Dracula

Dario Argento's retelling of the Bram Stoker classic has Count Dracula as a mature count who grows younger whenever he dines on the blood of gorgeous maidens . Bram Stoker's ¨Dracula" 3D turns out to be an entertaining picture directed by Dario Argento with a good cast , brilliant cinematography and atmospheric soundtrack . As this last version ¨Dracula¨ 3D (2012) by Dario Argento with Rutger Hauer as Abraham Van Helsing , Asia Argento as Lucy , Unax Ugalde as Johnathan Harker and Thomas Kretschmann as Dracula . The tale begins with Jonathan Harker (Unax Ugalde) , he goes to an eerie castle in the fogs of eastern Europe . Harker is journeying by train and carriage from England to Count Dracula's far castle situated in the Carpathian Mountains on the frontier of Transylvania . The purpose of his assignment is to catalogue the wide library of Dracula (Thomas Kretschmann). At first enticed by Dracula's gracious manner , Harker soon discovers that he has become a prisoner in the crumbling castle . One night while searching for an exit of the castle , and against Dracula's strict admonition not to venture outside his room at night , Harker falls under the spell of his bloodsucker girlfriends . Harker is captured and imprisoned by a strange vampire who is accompanied by wanton female vampires (Miriam Giovanelli) , the Brides of Dracula . At the ending Dracula to face off Van Helsing (Rutger Hauer is Van Helsing in this, he previously played Dracula in Dracula III: Legacy). Meanwhile , Mina (Marta Gastini) looks for his lover Jonathan Harker .

Italian/Spanish co-production about known characters , Dracula and his nemesis Van Helsing . This thrilling as well as terrifying film contains horrifying scenes , chills , lots of gore and a liquid similar to red tomato was used for the blood along with a lot of C.G. effects . This recounting of Dracula is freely based on Bram Stoker's 1897 classic novel of the same title and one of the biggest differences with Bram Stoker's original novel is that this version's plot takes place entirely in Transylvania , as Stoker's work moves the action to England . This isn't a faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula novel , the film ultimately made numerous significant changes to the story .

Passable version about the famous personage with an European all-star cast , colorful cinematography by Luciano Tovoli , holding a photography similarly to Hammer Films , glamorous gowns and regular production design , including evocative sights from villages , woods and remote castle from Candelo , Biella , Piedmont, Italy . Thomas Kretchsmann , who plays an acceptable Dracula, and the Dutch Rutger Hauer , who plays stunningly Dr. Van Helsing , being the first time Van Helsing , a Dutchman in the novel, has actually been played by someone from the Netherlands . Well produced and written by Enrique Cerezo , a nice producer who financed several successes such as ¨Juana La Loca¨ , ¨The long kill¨, "The Final Inquiry" , ¨Witching & Bitching" , among others . Being a Spanish/Italian production , here appears some Spanish actors such as Unax Ugalde as Harker and the Spanish/Italian busty girl Miriam Giovanelli who is in charge of the nude scenes along with Asia Argento . Special mention to rousing and powerful musical score composed and conducted by Claudio Simonetti , ex-Globin, and he formerly composed a lot of Argento classic films . The motion picture was regularly directed by Dario Argento , being the first time Dario Argento has worked in 3D . Considered the Godfather of Giallo, Argento has been the creative force behind numerous influential Italian films including : The Bird with the Crystal Plumage , Suspiria , Inferno , Tenebre , Deep Red , Phenomena , and Opera , among others . Rating : 5,5/10 ; acceptable and passable , though middlingly realized .

Other films retelling the known legend based as originally conceived on this Bram Stoker novel are the followings : ¨ Dracula¨ (1974) by Dan Curtis with Jack Palance , Simon Ward , Nigel Davenport , ¨Bram's Stoker Dracula¨ with David Suchet as Abraham Van Helsing , Marc Warren as Count Dracula and Sophia Myles as Lucy ; of course , splendid versions from Hammer Production mostly starred by Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing ; and Jesus Franco retelling titled ¨Count Dracula¨ with Christopher Lee , Herbert Lom , Soledad Miranda , Klaus Kinski ; the best results to be ¨Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula¨ with Gary Oldman , Winona Ryder , Gary Elwes , Keanu Reeves and Anthony Hopkins .

If someone was interested in checking out the work of Dario Argento and they started with Dracula 3D, they probably would never come back to check out the rest of his filmography. I'm no Argento expert. However, I have seen Suspiria and Phenomena and think both are absolutely excellent. I especially love Phenomena. Argento is a master at making his films pop with colors and lights. His brand of horror also portrays beautiful cinematography amidst gruesome scenes. The BLOOD usually looks excellent. Naturally, I wanted to check Dracula 3D out. It just seemed like a good cheesefest; a film that looked like it would be "so bad that its actually good." I'm quite disappointed to say that I was wrong. This film is not very fun at all. I like the way the film looks. The images and scenes look crystal clear, colorful, and lively. Its all that I would expect from Argento, very indicative of his craft. From there I really struggle to find any other positives. Okay maybe one more, there are beautiful girls on display. This had the feel of a B rate film that offers a few scenes of erotic nature and this did not disappoint in that department. Okay, now I'm certain that that is where the positives of the film ends.

The effects good lord, they look like something you would see in a SyFy channel movie, maybe even worse. I don't know if its from the 3d conversion but it looks like the worst type of B movie effects. Normally I wouldn't mind that, but it was distractedly bad. Just pay attention to the scenes where a vampire turns into dust, it looks ridiculous. The dialogue and general acting is the next thing here. it goes from over the top and hammy to uninterested characters just reading lines. All kinds of scenery chewing present from the actors (most of who I have not heard of apart from Asia Argento).

The above negatives may sound good to someone who would think "this movie sounds like its bad but in a way where you can find cheesy enjoyment out of it." That is not true. The plot is another retelling of the story of Dracula, which is fine because Bram Stoker's Dracula is a great story and I welcome different interpretations of the tale. This variation is mind-numbing and incredibly dull. You get no enjoyment in what happens and just pray for the end of the torture. I need to see more of Argento's later work to make a full assessment but its likely the magic of his earlier films is completely gone. I don't think I'll even bother with the later work and check out the stuff from his glory days because I'm sure its exceptional.

4/10

I love about 3/4 of argentos films, they are surreal classics of the horror and gore genre, but when he messes a film up he really messes it up. This version of the Dracula story follows all the basics, Jon harper comes to draculas castle, he gets seduced by the resident sexy vampire then van helsing turns up and cleans up the vampire problem. alas its told with such flatness and lack of originality that its boring as hell. the cgi is woefully bad, the acting is even worse (except for rutger). and a giant preying mantis scene is full on laugh out loud funny. its lacking in style, pace and, other than 1 very gory scene, violence. the only thing argento has done that is worse than this is giallo. which should tell you all you need to know . your best bet is to hunt down the one gory scene and give the rest of the film a miss. sorry dario but i think its time to retire.

Not so bad as expected this Dracula 3d. For sure the acting was rather wooden, the effects (specially the digital ones) looked cheap sometimes and the story was not mind blowing, but I very much liked the retro-look of this film. I had the opportunity to see this film on big screen, in 3D and I was kind of touched by its Hammerish-look. The photography, the use of colors, the set designs... it all reminded me of films that were made decades ago. Sweet memories. Might be a bit out of time for modern viewers, but if you can look through the bad acting and some cheesy effects, you actually find a film with a charming, nostalgically look.

The Italian master of horror, Dario Argento, delivers his cheesiest movie...in 3D.

Looking at the trailers, i already knew that Dracula 3D would have been a fun and trashy cheesefest (and i gotta be honest, i have seen better CGI effects in movies made by The Asylum).

Sure, the film is a fun and trashy cheesefest, but it manages to get pretty boring in many moments, plus, Rutger Hauer only appears after a big chunk of the first half of the feature.

The CGI effects are cringe-worthy, they remind me of old computer games, i wouldn't be surprised if the (already) hilarious mantis scene will become an internet meme.

If it wasn't for the gore scenes (which they are good enough to keep the gorehounds entertained), the sexy Miriam Giovanelli, Rutger Hauer and the soundtrack (provided by Claudio Simonetti), the film would be just forgettable, but Dracula 3D is actually a forgettable cheesefest, if it was made in the 70's or 80's, it would have been considered as a cult classic.

I actually like Argento's most modern films (such as: Sleepless, Il Cartaio and Mother of tears), but if you thought that his last three films were bad, then you should take a look at Dracula 3D.