In retrospect, Universal’s Dark Universe, itself a shadowy concept, could have been a thing. With the budget behind it, Dracula Untold could’ve been spectacular. As so often happens, however, poor writing seems to have brought Vlad the Impaler to his knees. I suppose it was rather tacky of me to fall asleep during it when a friend showed it to me shortly after it was available on streaming. My excuse was that we started late and I’m a very early riser. Finding it on a network to which I have access, and on a free weekend, I decided to give it another try. I didn’t fall asleep the second time, but I did end up disappointed. Action-horror is a tough sub-genre to pull off well. As some critics pointed out, if Dracula could defeat 1,000 men singlehandedly (which he does shortly after being turned), then why does he not do so when it’s crucial?
What I did find intriguing is the older vampire that lives in Broken Tooth Mountain. What is his backstory? And why, if Dracula can just die, does the older vampire not do so himself, when he clearly wishes to? He just has to step out on a sunny day. The menace of the classic vampire isn’t on the battlefield, but in the one-on-one situations. At night, when you’re sleeping. Or otherwise unable to protect yourself. The movie does have some good moments—and with a budget like that, it should have—but overall it struggles.
Part of the difficulty is understanding Vlad the Impaler being, at heart, a nice guy. Although he impaled thousands of people, he really just wants peace and a domestic life with his wife and son. He’s reluctant to challenge the Turks until one taunts him upon taking his son hostage. He tries to protect his people, but when they help save him (as vampires that he personally has turned), he destroys them all when it’s over. The question of motivation hangs unanswered over the whole thing. Dracula is never evil, not even when he declares himself the son of the Devil. He attacks only in self-defense and although he does shed unnecessary blood, it is only in the fog of war. And the motivation issues also apply to his pre-vampiric allies. They don’t seem to be able to make up their minds whether Vlad is a good guy or not. They try to kill him then they fight next to him. There’s a lot going on here—maybe too much—and it seems that the story wasn’t thought out well enough to make it all work. Vampires, it seems, don’t always cooperate.
