Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula

Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula (DVD) (*)

$26.99

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
German ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
German ( Dolby Digital 5.1 )
German ( DTS 5.1 )
German ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
Germany ( PAL/Region 0 )

Running Time:
88 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 2000 and produced in:
United States ( USA, Canada )

Directed By:
Joe Chappelle

Written By:
Thomas Baum

Actors:
Rudolf Martin ..... Vlad Dracula the Impaler
Jane March ..... Lidia
Christopher Brand ..... Bruno
Peter Weller ..... Father Stefan
Roger Daltrey ..... King Janos
Michael Sutton ..... Radu
Razvan Vasilescu ..... Aron
Radu Amzulescu ..... Inquisitor
Maia Morgenstern ..... Woman at Fountain
Claudiu Bleont ..... Sultan Mohamed
Claudiu Trandafir ..... Prince Karl
Dan Bordeianu ..... Vlad III - Age 18
Victor Ungureanu ..... Vlad III - Age 8
Dan Badarau ..... Vlad Dracula's Father
Sebastian Lupea ..... Teen Vlad Dracula

Synopsis:

Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula tells the story of Vlad Dracula, the historical figure who gave Bram Stoker's Dracula his name. Vlad is a dispossessed noble, and a patriot who fights the occupation forces of the Turks hoping to avenge the murder of his father by Romanian nobles and the capture of his brother by the Ottoman sultan. The King of Hungary (Roger Daltrey) becomes Vlad's ally and, with his support, Vlad and his men attack the occupying Turks and turncoat Romanian boyars, and seizes the throne of Wallachia. His bride Lidia (Jane March) discovers what Vlad does to the bodies of his enemies and is horrified. She begins to lose her grip on sanity, claiming to hear the voices of the dead. He reluctantly banishes her to a nunnery, which he later regrets and amends. Lidia, however, remains the same and ultimately commits suicide, leaving Vlad dispirited and alone with their adolescent son. Vlad's brother Radu arrives at the head of a large Turkish invasion force. The narrative of the film is presented as evidence given at a hearing following Vlad's alignment with the Roman Catholic King of Hungary.

Charles Band has been making horror movies in Rumania for several years, so it should come as no surprise to find his local collaborators, associate producer Vlad Paunescu and costume designer Oana Paunescu, among the crew of this ambitious historical epic from The Kushner-Locke Company and director Joe Chappelle (Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers). It's an impressive attempt at rehabilitating the image of Vlad Tepes (Rudolf Martin), the famous Transylvanian prince who inspired Bram Stoker as the model for his vampiric count in the novel Dracula. That's part of the problem with Chappelle's film, because Martin plays Vlad as a sultry, pouting romantic figure in the Frank Langella mode rather than as a man who might have been capable of such astonishing savagery and physical strength on a battlefield. He pouts for money from the King of Hungary (Roger Daltrey being out-pouted for once), romances Jane March, speaks in a petulant growl, and generally looks like he'd be more at home on the dancefloor of a chic discotheque than on a corpse-strewn battlefield. Only the unavoidable feeling that he might be a vampire (he isn't) makes him seem even remotely threatening or dangerous. The rest of the film is better, with authentic-looking locations, some surprising gore, and nicely-handled battle scenes. Peter Weller comes off the best among the cast, playing the creepy Father Stefan with a suitable gravity and authority. It is very difficult to take the historical Dracula away from the vampire legends after over a century of Stoker-inspired over 150 films, but Chappelle and his cast make a game effort, and if they don't exactly succeed in removing the shadow of the vampire from their heroic prince, they have at least produced a rousing entertainment which is far better than anyone had a right to expect.

A warlord must fight a bloody battle in order to regain his kingdom.

This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 19 December, 2013.

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