Dracula (2020)

Directed by: Jonny Campbell, Paul McGuigan, Damon Thomas | 270 minutes | drama, horror | Actors: Claes Bang, Dolly Wells, Morfydd Clark, Jonathan Aris, John Heffernan, Lydia West, Matthew Beard, Sacha Dhawan, Mark Gatiss, Joanna Scanlan, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Chanel Cresswell, Lujza Richter, Clive Russell, Petra Dubayova, Lyndsey Marshal

Ever since he conceived the mind of British lawyer and writer Bram Stoker (1847-1912) in the late nineteenth century, the aristocratic leech Count Dracula has been an icon of popular culture. The number of films, series and comics that have been made about this dark lord from mysterious Transylvania is almost uncountable. Then try again to come up with an original or exceptional Dracula production.

With ‘Dracula’ British filmmakers Mark Gattis and Steven Moffat certainly make a daring attempt. The three-part miniseries opens in a recognizable way. We see a completely emaciated Jonathan Harker, who tells in a nunnery about his not exactly pleasant stay in the castle of the bloodthirsty Earl. The beautiful Gothic setting of this first act is immediately memorable, just like the uncanny atmosphere that hangs continuously like a dark cloud above the sharp dialogues and beautiful atmospheric images. The original story is largely followed, although the makers allow themselves some creative liberties here and there. The main deviation from the original story is that here Van Helsing is an intelligent and well-spoken nun rather than an Amsterdam professor cum vampire hunter.

From the first acquaintance it becomes clear that the Danish actor Claes Bang is an excellent Dracula. He manages to find the perfect balance between the various classic, often contradictory character traits of the vampire of vampires and portrays the count with great panache and in all his complexity. Bang apparently switches very easily between Dracula’s pose of sweet-voiced and erudite charmer and his beastly, monstrous and pure bloodlust controlled second nature. A feat that certainly earns him a place in the gallery of legendary Dracula performers such as Béla Lugosi and Christopher Lee. Bang’s version of Dracula is simultaneously charismatic and terrifying, just as it should be. The combination of classic Dracula elements, good acting and decent digital effects in the first part of the miniseries provide wonderful viewing.

Part two, which focuses on the episode from Stoker’s story in which Dracula sails to London on board the ship Demeter, largely continues that line. Again a big plus for the atmosphere building and the powerful body horror. In addition, there is a whodunnit element that is somewhat reminiscent of the stories of Agatha Christie.

After the promising first two acts, ‘Dracula’ takes a rather surprising turn. Or not if you are a little familiar with the work of Gattis and Moffat. Together, the two are the creative minds behind ‘Sherlock’, a series that transports renowned private detective Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Doctor Watson (also two Victorian culture icons) to the present. The same happens with Count Dracula, who suddenly finds himself in 2020 at the end of episode two.

In itself a potentially interesting premise, especially since ‘Sherlock’ proves that in this way colors outside the lines can make for fascinating television. Unfortunately, this experiment in ‘Dracula’ quickly kills and completely derails the story in the third act. Count Dracula is increasingly becoming a toothless tiger thanks to the misplaced semi-comic script, while his flirtation with modern technology and dating sites(!) is downright ridiculous and completely out of character. At one point, someone even wonders out loud “who gave Dracula the WiFi password.” Including such a sentence in the script of a film that is not intended as a parody is a sin against good taste that just doesn’t deserve a crucifixion, but should actually mean the end of your career in film land. Because ‘Dracula’ follows the classic conventions of vampire mythology for a long time, the final act hits a pig like a pincer.

A shame, because what remains in the end is a decent film across the board that could have been a modest classic with a better final act.