes us at Rants of Geeks very excited. More information as it comes. Ta ta!