Dracula 2000 (2000)
Starring Gerard Butler, Christopher Plummer & Jonny Lee Miller
Directed by Patrick Lussier
Written by Joel Soisson & Patrick Lussier

 

If you’re thinking of having an annual Halloween scary movie night, there are a lot of choices as well. You can go for the classics like Nightmare on Elm Street, Night of the Living Dead, Halloween and many others. Or you can hunt for an over-looked title, as in this case, the guilty pleasure known as “Dracula 2000”. This is not to be confused with the more obscure Coolio-starring “Dracula 3000”.

“Dracula 2000”, or its full title “Wes Craven presents Dracula 2000”, is a little gem of a vampire movie (well, depending if you like the classic Dracula tale turned upside down and brought into the 21st Century, and can overlook its shortfall).

Patrick Lussier, a longtime editor for Craven, directs. The talented cast includes Jonny Lee Miller, Omar Epps, Jennifer Esposito, Justine Waddell, Colleen “Vitamin C” Fitzpatrick, Jeri Ryan, a then-unknown Gerard Butler, Danny Masterson, Nathan Fillion, Lochlyn Munro, Shane West, Sean Patrick Thomas and from “The Sound of Music”, the distinguished Christopher Plummer (Captain Von Trapp!!) as Van Helsing’s grandson Abraham.

The story of Dracula is quickly brought into the 21st Century after a quick backstory at the start of the movie. Abraham Van Helsing manages a London antiquities trade business with his young assistant Simon (Miller). What he keeps locked up in the basement of the business piques the interest of some high-tech thieves eager to make some quick money.

After a few quick scenes with a discovery of a locked silver coffin, the action then moves to America. The setting of New Orleans during Mardi Gras is the perfect atmosphere for Dracula (played by Butler) to reappear. No one is going to notice a black-caped man walking the streets and looking for dinner, I mean love, in all the wrong places.

Mary (Justine Waddell) and Lucy (Colleen Fitzpatrick) are friends living the single life in New Orleans. Van Helsing and Simon also arrive. The basement’s contents (the locked silver coffin) are also being transported to New Orleans. The thieves, led by Marcus (Omar Epps) and Solina (Jennifer Esposito), have shipped the silver coffin aboard a private plane. They hope to turn their discovery into a goldmine. Unfortunately, those two will soon be fresh victims of Dracula.

The gorgeous Jeri Ryan plays the reporter Valerie Sharpe, who is seduced by Dracula after she reports about the plane crash (yes, the same plane that Dracula is reborn on) and becomes one of Dracula’s “brides”.

Mary and Lucy work in the Virgin music store and Mary has some visions of Dracula appearing in the store. In her vision, she and other females in the store are spellbound by Dracula’s presence.

Most of the scares in the film are anticipated by the blaring music score. Still, it is a fun ride with some definite eye candy for both male, female and undead viewers. Don’t watch the movie expecting something epic like Francis Ford Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”.

Simon (played by Miller) has an encounter with Dracula’s three lovely brides (Esposito, Ryan and Fitzpatrick) that would make any warm-blooded male succumb to the temptation of being bitten.

There is a new twist to the old Dracula legend that Dracula was actually Judas Iscariot. This is introduced too late in the movie and just messes up a rather simple retelling of the Dracula legend.

The movie does end with the obvious set-up for a sequel. In fact, executive producer Craven probably figured on this, since his “Scream” franchise did so well. One minor problem with the “Dracula 2000” movie (as the start of yet another horror movie franchise) is that since they included the year 2000 in the title, the sequels would either have to include the year it was released or the Roman numerals that many franchises have.

They opted for the second choice and “Dracula II: Ascension” followed in 2003, and “Dracula III: Legacy” in 2005. Another problem with this franchise is that the sequels feature different actors. Viewers may not get too attached if they can’t recognize any familiar people in the franchise. “Ascension” and “Legacy” both feature a few of the same actors, but no one from “Dracula 2000” continued on in the franchise.

You could argue that “Dracula 2000” rips off a lot of other genre movies, most noticeably “Blade”. It even reminds you of the TV series “Angel”. Also, after viewing “Dracula 2000” again, you feel that the second movie in the franchise could have continued with Mary’s story and her character’s evolution.

“Dracula 2000” is a very good “eye candy” movie to go with your popcorn. Sure, there could have been more focus on Dracula and Mary’s relationship, Van Helsing and Mary, as well as Simon and Mary. What about Mary and Lucy living together? Hmmm? Although, that would probably make “Dracula 2000” become another movie entirely and would have killed the R-rating.

Danny Masterson has such a small part and it would have been great to see him in some more scenes. The movie is only 99 minutes, so unless they ever release the “Unrated Director’s Cut”, we may never find out more about all the character relationships.

Director Lussier has gone on to other films (directing some and editing quite a few other popular movies) and is going to make the next Halloween, “Halloween III 3-D” to be released in 2011.

“Dracula 2000” is a fun vampire movie to sink your teeth into and since it feels like a guilty pleasure, you can freely indulge yourself in it and know it won’t suck.