Dracula Untold

"And you believe you know what it means to be a monster? You have no idea...but I'm going to show you." - the master vampire

release year: 2014
genre: fantasy/action/horror
viewing setting: home Bluray 2/27/15

synopsis: An ancient European prince, lacking the power to save his family and people from a superior enemy force, makes a deal with evil.

impressions: So this is an origin story, showing how a regular guy became a vampire (and eventually, one presumes, a vampire lord.) Actually, he wasn't a regular guy to begin with, he was a great general who also impaled people. But the point remains: he needed more power, he made a deal to get it, almost avoided having permanent side-effects...almost. I couldn't help but thinking that if he'd done just a little more planning and utilized his newfound power a little more efficiently, he could have prevented the circumstances that ended up causing him to have to become a vampire permanently. Anyway, the settings and mood were good, and the battle scenes effective.

acting: Luke Evans does a good job as the general-turned-monster, conveying the emotions that drove most of his decisions (he really was trying to do the best thing for his people.) Dominic Cooper is the opposing general, who's not a nice guy. Sarah Gadon is Vlad's wife, who does her best to understand her husband's motivations.

final word: Pretty good Dracula origin story, and one that I don't think has been put to film before.

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