Dario Argento's Dracula - DVD

Movie: When young Jonathan Harker (Unax Ugalde) arrives in the Transylvanian village of Passburg to work as a librarian for the mysterious Count Dracula (Thomas Kretschmann), he has no idea what nightmare awaits him there. For Dracula is a bloodthirsty vampire who quickly puts the young man under his spell. This makes it impossible for Jonathan to warn his wife Mina (Marta Gastini), who arrives a few days after him at her best friend Lucy's (Asia Argento) in Passburg, about Dracula and to protect her from the vampire. The only one who can really help is vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing (Rutger Hauer), who is supposed to free the town from the Count's blood-sucking yoke once and for all. But Dracula is a powerful adversary who, of course, will not give up his life-giving food source so easily...

Dario Argento, one of the most important exponents of the Italian giallo film, now presents his very own version of the classic story about the legendary Count Dracula with his latest work. It quickly becomes clear that Argento's Dracula, shot in 3D, doesn't even begin to claim to be sophisticated cinematic art. Miriam Giovanelli, for example, is allowed to show off her voluptuous curves in a first sex scene after only a few minutes, followed by a truly trashy vampire attack in which Dracula strikes in the form of an owl. But also the completely exaggerated portrayal of Thomas Kretschmann as a wildly snarling vampire or the extreme bloodbath that Dracula wreaks on a few rebellious villagers make it clear that Argento was not concerned here with artistic quality, but primarily with simply held B-horror fun.

That's what you have to get involved with as a viewer to be able to find pleasure in the film. If you don't expect more, then Dracula can actually provide you with 100 quite enjoyable minutes. What is noticeable is that the movie always works well when the makers try to use practical effects. But as soon as computer effects are used, the trash factor takes over to such an extent that it's just bad - and not so bad that it's funny anymore. When Dracula suddenly appears as a giant praying mantis, for example, Argento has clearly overstepped the mark.

When he does rely on quite traditional horror effects, however, the whole thing is quite fun. Because with the quite crude splatter interludes, sex and a lot of naked skin the inclined horror fan is offered enough to comfort over some thin dialogue and pale game. And if you accept the film as what it wants to be, then Thomas Kretschmann's interpretation of Dracula doesn't seem embarrassing anymore, but very, very funny.

If you want to see a vampire movie that gives you the creeps and seriously interprets the well-known theme, you're in the wrong place. But if you just want to see an uninhibited trashy B-movie without pretensions, but with a pretty high fun factor, you can definitely give this Dracula a chance!

Picture + Sound: The picture of the DVD is very clean and has a good image sharpness and atmospheric colors. Occasionally, minor weaknesses in contrast mixing and detail become apparent in very dark scenes, but these can be forgiven. Not a visual revelation, but perfectly satisfactory for a horror B-movie. The audio also scores with some powerfully mixed surround effects and decent dynamics. Given the truly awful English dub, the much better German language version is clearly preferable. Good!

Extras: The centrepiece of the bonus material is a lengthy making of (approx. 62 mins), consisting of extensive interviews with the makers and the cast, enriched with quite a bit of behind-the-scenes footage. Only director Dario Argento is not to be seen here. Instead, he takes center stage in the featurette from the Slash Festival (approx. 35:03 min.), where he faced an extensive question-and-answer session. Finally, there's a music video (approx. 4:58 min.), as well as the trailer and five teasers for the film. Good!

Conclusion: Dario Argento's Dracula is trashy B-movie horror - and doesn't want to be anything else. Lots of blood, bare skin and a delightfully over-the-top Thomas Kretschmann make this version of the familiar tale an extremely enjoyable affair - as long as you accept the film for what it is and don't expect serious, sophisticated horror fare. The DVD presents the film in good picture and sound quality and also has some extensive extras worth watching. Recommended

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp