Dracula Untold

Dracula Untold (2014) starring Luke Evans, Sarah Gadon, Dominic Cooper

Synopsis of Dracula Untold

Dracula Untold – The year is 1462. Transylvania enjoys peace under the rule of Vlad III [Luke Evans] and his beloved wife, Mirena [Sarah Gadon]. But a war with the Turks and a pact with a demon are about to change Vlad’s life forever.

Review of Dracula Untold

Master Vampire: [holds Vlad by the throat] Why spill blood if not for the pleasure of it?
Vlad: Because men do not fear swords. They fear monsters. They run from them. By putting one village to the stake, I spared ten more. Sometimes the world no longer needs a hero. Sometimes what it needs… is a monster.
Master Vampire: [tightening his grip a little] And you believe you know what it means to be a monster? Hmm?… You have no idea… but I’m going to show you.

Dracula Untold is, in many ways, reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings.  It looks like a documentary.  The armor and weapons look very real, as do the sets and costumes.  But what makes both films exceptional is the acting.

Dracula Untold tells the story of how Vlad Dracul became the unliving vampire Dracula — and why.  It’s an excellent, riveting story.  Vlad doesn’t seek power.  His father had Vlad raised under the roof of a Turkish lord.  A hard, harsh childhood.  Now that he’s an adult, his “brother” Mehmet insists on the same – for Vlad’s son.  As well as 1,000 Romanian children to be raised as Turks, and to fight in his army.

It’s a price too high for Vlad to pay.  And he literally makes a deal with a demon to prevent it.  But power always has a price.  If Vlad can abstain from drinking human blood for three days, he will be free to resume his human life.  And if not, he will become a greater danger to his own people than the entire Turkish army.

The performances are riveting, and the story is compelling.  It’s frankly one of the finest Dracula movies that I’ve ever seen.

Cast of characters in Dracula Untold

• Vlad (Luke Evans, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug).  The Romanian prince, who refuses to give his son to the “gentle” hands of the Turks.  He kills half a dozen of the men sent to take the boy.  And that’s before his Faustian bargain. He loves his son, his wife, and his people – and will do anything to protect them.
• Mirena (Sarah Gadon, The Amazing Spider-Man).  Vlad’s loyal wife, and mother of Ingeras.  She stands by him, even after his bargain.  Mirena is brave and strong – not the traditional damsel in distress.  She makes the ultimate sacrifice to save her son.
• Mehmed (Dominic Cooper, Captain America: The First Avenger).  The sultan, who was raised with Vlad – and shows no mercy to his “brother” Vlad, or Vlad’s people, or even his own troops.
• Ingeras (Art Parkinson, San Andreas).  His name means “Little angel,” and his father’s motivation.
• Master Vampire (Charles Dance, Alien 3).  The demon that Vlad makes his unholy bargain with.  Charles Dance does an excellent performance as the very creepy, very dangerous, Master Vampire.

Editorial review of Dracula Untold

Witness the origin story of one of legend’s most captivating figures in the action-adventure, Dracula Untold. The year is 1462 and Transylvania has enjoyed a prolonged period of peace under the just and fair rule of the battle-weary Vlad III (Luke Evans, Fast & Furious 6, The Hobbit series), the prince of Wallachia. But when Sultan Mehmed II (Dominic Cooper, Captain America: The First Avenger) demands 1,000 of Wallachia’s boys – including Vlad’s own son – become child soldiers in his army, Vlad must enter into a Faustian bargain to save his family and his people. He gains the strength of 100 men, the speed of a falling star, and the power to crush his enemies. In exchange, he’s inflicted with an insatiable thirst for human blood that could force him into a life of darkness and destroy all that he holds dear.