Vlad

A lot of people in the comments are giving this movie more stars than it deserves for ideas, or a different approach to the Dracula mythos than the usual vampire schlock. And in fact the makers of this film reached similar points to the novel "The Historian" from different paths. It is obvious from their dates of publication that both researched the topic heavily but neither influenced the other.

Anyway, perhaps it started out with a stronger script and got destroyed in editing, but the mess that we're left with at the end is pretty bad. Unforgivably bad plot movement, TV-movie cinematography and terrible editing whack this film in the end. You might enjoy parts of it, but the end result is a confused mess. There are good performances - by the entire cast, mind you - and lovely, appropriate locations. Certainly better than the abysmal 2005 "Way of the Vampire", but unfortunately the shortcomings outweigh the positives here.

I just saw this movie last night, cause it look interesting. An award-winning and critically acclaimed b-movie. It should work as a warning call, i know... Because if it won an award at some horror movie festival... and some critics liked it... there's a good chance it's really really pretentious! And what do you know? It was! Ha HA HAA! Some people say here on IMDb that it is an "intellegent vampire movie". This movie has the same problems most Asian horror movies has. Its too damn "smart" for its own good. And its also supposed to be romantic and sexy, because anyone with half a brain knows that the whole vampire mythology and Dracula is all about sex. But this was more like watching one of those Harlequin movies my mother likes. I'm not banging independent vampire flicks... but i've seen better ones... and worse... Vlad is better then say... way of the vampire. And in i'ts defense i can say that Hollywood hasn't put out a decent vampire movie in... well... i guess the early 70's. And yes i am counting the chick flick "bram stokers Dracula".

Oh, and if they ever make a movie about Lenin, Billy Zane should play the lead! Anyway, don't rent or buy this... pick up a copy of "dracula 2001"... it's rubbish too... but you can always amuse yourself by staring at Jeri Ryans tits. Unless you're in to the whole goat boy look, then Vlad is the movie for you!

I've read other people's comments and I'm surprised that a couple had so many problems with this movie. Vlad is the perfect mixture of historical fact and Romanian myth. It takes the whole vampire myth and returns it to it's rightful owner. Vlad Tepes was the basis of Stoker's Dracula and the vampire myth started in Romania and it's surrounding countries. I really liked how this movie didn't have the cinematic bloodsucker that we are all too used to, but instead had a tortured spirit that was doomed to wander the earth. The photography and locations are impressive (shot in the Carpathians) and the characters are believable. I'd definitely recommend this intelligent vampire story to anyone who is a genre fan, into historical pieces, or even just needs something to watch on a Friday night. I think that anyone who comes into this movie looking to see it for what it is, not some hack and slash horror film but a look into the historical Vlad mixed with a modern day adventure element, will enjoy the movie.

This movie kept my attention, and kept it till the end. The actors all did a solid job of making their parts live. Brad Dourif and Billy Zane gave the film class and credibility. Kam Heskin is a hottie, and carried her part well. Francesco Quinn makes your skin crawl in this horror genre tale, admirably making the role of Vlad the Impaler come to life and chilling you down to your socks! (He looks a lot like his dad Anthony Quinn in some of the scenes) The Romanian actress (whom I've never seen before) did a great job of looking terrified & sexy. I wonder if she speaks any English? If not, she did a great job of handling the wordy role. The musical score really punches up the terror in the scary scenes, and sounds like a score from a Hollywood major film. This movie was filmed on location in Romania, with the major horror parts actually filmed in the Carpathians at Vlad's real castle. The Dracula character takes on a new & completely different direction, which in no way mimics former Dracula movies. I enjoyed this one....

I just laugh when you have people who want to see the same old vampire movie.Familiarity seems to be the reason, for if its good .The avoidance of something new or different for example:Put a bunch of people in a room and show them the movie vlad then show them hellboy.When you play vlad people will start to exit the room because there expectation is that of what they have seen in the past.Then play hellboy and you will have very little exiting the room because it fills the expectations of the past.Vlad,the movie explains the legend of Dracula and how it was started.But see, that is real information, versus a dark figure who bites the neck of everyone in its path,which one do you think will win out?Vlad is good movie and deserved more attention that it received.