Horror Extreme Movie Catalog

Italian two-part mini-TV-series is shortened for American release. My review is about the abridged version of the film.

"Dracula's Curse" opens with a dancing scene where ladies and gentlemen in costume are seen elegantly dancing. Jonathan and Mina are waltzing to the music and then Quincy, Arthur and Lucy appear. Despite the film's "Based on the Novel of Bram Stoker" claim, their faces and dialogues are those of the teenagers in "I Know What You Did Last Summer."

In fact, the film's story is set in today's Hungary. That itself is not a bad idea for the location has some mysterious atmosphere even now, but soon the film starts to get less and less interesting, even illogical. Jonathan, who can afford an expensive car, decides to leave the city, leaving his beautiful girlfriend Mina behind because the cigarette-smoking Vlad Tepes (Patrick Bergin) hires him for the inventory of Tepes's uncle Count (Patrick Bergin again). Does he have to? And the film says (and we all know) Vlad is a vampire.

From there the film goes downhill. Jonathan drives his red Porsche to the Count's castle. Some people say this film is surprisingly faithful to the original. Well, maybe so, and even some minor points are not forgotten (Jonathan witnesses blue flames and "The Count" himself is an old man as the book says). At the same time, however, some parts are incredibly silly. Jonathan encounters a hostile Romanian soldier pointing a rifle at him and is attacked by a gang of local people after driving like a pro racer. What is the point?

But probably the worst part is that the film fails to give us convincing image of The Count. Patrick Bergin's double role is pointless and most of all his "Vlad" and "Count" are neither sexy nor frightening. And as to the three ladies at the Castle, I like them all, gorgeous and sexy, flying like Trinity in the "Matrix" fight scenes, but with cheesy effects.

Rented this for a Saturday nite chiller thriller. I realize this was a tv
movie from Europe with a limited budget but putting a modern spin on
this classic tale didn't have much bite. I couldn't get past the way
these actors came across, felt like they were reading their scripts to
each other. There really wasn't much in the scare dept. a few good sets
here and there doesn't make a good film and this one fell short in every
way. Three stars is more than it deserves.