Vampires have been a hot property in the 1990’s with films like JOHN CARPENTER’S VAMPIRES, INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE, FROM DUSK TIL DAWN, and the superior BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA. It is fitting then, for the modern vampire genre to enter the next millennium with WES CRAVEN’S DRACULA 2000. Of course, Wes Craven did not direct this Dimension production, he merely produced it. Though Craven is a proven horror commodity, the films he has produced have not fared so well. The director is actually Patrick Lussier, a stock Dimension player whose only other directing credit is THE PROHECY 3. Like THE CROW: SALVATION, this film got bumped from release date to release date, until Dimension finally put it out during the 2000 holiday season, before the year ran out! If they had waited any longer, they’d have to change the advertising material to DRACULA 2001. This movie was obviously tailored to the teenage crowd, but failed to attract SCREAM-size audiences. During the summer of 2001, Dimension Home Video brought the hip terrors of Bram Stoker’s greatest creation to a feature-laden special edition DVD.

Christopher (STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY) Plummer stars as vampire hunter, Abraham Van Helsing. Justine (MANSFIELD PARK) Waddell is his disturbed daughter, Mary. Jonny Lee (HACKERS) Miller plays Simon Sheppard, a relic hunter and protégé of Van Helsing. Gerard (TALE OF THE MUMMY) Butler takes the role of the title bloodsucker. Beautiful Jennifer (I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER) Esposito is Solina, the would-be thief who turns into Dracula’s slave. Omar (SCREAM 2) Epps is Solina’s ally, Marcus. Jeri (STAR TREK VOYAGER) Ryan portrays a sexy TV reporter, Valerie Sharp. Colleen (HAIRSPRAY) Fitzpatrick stars as Mary’s friend, Lucy. DRACULA 2000 is written by Joel Soisson, the untalented writer of HIGHLANDER: ENDGAME and MIMIC 2.

In the late 1800s, Abraham Van Helsing (Plummer) captures Dracula in London. Van Helsing can’t find a way to kill his mortal enemy, so he locks him in a high security vault below the city. Then, Van Helsing uses slugs (filled with the blood of Dracula) to keep eternal vigil over the Prince of the Undead. In the year 2000, Van Helsing has amassed a fortune while still keeping guard over Dracula’s body. Simon (Miller) retrieves ancient vampire-killing weapons for Van Helsing’s private collection. But one of Van Helsing’s employees, Solina (Esposito) concocts a scheme to raid Van Helsing’s vaults believing that a fortune in riches is kept within. Solina and her cohorts (including Omar Epps) break into the underground vault, and stumble onto Dracula’s tomb. Thinking that there are valuables in the coffin, they capture it and escape England in a private airplane. The would-be thieves traverse the Atlantic on their way back to America. But Dracula is resurrected and slaughters all those aboard, turning them into his undead slaves. The plane crashes into the swamps of Louisiana.

Van Helsing is exasperated over Dracula’s resurrection. He packs his bags and charters a flight for Louisiana; unaware that Simon is following him. Meanwhile, Dracula has set his sights on Van Helsing’s daughter, Mary. There is a link between Dracula and Mary because Van Helsing ingested his enemy’s blood (via the slugs) to keep himself alive all these years. Before Van Helsing and Simon can warn Mary, Dracula sends his undead foot soldiers and sexy vampire brides (Esposito, Ryan, and Fitzpatrick) to kill them. While Van Helsing and Simon are fighting for their lives, Dracula begins using the lure of his human form and hypnotism to seduce Mary into his perverse circle of the undead. Van Helsing finally succumbs to the madness of the vampires, and now Simon is the only one left to break Dracula’s hold on Mary, the last descendent of the Van Helsing family.

The problem with the Dracula legend is that everyone is familiar with the story and characters, and it’s been done way too many times. Except for offering up a different origin for Dracula, all the pieces are in place for this recognizable story. As a result, the concept has lost its edge. In the end, DRACULA 2000 comes off as hollow, and merely an excuse for alternative rock bands to get some exposure. Mary and her best friend Lucy are clerks in a Virgin Megastore, even though they look about 30! Mary walks around in a T-shirt that foretells her fate; it says Virgin. Gee, a woman named Mary who is a virgin (if that’s not lazy religious symbolism, I don’t know what is). This CD store just happens to be located in the City of Sin (Louisiana) during Mardi Gras. When was the last time you saw a movie in Louisiana and there was not a Mardi Gras going on? Then there is the attempt to pin the origin of Dracula on a certain situation in the bible involving the betrayal of Jesus Christ. Apparently scriptwriter Joel Soisson never bothered to research Bram Stoker’s character, who is based on the real life mass murderer Vlad the Impaler. The religious angle in DRACULA 2000 is too heavy handed and rushed for anything positive to come out of that plot element. Any attempts at serious storytelling are quickly lost in lieu of the decapitations, throat slashings, and bad one-liners.

Luckily, the cast of DRACULA 2000 is superior to the script (with one major exception). Justine Waddell is a very good young actress, one of the better talents I’ve seen in a long while, and surely well above this material. Jonny Lee Miller is another young actor who defies the pretty-boy expectations of the SCREAM genre, and it’s ilk. Since Peter Cushing is no longer with us, and Anthony Hopkins commanding enormously large sums these days, Christopher Plummer makes for an awesome Van Helsing. He gets the best lines and has more presence than Dracula himself. Jennifer Esposito gets her best role yet as bad-girl vampirette, Solina. Her character practically steals the movie similar to the way Salma Hayek’s Santanico character did in the original FROM DUSK TIL DAWN. Jeri Ryan is reduced to a token role, but hey, at least she looks good with fangs! Which brings us to the one major casting roadblock, and that is unknown actor Gerard Butler as the Prince of Darkness. Previously, actors who have played Drac have been proven Shakespearean caliber talents like Christopher Lee, Gary Oldman, and even Frank Langella. But Gerard Butler looks like a bohemian 1980’s rock star (think Richard Marx). Butler projects about as much menace as N’SYNC. I know he’s supposed to look handsome and gothic and all, but I’m sure there are some more Hollywood actors with more range and presence.

DRACULA 2000 should please horror fans on a purely visceral level. Van Helsing raises slugs, and pumps their blood into a syringe and finally injects it into his own arm. In the grossest moment in the film, one of Solina’s stupid thugs gets a leech shot into his orbital--the guy runs around the set trying to pull the slimy insect out of his eye socket! In one cool bit, Van Helsing has his vault rigged with booby traps (ala RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK). When the criminal henchmen attempt to enter Dracula’s tomb, spikes shoot out of the wall and impale several of the thieves in a suitably gory fashion. As this is a vampire film, DRACULA 2000 also offers stakes through the chest, decapitations, ripped jugulars, and one woman gets her brains ripped out. There are also some scary moments up until Dracula evolves into Gerard Butler. When the coffin is first discovered and first opened, there are some genuine thrilling moments. Van Helsing has placed a steel mask on Dracula’s head to nullify his powers. This is one of the better moments of DRACULA 2000. But after that, it’s all typical Hollywood clichés: gruesome killings, bland alternative rock, and really bad one-liners that remove any sense of menace the film may have had.

From the Special Features menu, you can access the talent auditions. There are three segments filmed prior to production on the DRACULA 2000 including footage of Gerard Butler (4:28), Justine Waddell (2:30), and Colleen Fitzpatrick (2:00). You can take a close look at storyboards for many cut scenes and alternative takes. There is also an audio commentary with director Lussier and screenwriter Soisson. While I can’t say I appreciate their talents, they do support each other rather well. You can also view four deleted scenes that were cut from the film for pacing:

• Capture of Dracula (3:58)
• Simon and Val (:44)
• Judas Fantasy Sequence (:57)
• Lucy and Mary Kiss (1:37)

These deleted scenes are presented widescreen (without 16x9 enhancement), DD 2.0 sound, and with optional commentary by Lussier and Soisson. These clips really add nothing to the film, except for the first, Capture of Dracula. This prologue scene takes place in historic London and features the best sets and special effects the movie has to offer. It’s really a mystery why they would cut this out.

There is also three alternative scenes, again in widescreen, DD 2.0, and optional commentary by Lussier and Soisson:

• Van Helsing and Dracula (2:49)
• The Swamp (2:43)
• The Cross (2:55)

All these clips are lengthy exposition scenes that slow down the movie, except for The Swamp. This alternative take contains some additional suspenseful moments that make Jeri Ryan’s attack scene even more shocking.

There are trailers for the following Dimension products:

• DRACULA 2000 (FF, DD 2.0, 2:15)
• THE FACULTY (FF, DD 2.0, 1:06)
• IMMORTALITY (FF, DD 2.0, :59)
• DOUBLE TAKE (WS, DD 2.0, 2:12)
• REINDEER GAMES (FF, DD 2.0, 1:40)
• THE CROW Box Set (FF, DD 2.0, 1:02)
• FROM DUSK TIL DAWN Box Set (FF, DD 2.0, 1:58)
• SCREAM Box Set (FF, DD 2.0, :30)
• DRACULA 2000 CD Soundtrack Commercial (FF, DD 2.0, :30)

-  Phil Chandler