Plot Details: This opinion reveals everything about the movie's plot.

The box I picked up at Blockbuster said the title was Dracula: The Dark Prince which lead me to believe that I was about to sit down to an old fashioned vampire flick. Au Contraire. The real name of this flick is apparently Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula, which is something else altogether. Not bad at all, just not a vampire flick.... sorta.

What we have here is a convincing job from Rudolf Martin in the role of Vlad Tepes.. aka Vlad Dracul..aka Vlad the Impaler. Whatever name you know him as, he is the one that quite a few sources cite as being the dude who inspired the vampire legend. This is his story. We see him reared as a boy with his little brother, captured by the Turks and tortured, and as the Prince who would free Romania from the Turkish invaders.

Vlad may not have been a real nice guy, what with all impaling folks alive on large sticks and what not, but he was Romania's hero.. and remains so to this day. We see him as a monster when we look back on his life, they see it an entirely different way. At any rate, this is one account of his life and times.

~~Spoilers ahead~~


Now, while this did try to stay somewhat true to what we know about ol' Vlad, the ending did take some serious license with his death... and I love it for it. You see, here Vlad didn't just inspire the story, he was Dracula. The Church (one church anyway) excommunicated him just before his death, which caused him to linger between Heaven and Hell. To become immortal. To become the head vampire of lore. Too cool. I liked the way they did this ending quite a lot.

OK.. it's safe now

I liked more than just the story though. I liked every last person who had a part in it. The budget may not have been there for them to create a blockbuster, especially in 2000, but it wasn't for a lack of talent. Oh no. Rudolf Martin did a superb job here. He's not a classic hunka, but he ain't hard to look at all, and he has these seething dark eyes that just penetrate with a glance. He knows what he has and he uses it to full effect in this.

Christopher Brand is the Prince's most trusted friend, Bruno, and also does a remarkable job. This makes me wonder why he has historically been delegated to small bit parts such as 'security man.' He can hold his own just fine. He's got the timing down, his line delivery is excellent, and he just really does get into this role 100%. Someone needs to give this guy a chance.

Don't think this was just no-names here though.. we also have Peter Weller as Father Stefan, and Roger Daltrey as King Janos. I've seen Weller do better, but this wasn't bad on his part.. just a bit hrrmm un-energetic perhaps. Daltrey played his role perfectly.

Director Joe Chappelle is nobody of note so far. Most of his stuff to date has been single episodes of various TV series. I dunno, I think he's just getting his feet wet and may just surprise us if this one is any indication. I mean there were some great decisions on his part. Seriously. Take this one scene.. when the first head gets lopped off in a sword fight it isn't lingered on at all, it's not brought front and center for you to ogle the bloodwork and FX.. no. Chappelle simply has the head lopped off with a bit of spurting blood and you are wisked away to the next bit. Excellent.

This one runs 91 minutes and is Rated R for violence. Well duh. It's about Vlad fer crissakes. That R is for pansies. Let the kids watch.

So ayup I do recommend this one and plan to buy it and add it to my collection now. It'll fit nicely as a bridge between my period movies and my horror flicks. heh. 4 Stars.



Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD