Dracula Untold

[Flash Gordon]

This doesn't look so bad, looks like a typical action flick.

I don't get why we can't just have a straight up DRACULA film though.

[marshal99]

The last time they did an origin from Vlad the impaler to vampire dracula was in the 2000 tv movie "Dark Prince : The true story of Dracula" , that actor later appeared in Buffy as dracula the same year.

[Ghost]

I don't get why we can't just have a straight up DRACULA film though.

What would you consider a straight up Dracula film?

[Pyrebomb]

The last time they did an origin from Vlad the impaler to vampire dracula was in the 2000 tv movie "Dark Prince : The true story of Dracula" , that actor later appeared in Buffy as dracula the same year.

So that's why I kept thinking of Buffy while I was rewatching bits of that movie. You go, Rudolf Martin. Find you niche and run with it.

[Hiromi]

What would you consider a straight up Dracula film?

Probably the same film that's been made and remade a billion times at this point. It's been made enough to get a Mel Brooks spoof, something new's refreshing.

[VolcanikTiger86]

I don't mind him being sympathetic in some respects. The Lugosi Dracula had moments of sympathy ("To die, to really be dead - that must be glorious!") and was very charming. In the Herzog version of Nosferatu he's so wretched and alienated you sympathize with him - but I don't like making him too sympathetic, making it his defining trait, as in the Coppola version of Dracula. Dracula is a bastard. He's a conniving, controlling, ego-maniacal monster and we're left to think he'd be one even if he wasn't a vampire.

I was actually thinking realistically could Dracula have a mate/Wife, I know someone who thought the only way it would work is if he was abusive and hit her but for me it would be more controlling, treating her like she was made of glass even though she could take care of herself, that’s something I would like to see how would Dracula maintain a relationship if he even could. BTW I also know someone who thinks Dracula can’t care for someone as he is a soulless blood thirsty monster.

DRACULA DID NOT BURST INTO FLAMES WHEN CONFRONTED BY THE SUN. It weakened his powers. That was it. He was shown moving about openly in the daytime many times. This whole "sunlight damages vampires" trope didn't even exist in mythology or when Dracula was written. In fact, it's first appearance was only a decade before Universal's first Dracula release, as the entire notion stems from the final scene of Nosferatu.

Was it ever shown that the brides had this ability or was Dracula the only one to show it.
Not that it helps the problem Pyrebomb I’m just curious

Heres a question what weakness should a vampire have for me it has to be silver, not having a head and fire, was never fond of the holy water, crosses or garlic thing.

[ABH]

I always liked the idea that Dracula (being an old, powerful Vampire), could walk in the sunlight (with diminished powers), while other vampires would burst into flames. He's freaking Dracula, he should be able to do things that other vampires cannot.

Beyond that, I'm fine with all the traditional vampire weaknesses. Silver was always interesting to me, because it worked against both vamps and werewolves, so that's pretty handy to keep around. Holy Water and Crosses work, if that particular vampire series/movie/book has that sort of unholy origin (damning Christ/making a deal with the devil, or whatever), but if it's one of those Sci-Fi, man-made virus vampires, then there's no reason for those to be effective. Then there's good ol' stake through the heart or decapitation.

[Vakanai]

I don't get why we can't just have a straight up DRACULA film though.

I don't necessarily want a straight up Dracula film so much as I just want a straight up Dracula. What I mean is we don't need the same sort of basic Dracula plot anymore, it's been done and done well, I just want a film that embraces all the tropes and stereotypes and has fun with it. I want an evil, stylish, classy, cape wearing, "I vant to suck your blood" Lugosi accented, turns into a bat, Bela Lugosi/Christopher Lee inspired classic feeling Dracula. Not played for laughs, not made realistic, but simple basic Dracula. The Dracula that can threaten all London, scare Abbot and Costello, freaking rock Monster Squad (seriously, watch Monster Squad, that was classic Dracula done to loving awesomeness!), throwing out the hypnotism stare, garlic intolerant freaking everybody recognizes him right away Dracula. We haven't had that Dracula (done well) since the 80s. Everything has tried to make him more sympathetic, more real, more terrifying (the guy will drain you dead and then move on to the rest of your puny village, does he really need a scary makeover?), more modern Dracula. Which was neat and interesting and new 20-ish years ago. But now the only Dracula to be Dracula is the overly child-friendly cartoon versions like Hotel Transylvania Adam Sandler Dracula (actually liked that movie, but still...). Enough time has passed, enough different versions of the count have been tried, why not make a real, serious attempt at doing Classic Dracula. He wants to drink blood, he's got a thick accent, he rocks the cape and the fangs, we we love him for it. People want to see the classic versions of characters. When was the last time Sherlock seriously wore a deerstalker hat, the hat people think of as the Sherlock Holmes hat? People should stop worrying about if that sort of Dracula will play to modern audiences. You know how Batman: Brave and the Bold made Aquaman cool? They just did classic Aquaman, only Aquaman was in on the joke. Sure, Dracula knows wearing a cape in 2014 is ridiculous and that accent would make him stand out in any English-speaking country, but Dracula shouldn't care. Why? Because Dracula is Dracula, and if he's not going to revel in being the undead horror icon then what's the point in being Dracula? That's all you have to do, show the magnificent bastard is in on it and roll camera.

That went a bit longer than anticipated, but that is so how I wish somebody would do Dracula. Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Monster Squad styled Dracula with a vengeance. I don't want a straight up Dracula film, just a straight up Dracula.

Heres a question what weakness should a vampire have for me it has to be silver, not having a head and fire, was never fond of the holy water, crosses or garlic thing.

Eh, that always seemed to depend on your ease with religion. I always liked the holy water and cross combo (when was the last time that was done straight, now a days the cross seems to spontaneously combust if Dracula's so much as in the tri-state area). It adds to the supernatural aspect to Dracula and vampires. Getting kind of bored of the vampiric virus thing. Also the garlic thing, if only because it made vampires weak to Italian food.

[pro]

for me it has to be silver, not having a head and fire, was never fond of the holy water, crosses or garlic thing.

Silver against vampires? Oh dear dear, you would not last long as a vampire hunter.
Silver is for werewolves. The reason silver works on werewolves is because their transformation is magically linked to the moon. The metal magically associated with the moon is silver, therefore using silver disrupts a werewolf's ability to heal.
It doesn't instantly kill them but it at least levels the playing field.

Undead vampires are vulnerable to wood, Wood is symbolic for life, therefpre staking a vampire's heart with wood disrupts their undead state and causes them to fall into a comatose state.
One then ensures the vampire stays dead by chopping off its head. The head is the second seat of life. Neutralize both the head and the heart and the vampire's power is broken.
Salting the earth around the body is an added precaution, aside from salt being magically associated with the element earth and used for purification there is the practical aspect of salt draining fluids from a corpse, including the lifeblood the vampire relies on to survive.
Garlic works because it is magically associated with Mars, which is also associated with fire. Aside from that garlic has sulfides that have various medicinal effects, including as a natural antibiotic. Hippocrates used garlic to combat cancerous tumors.
Holy water and crosses work only if the user is a true believer. And it requires a little more than just waving any old cross in the face of a vampire.
Sunlight works to weaken it in the same manner as silver works on werewolves, it disrupts the vampire's ability to heal itself.
Fire works as well as it does on humans but since vampires can magically heal themselves it is not effective as a means of permanently killing a vampire unless the whole body is consumed by fire. For that you need a furnace.

Psychic vampires tend to require their own special brand of exorcism. For that Read Dion Fortune's excellent book on Psychic Defenses.

Silver .. oh lordielord ..

[Arfguy]

I always liked the idea that Dracula (being an old, powerful Vampire), could walk in the sunlight (with diminished powers), while other vampires would burst into flames. He's freaking Dracula, he should be able to do things that other vampires cannot.

You may not like it, but Dracula from Blade Trinity says hello

[Angilasman]

Silver .. oh lordielord ..

Werewolf and vampire myths used to share a lot of features (being almost synonymous with each other sometimes), and yes: silver traditionally has been used against a variety of beings, including vampires. The reason different things have been canonized as being part of vampire or werewolf mythology is because of books like Dracula and films like the Universal monster movies, which sampled mythology and also made stuff up.

Silver is for werewolves. The reason silver works on werewolves is because their transformation is magically linked to the moon.

Werewolves weren't linked to the full moon until... wait for it... the Universal monster movies! In Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man.

[MichaelC]

The legends are wildly inconsistent. If you think comics have variable continuity, just imagine the mess that gets made when continuity changes every time a mother tells her children a scary story, again and again for centuries.

[Hiromi]

Many of the popular monsters we think of as coming out of folklore have in reality become almagations of similar creatures from a variety of different cultural folklores, you can find vampire like beings going as far back as Greek and Mesopotamian Mythology (Empusa and Lilitu respectively).

[Ghost]

I don't necessarily want a straight up Dracula film so much as I just want a straight up Dracula. What I mean is we don't need the same sort of basic Dracula plot anymore, it's been done and done well, I just want a film that embraces all the tropes and stereotypes and has fun with it. I want an evil, stylish, classy, cape wearing, "I vant to suck your blood" Lugosi accented, turns into a bat, Bela Lugosi/Christopher Lee inspired classic feeling Dracula. Not played for laughs, not made realistic, but simple basic Dracula. The Dracula that can threaten all London, scare Abbot and Costello, freaking rock Monster Squad (seriously, watch Monster Squad, that was classic Dracula done to loving awesomeness!), throwing out the hypnotism stare, garlic intolerant freaking everybody recognizes him right away Dracula. We haven't had that Dracula (done well) since the 80s. Everything has tried to make him more sympathetic, more real, more terrifying (the guy will drain you dead and then move on to the rest of your puny village, does he really need a scary makeover?), more modern Dracula. Which was neat and interesting and new 20-ish years ago. But now the only Dracula to be Dracula is the overly child-friendly cartoon versions like Hotel Transylvania Adam Sandler Dracula (actually liked that movie, but still...). Enough time has passed, enough different versions of the count have been tried, why not make a real, serious attempt at doing Classic Dracula. He wants to drink blood, he's got a thick accent, he rocks the cape and the fangs, we we love him for it. People want to see the classic versions of characters. When was the last time Sherlock seriously wore a deerstalker hat, the hat people think of as the Sherlock Holmes hat? People should stop worrying about if that sort of Dracula will play to modern audiences. You know how Batman: Brave and the Bold made Aquaman cool? They just did classic Aquaman, only Aquaman was in on the joke. Sure, Dracula knows wearing a cape in 2014 is ridiculous and that accent would make him stand out in any English-speaking country, but Dracula shouldn't care. Why? Because Dracula is Dracula, and if he's not going to revel in being the undead horror icon then what's the point in being Dracula? That's all you have to do, show the magnificent bastard is in on it and roll camera.

That went a bit longer than anticipated, but that is so how I wish somebody would do Dracula. Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Monster Squad styled Dracula with a vengeance. I don't want a straight up Dracula film, just a straight up Dracula.

I agree. And honestly, I think that is what universal hopes to do. This is just the first film in a series. The next could take place hundreds of years in the future for all we know. Universal wanted to make the Wolfman reboot be a series, but since it didnt earn enough plans were dropped.

As others have already mentioned in this thread Universal essentially has created their own monster mythology at this point. It would be impossible to wholly recreate Lugosis Dracula unless you have a time machine. His voice, physical appearance and mannerisms were unique to him as an actor. I believe he even was the one who decided Dracula had a opera cape as he also played the character on stage. Then there is also the fact he was filmed in black and white.

Im glad you mentioned Monster Squad. I think that is probably my favorite interpretation of Dracula to date. He was arguably even more bad*ss than Lugosi's version. Everyone knew who he was, he had the look and turned into a bat. Other than that the character was pretty different.

[Ghost]

Many of the popular monsters we think of as coming out of folklore have in reality become almagations of similar creatures from a variety of different cultural folklores, you can find vampire like beings going as far back as Greek and Mesopotamian Mythology (Empusa and Lilitu respectively).

Yep. Vampire mythology is pretty allover the place. In Romanian mythology an immortal vampire is called a Strigoi, and a dead/demonic vampire is a Strigoi-Mort. The ways of becoming a strigoi are pretty amusing (from wikipedia):

Be the seventh child of the same sex in a family;
Be redhead
Lead a life of sin
Die without being married…
…by execution for perjury
…by suicide
…having been cursed by a witch.

Then there are the ghostly yet mortal Moroi vampires. It seems, at least in Romanian folklore, Vampires were really any kind of evil being, and were closely related to ghosts, demons, witches and werewolfs. Not nearly as clearly defined as we see these monsters today. its pretty interesting stuff.