Dracula 2000 is a pale imitation of past versions of this classic horror flick
Wes Craven Presents Dracula 2000, directed by Patrick Lussier; starring Jonny Lee Miller, Justine Waddell, Gerard Butler. Crowfoot Crossing, Eau Claire Market, Sunridge Spectrum, Coliseum, Market Mall, SilverCity Country Hills, Westhills; 14A, gory and violent scenes.
Rating one out of five.
If further proof is needed that the Dracula myth has been bled dry by the movies, you need look no further than this latest pale and wan entry into the genre of bloodsucking films.
And let the innocent be warned here. Wes Craven, horrormeister and director of Scream, Scream 2, Scream 3 and the creator of the Nightmare on Elm Street series, did not direct this movie. He
didn’t even produce this movie. He executive-produced this movie, clearly now a category where even reading the script isn’t a requirement.
The acting in Dracula 2000 is either indifferent or overwrought, the special effects are pure cheese and the soundtrack announces each new plot point with music that’s loud and overdone. You won’t have to wait long before this one is taking up space on the shelf of the nearest video store.
It is interesting, however, to see just how far some actors will go to collect a cheque.
The most shameful here is veteran Christopher Plummer, playing a descendant of the original Van Helsing, who found himself in Dracula’s gloomy digs oh-so-long-ago. Plummer delivers his lines in an accent that hints of Baron von Trapp from oh-so-long-ago as well.
Second on the shame list is Jonny Lee Miller, who has appeared to great effect in movies as diverse as Trainspotting and the Jane Austen adaptation Mansfield Park. He plays Simon, an antiques dealer who is called on to put the run on a modern-day Dracula.
Third comes Omar Epps, who made a promising debut in the acclaimed ghetto drama Juice before slipping downward into such films as Scream 2 and (shudder) Mod Squad. It can be assumed Epps will not go much lower than Dracula 2000.
In it, he plays a high-tech thief who breaks into Van Helsing’s London mansion and steals the casket that contains Dracula’s body. The stiff is in a fortress/vault, but the thieves load it up on their airplane anyway, convinced there’s treasure inside.
I’ll admit I wondered why high-tech burglars were flying an airplane that appeared to be of Second World War vintage, and why they couldn’t figure out how to open the coffin. When they finally figure it out, all heck breaks loose.
The women in this film were obviously cast because they possessed two very important attributes: great big breasts. Most notably Jennifer Esposito, Vitamin C and Jeri Ryan, who are all transformed into the undead here, have what it takes to fill the screen in this movie.
As for Dracula himself, well, he’s played by British actor Gerard Butler.
His character should combine menace and seduction, although Butler seems capable only of a smouldering glance or two. It doesn’t suffice.
Copyright 2000 Southam Inc