The Movie
- Starring:
Jonny Lee Miller as Simon Sheppard
Justine Waddell as Mary Heller/Van Helsing
Gerard Butler as Dracula
Danny Masterson as Nightshade
Jeri Ryan as Valerie Sharpe
Colleen Fitzpatrick as Lucy Westerman
Jennifer Esposito as Solina
Lochlyn Munro as Eddie
Sean Patrick Thomas as Trick
Omar Epps as Marcus
Christopher Plummer as Abraham/Matthew Van Helsing
Tig Fong as Dax
Tony Munch as Charlie
Shane West as J.T.
Nathan Fillion as Father David
Tom Kane as Anchor Man
Jonathon Whittaker as Detective Gautreaux
Robert Verlaque as Dr. Seward
- Director: Patrick Lussier
Review
Wes Craven has built a great reputation in making modern horror films;
he's injected new life into 'screamers'. trouble is, he really hasn't
grasped the point of Dracula. Any vampirophile will tell you that Dracula
is no mere monster of the dark - he doesn't need to break mirrors, hide
on ceilings, attack randomly ... Dracula terrorises by reaching to the
roots of fear. You don't scream, you just become silently aware that the
hairs on the back of your neck are standing proud; the fear has entered
your soul. Scream? you've forgotten how to.
Having said all that, this is a brave attempt to reset Bram Stoker's
story in the fast moving world of New Orleans (yes, Mardis Gras is in
full session). The early stages, where the film shows the connections
with the original tale, is quite unnerving, but before he's halfway across
the Atlantic, Drac is playing mind games with the fools who didn't realise
he was in that coffin.
One serious deviation from the original story is the use of silver, not
wooden stakes, to destroy vampires. there is a twist in the story which
requires that - but no attempt to provide us with an explanation for what
we can only guess is an ignorant, lazy interpretation of the legend.
This movie wants to persuade us that dracula has lived for much more
than the few hundred years often offered; he is all powerful, unkillable.
So why does he play adolescent games with his victims; why indeed does
he kill like a fox among chickens? If he's been doing that for a good
few hundred years, who could deny his existence? Always the need for slashing
and blood every two minutes is allowed to trash what could have been a
great movie.
For those who have not seen it, I won't give the ending away; but I'll
say this; if the suggestions made were right ... would the story have
had an ending like that? No.
I'm giving this movie a hard time, not because I didn't enjoy it - I
did - but because it could - and should - have been so much better. Go
see it; you'll enjoy.
The DVD
- Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen
- Aspect Ratio(s): 2.35:1
- Audio Encoding: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Rated: Not for sale to persons under age 18.
- Studio: Dimension Home Video
- DVD Released: 4 February 2003
- Run Time: 99 min
Special Features
- Available Audio Tracks: English, French
- Commentary by director Patrick Lussier and writer Joel Soisson
- Making Of
- Deleted Footage With Commentary
- Storyboards
- Audition Footage
| 
