Dracula (2013)

A ten part series which re-imagines Stoker's Dracula as he arrives in London, posing as an American entrepreneur who maintains that he wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. In reality, he hopes to wreak revenge on the people who ruined his life centuries earlier. However, his plan is complicated when he falls in love with a woman who seems to be a reincarnation of his dead wife.

I enjoyed this series, Jonathan Rhys Meyers made a fine Dracula, he even looked the part, certainly more so than any of the recognized actors playing the count for Universal or Hammer. In terms of the book the series is nothing like it. In fact it's final scene sets up the story we know and love with Van Helsing (Thomas Kretschmann) sending Jonathan Harker (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) to find and kill Dracula, so everything that goes before it is new fiction. New fiction with vigorous splashes of steamy sex and copious blood shed naturally.

So much is new and different and so much works. Van Helsing works with Dracula on a solar vaccine to allow Dracula to walk in the daylight, their partnership adds a whole new dimension to proceedings as does Dracula's relationship with Renfield - a charming hulk of a man played by Nonso Anozie - and the main plot with Dracula searching to destroy the Order of the Dragon now operating in London, the religious group responsible for the death of his wife, is wholly enjoyable as are the performances by Ben Miles who leads the order and Victoria Smurfit as Lady Jayne Wetherby, a fashionable huntswoman out to kill vampires (imagine Seline from the Underworld films but with a heaving cleavage).

The wireless electricity technology subplot isn't as compelling as it should be and i think the Mina Murray / Lucy Westenra love triangle at times slowed things to a near standstill, however on the whole Dracula worked rather nicely and came across as a better reinvention of classic horror characters than Penny Dreadful's first season for example. It's a shame it wasn't taken up for a second outing.

I kept seeing previews of this one whilst I was working in Shanghai in 2013 and thought it looked terrible. However, based on your review I may be inclined to check it out at some point now.

If i was ranking Dracula's i'd say it's not as good as Hammers first film but is far superior to Argento's film and that Luke Evans thing from a few years back.

I can't really assess the Lugosi one fairly as it's terribly creaky and to be honest i imagine you are a better actor than Bela.

That wouldn't be difficult. Most people's early morning bowel movements are! :lol:

I've (thankfully) never even heard of that one!

Don't let Nordy hear you say that!! :axekiller:

Ah yes, I have heard of it... but not to the extent where I've been compelled to check it out.

I enjoyed it for what it is. I'd give it a *** out of *****.

Don't, it was horrible...and not in a good way.

Two conflicting opinions!

I may add it to my Love Film list under 'normal priority' and leave it to random chance to decide whether I watch it or not.

Been slightly lax keeping this updated...

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[07] In A Glass Cage
There’s a perverse grotesquery to Agusti Villaronga’s In A Glass Cage, but at the same time a deviant sexual thrill to it. It tells a chilling tale of victim and abuser, the cyclical nature of which is harrowing. The whirring breathy mechanism of the iron lung thrumming throughout, the sparse but delicately composed framing, the lighting becoming more garish and lurid in conjunction with the action unfurling on screen, it delivers an unmatched atmosphere, completely unique, malefic. There’s very little innocence, only that which is taken. There’s a sense of complicity to characters, not to suggest that characters deserve their fates, merely to illustrate impurity, a phone call from Griselda reveals she’s aware of Klaus’ history, Rena fails to correct a lie, becoming entangled with Angelo in his deceit, even one of the children Angelo lures is motivated by greed. The film provokes the viewer, in one scene Angelo opens the iron lung and mounts a helpless Klaus, writhing on top of him while he gasps for air, in another Angelo masturbates, wiping his hand over Klaus’ face, then fetching Griselda to show her what he has done to her husband. It’s a bleak film, spellbinding in the lack of virtuousness, sexually charged and abhorrently compelling.
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[08] Short Night Of Glass Dolls
With the protagonist Gregory Moore (Jean Sorel) being declared medically dead in the opening, Aldo Lado’s Short Night Of Glass Dolls takes a distinctive approach to the giallo, the events unfolding in flashback, as his corpse recalls what led him to being put in the morgue, while willing the doctors to find some way to resuscitate him. With lingering shots of art and architecture, all beautifully composed within the film's frame, Short Night Of Glass Dolls is impeccably classy. There’s an elegance that is completely at odds with the baleful final moments, which makes them all the more shocking. The mystery is compulsive, not just of Gregory’s condition, and eventual fate, but that of his girlfriend Jessica. Short Night Of Glass Dolls is a slow burn, revealing just enough to engage, but not so much as to overcook the dramatic revelations.
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[09] What Have You Done To Solange?
Massimo Dallamano’s What Have You Done To Solange? is teeming with deception, and secrets. Fabio Testi plays Enrico, a teacher at a college who becomes embroiled in a murder investigation after a string of his students are found butchered. There’s a grisly symbolism to the way the girls are murdered and the motive behind the killings. The mystery is complexly woven, engaging in the drip feed of information and events, so much so that we don’t even hear the name of the title character until the latter half of the movie. The film has a peculiar moral compass, surprisingly so given the religious undertones. There’s a disconnect in the way female characters are punished for their sins compared to male characters. Enrico’s affair is seemingly acceptable because his wife is cold and aloof, and his wife attempts to win him back by helping to solve the murder of the girl he was having an affair with. There’s no retribution for the sin of the character that got Solange in her predicament to begin with, nor any kind of mention of him, which is completely bewildering given the identity of the killer. The curious ethical dynamics are one of the reasons I’ve always found What Have You Done To Solange? so fascinating, there’s not just a captivating mystery, there’s a multifaceted, layered narrative that is thematically rich.
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[10] The Sweet Body Of Deborah
Romolo Guerrieri’s The Sweet Body Of Deborah stars Carroll Baker as the titular Deborah, and Jean Sorel as her husband Marcel, on honeymoon to Marcel’s home town, where he receives a frosty reception from former friend Philip (Luigi Pistilli), accusing him of murdering his late fiancé. It opens beautifully, a picturesque town by the sea, dreamy score, while laying the foundations for the mystery. The visit to Marcel’s former fiancé’s villa is a particular highlight, clearly once very regal, now in a state of dilapidation, replete with strange music playing from a piano that hasn’t been used in years and a creepy phone call from a phone that is disconnected. It’s very typical of the genre, but is done effortlessly well and sets an ominous tone. Sadly the mystery at the heart of the film is put aside for much of the middle section, where the film loses steam, held aloft only by the zany outfits Carroll Baker is subjected to wear. Things eventually get back on track, with a gripping finale overflowing with deception, blackmail and the occasional double cross. It’s far from one of the better inheritance motivated gialli, but it has some indelible scenes and for the most part is an engaging thriller.
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Short Night Of Glass Dolls started a week of Italian horror for me (although they're all gialli, with the exception of Mill Of The Stone Women). By coincidence, unless there are sinister subliminal forces at work beyond my comprehension, The Sweet Body Of Deborah is my second of three gialli starring Jean Sorel. The final one being Lizard In A Woman's Skin. Italian week is frequently my favourite and it's started off extremely well. I'm already eyeing my relatives wondering who and how I can knock them off for the inheritance. The quality of some of these on blu-ray is fantastic too. Short Night and Solange in particular. But Deborah was a complete surprise too, it started a little ropey looking and my heart sank, but it got much better looking after the opening scenes. Looking forward to diving into Arrow's Death Walks set, and Mondo Macabro's Lizard In A Women's Skin next.