Some stories attain a level of immortality that transcends honor, goes beyond legacy, and becomes a curse that dooms the text to eternal retelling. If there's one icon of popular fiction who understands the pains of immortality, it's unquestionably Dracula. Some of his eternal lives just don't work out as well as others.
The Universal Monster films were the most powerful IP of the black and white film era, but their modern incarnations have been hit-and-miss at the best of times. Creators mix and match icons to new genres, tell stories in new ways, go looking for new perspectives, and try just about anything to keep these pop culture legends alive.
Dracula Untold was the first, and thus far only, feature-length directorial effort Gary Shore. His other claim to fame are those mobile game ads from 2014 with Kate Upton, so the film is really his biggest cultural moment. The film was originally pitched in 2007, under the title Dracula: Year One, probably inspired by the well-known Batman storyline. Alex Proyas, director of The Crow, I, Robot, and Gods of Egypt, was originally attached, but the budget on that project grew beyond Universal's bounds, and he was dropped. Proyas was the better choice for the project, and it would've been interesting to see what the man behind Dark City would've brought to the film. Avatar star Sam Worthington was originally slated for the starring role but was dropped alongside Proyas due to budget. Luke Evans stepped in, fresh from Fast & Furious 6, and the project was underway with countless little bumps in the road.
Dracula Untold attempts to interweave the classic vampire mythos that Bram Stoker's Dracula popularized and the historical figure that inspired Stoker. Evans stars as Vlad the Impaler, Prince of Wallachia, and military leader of the Transylvanian army. Historically, Vlad was nicknamed Dracula after his father, Vlad Dracul. Dracul means dragon, so Dracula means son of the dragon. Vlad spent his early years in military slavery to the Ottoman Empire and its Sultan Mehmed II. After his time there ended, and he claimed his power over Wallachia, he turned to extremely violent opposition of his former captive's nation. This is the period he's known for, in which Vlad kills thousands and leaves their bodies impaled on massive wooden stakes. The film picks up in a slightly apocryphal period when Vlad is attempting to turn away from the whole Impaler gimmick.
Vlad encounters an ancient vampire in a cave who offers him power. He refuses, but an emissary from his mortal enemy the Sultan arrives demanding Transylvanian children to be abused just as Vlad was. To defend his nation, Vlad becomes a vampire. What follows is one part 300-style fictionalized ancient warfare and one part edgy superhero film. Vlad gains superhuman strength and speed, the ability to vanish into smoke, and kinship with massive swarms of bats, thus making every battle scene a fun video game montage. It's earnestly stupid, most of it has been done before, and the PG-13 rating is a huge wound, but there are still interesting things about this bizarre film.
There is so much fascinating stuff on the cutting room floor of Dracula Untold. Daredevil star Charlie Cox was cast to play debauched Roman Emperor Caligula in a completely unknown context, and all of his footage was somehow cut. Everyone who'd seen a film before this one came out knew innately that the intention was to create a Universal Monsters-themed answer to the monstrous Marvel Cinematic Universe. Universal intended to make Charles Dance's nightmarish elder vampire their Nick Fury, but that never came to pass. Reshoots were commissioned to let the film serve as a jumping-off point for the Dark Universe, but its terrible critical response led the studio to sideline it. In a bizarre decision, Universal favored the vastly inferior 2017 Mummy remake, only for that film to flop disastrously and tank the entire project.
This film was savaged by critics but made a decent payout at the box office. The idea of turning Vlad into Dracula was inspired, but the film's need to keep him in the unquestioned good guy role left a bad taste in many viewers' mouths. The overwhelming majority of problems would've been fixed if the lead character had been allowed an R-rating and a solid anti-hero moral direction. As it stands, however, it's still better than its 28% Rotten Tomatoes score might lead one to believe.
As movies go, the historical literacy isn't good, but it's still better than 300. The narrative is simple, and the writing is often hilarious. Dracula is a stock standard bad guy trying to right for his family archetype and his dialogue would be sub-par amongst comic books. The acting is decent, everyone showed up knowing what movie they were in, and they perform accordingly. The cast reading the dialogue with Shakespearean fervor rarely fails to elicit a laugh.
Dracula Untold isn't groundbreaking, but it's far from the worst the genre has to offer. Fans of vampires, superheroes, historical fiction, the Underworld franchise, or silly dark fantasy will find much to love from Dracula Untold.