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Old 20th August 2013, 12:16 AM
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bizarre_eye@Cult Labs bizarre_eye@Cult Labs is offline
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Yes, it's sad that such a great director has fallen so far.

It seems to happen to a lot of the Italian greats though towards the end of their careers. Unfortunately studios are not as trusting with giving these once visionary directors free reign to express their ideas nowadays, plus there is the matter of budget constraints, and of course the cheapness of CGI compared to practical effects often leads some of these production companies or film-makers into temptation...

I can't recall whether I've already posted my thoughts on this one, but here is a mini review I wrote when I first viewed the film back in March this year:

"A plodding, meandering, mess of a story mixed with bland and uninspiring performances and some of the worst CGI I've seen in the last few years is how I'd sum up Dario Argento's take on the Dracula legend.

To be fair, I went in with low expectations. Having not made a decent film since 2001's Sleepless (and even that wasn't nearly as good as some of his earlier work), and having seen the trailers, I was expecting Argento's latest feature to be pretty uninspiring.

My presumptions were (unfortunately) proven to be correct. A shame, as I am a huge admirer of Argento's work; many of his films have captivated and enthralled me, and I rank some as highly as any classic within any genre of cinema... but, he really needs to pack up his director's chair and call it a day, before the bad start to outweigh the good.

Still, on a positive note, it is slightly better than Giallo... but that is like saying getting punched in the face is preferable to being kicked in the balls."
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