DRACULA UNTOLD – review

History lesson and Vampire opera

Luke Evans as Prince Vlad III Dracula

DRACULA UNTOLD shows a Prince who just wants his people to live in peace. It shows a man who becomes a monster (Vlad III’s favorite method of torture was to impale people and leave them writhing in agony for days) in order to protect his realm and his nearest and dearest. It shows a Vampire who does not fear the cross, because he embraced it as a historical figure. This film goes to great lengths in historical accuracy, it is a symphony of wonderful costumes and supernatural battle and it has its very dark moments reminding of Ingmar Bergman’s THE SEVENTH SEAL.

Charles Dance as the archetype of a Vampire
Charles Dance as the archetype of a Vampire

The monster (wonderful: Charles Dance) who turns Dracula (a brilliant Luke Evans) into a Vampire resembles Bergman’s Death in an uncanny way. Vlad III Dracula might have wished for that supernatural power to vanquish his enemies which our DRACULA UNTOLD here so splendidly displays (and boy, does he pay for it). So – even if you are a Prince of Wallachia, be careful what you wish for.

This portrait of the real  Dracula is on display in Castle Ambras, Innsbruck.
This portrait of the real Dracula is on display in Castle Ambras, Innsbruck.

The real Dracula, prince Vlad III, son of Dracul (Romanian for Dragon, a secretive Order of Christian knights) lived from 1431 until 1476 and ruled his home Wallachia in a time of constant war. Wedged between two great Empires, Hapsburgian Austria and the expanding Ottoman realm, Transsylvania was hard to protect for Dracula, “the little Dragon” – who really was held hostage as a child by Sultan Murad II.

 

About Elisabeth Schabus 477 Articles
I see, I like, I write ... mostly about cinema and actors, but also about politics or economy. In English, auf Deutsch, på svenska. This ORF trained news journalist (TV, radio), who has also worked in corporate publishing for international brands and written/edited tons of magazines, has become a blogger out of passion.

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