Dracula (2012)

The tale begins with Jonathan Harker, journeying by train and carriage from England to Count Dracula's crumbling... See full synopsis »

Director:

Dario Argento

Writers:

Dario Argento (screenplay), Enrique Cerezo (screenplay),

Stars:

Asia Argento, Rutger Hauer, Thomas Kretschmann

Cast

Credited cast:
Asia Argento	...	Lucy
Rutger Hauer	...	Abraham Van Helsing
Thomas Kretschmann	...	Dracula
Marta Gastini	...	Mina Murray / Harker
Miriam Giovanelli	...	Tania
Unax Ugalde	...	Johnathan Harker
Maria Cristina Heller	...	Jarmila
Morgane Slemp	...	Inga
Giuseppe Lo Console	...	Zoran
Augusto Zucchi	...	Andrej
Christian Burruano	...	Milos
Giovanni Franzoni	...	R. M. Renfield
Riccardo Cicogna	...	Janek
Eugenio Allegri	...	Innkeeper
Francesco Rossini	...	Delbruck

Storyline

The tale begins with Jonathan Harker, journeying by train and carriage from England to Count Dracula's crumbling... See full synopsis »

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Plot Keywords:

bitten in the neck | throat slitting | bram stoker | undead sexuality | cult director | 

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Genres:

Horror | Romance | Thriller

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook [it] Official site

Country:

Italy France Spain

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 November 2012 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Dracula 3D

Filming Locations:

Biella, Piedmont, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

€5,600,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Enrique Cerezo Producciones Cinematográficas S.A., Film Export Group, Les Films de l'Astre

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

User Reviews

Hammer style B-grade horror entertainment.

Dario Argento tries his hand at what many would call the ultimate horror novel. As with most adaptations of Dracula, this is not terribly close to the book and the most faithful riff on the book is still Francis Ford Coppola's version.

This movie is nowhere near as good as that one but it is fairly solid. Thomas Kretschmann, who also memorably portrayed a bloodsucker in Blade 2, plays the title character as a cultured, stuffy Count that brings prosperity to a remote village along with his vampiric curse. Enter Jonathan Harker, a naive outsider who has gotten a job as Drac's librarian through his new wife Mina's best friend, a local named Lucy played by Dario's daughter Asia Argento. Dracula rapidly becomes obsessed with Mina while posing an increasing threat to everyone else in town.

As the movie proceeds, there's a ton of violence, gore, and nudity including another infamous father-daughter nude scene with Dario filming Asia taking a bath! The movie is fast and fun and has great production design and a mostly solid cast that also includes the always reliable Rutger Hauer as the reluctantly heroic Professor Van Helsing, who shows up to save the day about half way through.

The movie is also deeply flawed. Dracula should either have more screen time to appear as a more fully developed character or less to seem more shadowy and foreboding. Some of the special effects and sound effects are downright laughable and the movie sometimes seems kind of amateurish. Lighting is another consistent issue.

In all, I liked it, and you probably will too if you're into old school European horror circa mid to late 60's. Dario Argento may not be the master filmmaker he once was but this certainly isn't the disaster that Giallo and Mother of Tears were and shows that he can still make a watchable little horror movie.