In the 1400s the Turks claimed boys from the lands they conquered. Vlad was one such boy. Held as a royal hostage he was beaten and whipped, and turned into a soldier, one of such ferocity that he became known as Vlad the Impaler. But that was years ago, since those dark days he has returned home to rule his kingdom of Transylvania as its Prince. He has a wife and son, and the Turks no longer claim boys to train and keep hostage.
But one day Prince Vlad and some of his men are out riding and find a helmet in a river. Vlad recognises it, it belongs to a Turkish scout. And where they scout they invade.
Blah blah, exposition, evil Turks. Invasion. Threats to family and Vlad turns to the dark side.
Dracula Untold dir. Gary Shore
Oh man this film was so boring. So so so boring. And so nonsensical.
I mean there were plot holes everywhere. At every stage in the story I found myself thinking, but this makes no sense, or, why? why is he/she/it doing whatever they are doing right now?
I mean. This film was terrible. I really wish I could’ve enjoyed it more, because it could have been at least interesting. You know, if they’d bothered to write a script and not just throw a whole heap of scenes with very little in common together and hope no one would notice because… well, I’m not sure why they thought no one would notice. Were we all supposed to be transfixed by the idea that Dracula was always a vampire? Or maybe they thought that the “road to hell is paved with good intentions” was an utterly original storyline. I maybe they just didn’t care and figured that people will go see a big budget vampire film around Hallowe’en. That’s my only excuse for going.
Honestly, it really is a pointless film. Avoid it.
Or if you’d prefer, take a look at an alternate review from someone who really enjoyed it.
Now that’s a good whipping. :)
I agree with you that the movie is not without faults, and yes, some of the scenes, including the ones with Charles Dance were a bit cringe-inducing, but as a whole I think it did a pretty good job. It’s a vampire movie after all, even if they mixed history and real names into it.
Thanks for linking back to my review.
Delia (Postcards from Asia)´s last blog post ..Dracula Untold (2014) – a movie review
Hi Delia,
I think it was supposed to set up a monster movie series. The ending of Dracula Untold certainly hinted that more was to come, but I don’t think it has done as well in the box office as hoped for.