Dracula (2020) - General Discussion

[DoctorAtomic]

I think Dracula had to drain them for them to turn, and he did a lot of them, but either didn't think they were worth it or forgot about them. He told the vapid girl when she 'died' that she just had to wait. Then she 'woke up' as a vampire.

[MisterGlass]

He made some comment that most people he fed from just died, and some random ones became zombies.  He had a box ready for Jonathan just in case (though why he wouldn't just stake him I have no idea).  I don't know the distinction between Jonathan or Lucy and his other victims, unless it was that he fed on them repeatedly. 

7 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

Didn't the movie have something to explain it.

It did in the intro.  I found a clip (need to turn on subtitles/CC).  It has to do with his beloved's suicide and damnation.

[DoctorAtomic]

Yes, that was it. I only remember he was a human at the start and then it panned to the ceiling on his picture. 

I took a page from Keanu and had a cold Mexican beer tonight. 

[Rushmoras]

5 hours ago, Zanne said:

Dracula seemed intent on finding a bride that would turn out like him, though none of them apparently did.

I somewhat disagree with that. Lucy did turn out like him in the end. If not for cremation, she would have been a "normal" vampire. I guess it has something to do with drinking one's blood for an extensive period of time and not draining the victim from the first instance you see them? And let's not forget that chick in Transilvania, who "helped" Jonathan. She looked somewhat normal...

Also, this "zombie" thing reminds me of Hellsing anime, where only virgins could become pure vampires (along with supernatural powers, if their bloodlust was high enough), others simply became mindless ghouls controlled by its master's will.

[DoctorAtomic]

Lucy wasn't no virgin I'll tell you what. 

[Bruinsfan]

That's the truth in pretty much every adaptation. In the Coppola movie, Lucy was a freak!

LUCY: Whom should I choose? The rich nobleman? The melodramatic doctor? The athletic cowboy? Maybe a bit of sapphic action with my childhood friend?

DRACULA: Good eeevenink.

LUCY: A werewolf! Winner winner yiffy dinner!

Edited January 9, 2020 by Bruinsfan

[DoctorAtomic]

Lucy was actually a normal vampire. She was just crispy. She didn't know how she looked until the picture and was assuming she was immortal as she saw herself in the mirror. 

[vavera4ka]

Dracula was a hoot. I chuckled when he threw nun's head to pick his next victim.

I liked that they tried to go modern times, didn't expect that, the show got me.

Liked that they tried to summarize all the fears and myths into one theory. but BOY was that theory stupid and grasping at straws...

so he is afraid of death... ok cross - fine i give you that. but wtf does sun have to do with it or being invited... what does that have to do with fear of death?

such a major letdown 

Edited January 11, 2020 by vavera4ka

[ShellsandCheese]

On 1/7/2020 at 9:13 PM, MisterGlass said:

In Bram Stoker's Dracula the actual narrative is pretty close to the book.  It adds a lot of creepy adult material and the romantic bits related to Mina as the reincarnation of Dracula's lost love, including a prologue flashback to the 1400s.  As a movie it's campy, and features some bad accents, but the make-up is impressive.

 

I know there are elements of camp and cheesiness but I really like the FFC version. And I love the score. 

Back to this version.....I think it was mostly a miss and it was boring. Movies and TV can be a lot of things but they should never be boring. The third episode was just a disaster in my opinion. It's like the show didn't know what it wanted to be: horror, drama, comedy, camp, social commentary -- and it just ended up not really working at all. I feel like Dracula is so well known that if you want to play around with what is "canon" it should blow the audience's mind in a good way. I don't think Moffatt and Gatiss where the right people to do that. 

Edited January 11, 2020 by ShellsandCheese

[Kathira]

11 hours ago, vavera4ka said:

Dracula was a hoot. I chuckled when he threw nun's head to pick his next victim.

I liked that they tried to go modern times, didn't expect that, the show got me.

Liked that they tried to summarize all the fears and myths into one theory. but BOY was that theory stupid and grasping at straws...

so he is afraid of death... ok cross - fine i give you that. but wtf does sun have to do with it or being invited... what does that have to do with fear of death?

such a major letdown 

I totally agree. I didn't mind the jump to modern tmes, but once Mark Gatiss showed up as Renfield, the whole operation totally went off the rails. Who cares if he has a lawyer? Dracula is questionably a human being, let alone a British citizen. And even if he did have rights, fine, he gets his day in court, not just released on his own recognizance. I think all the prisoners on Guantanamo Bay would like a word. Ugh. 

[ouinason]

that "the new world" thing that they kept saying in ep2 really, really, annoyed me.  England is as old world as possible in europe.

[PrePreBabylonia]

On 1/4/2020 at 5:33 PM, Prower said:

Well, it wouldn't be a Moffat- Gatis- colaboration if the whole thing didn't fall off a cliff towards the end. And this time they managed it in record time!

I really liked episode one and two, but once it got to modern times, yikes. First I was bored with the focus on all these new vapid characters, then really annoyed by how stupid all of it played out and then the ending was just pseudo-deep and really dumb.

And I think the idea to bring it to modern times in the later half of a season/show had a lot of potential. But this was certainly not the way to do it.

  

The german was also pretty good, I have to give them that. Not flawless, but pretty good.

 

Loved the first episode, mostly because of Sister Agatha and Jonathan Harkness. Great dialogue, very funny with moments of pathos (provided by JH). Second episode was also good, though not as good as the first. And then.....the third episode. Disappointing. I didn't realize that ended it, expected a fourth and fifth episode. Don't think they should have bothered. Would love to see Dolly in something better though, she was amazing.

[Bruinsfan]

I'm two episodes in, and bracing myself for the less-glowingly-reviewed final episode later this week. Like many above, Sister Agatha is the highlight of the miniseries to me. When that scene ended with her asking Jonathan Harker if he'd had sex with Count Dracula, I thought "uh oh, here comes the edginess for edginess' sake," but she quickly won me over afterwards as my suspicions about her being some Lady Jayne-esque faux-modern vampire hunter merely posing as a nun were put to rest. (Mother Superior's  question about this being one of Sister Agatha's projects had me in stitches!) Dolly Wells is a glorious revelation, and I'd really like to see a prequel series about Sister Agatha.

As for the title character himself, I'm mostly enjoying him. Claes Bang really gives me a strong James Mason vibe in the role. But he occasionally goes too broad with the delivery and humor; for example, his yelling "LADIES!" at the assembled nuns couldn't help but bring Jerry Lewis to mind, and that's not a connotation one wants with the cinematic Prince of Darkness. Most of his interactions with Sister Agatha were excellent, though.

[HauntedBathroom]

Claes Bang and Dolly Wells are both great in this, and looking back on the series, I don't have a problem with the third episode. I think most of the complaints come from the leap forward to the present day, but I don't see how it could have been a surprise to anyone who's seen Steven Moffat's work before.

I still think the attempt to show how young, sexy, hot people live suffers from being written by people who haven't been young for a while, but I find the interaction between Dracula, Agatha and Zoe brilliantly entertaining.

Edited March 16, 2020 by HauntedBathroom

[Norma Desmond]

never mind

Edited June 27, 2020 by Norma Desmond

[snickers]

I just watched this series this week due to a recommendation from a friend pre COVID, i have been itching to watch halloween moves/shows, so i thought, why not

 

I have to say i was disappointed-i liked the guy who played Dracula, but i am surprised there is so much love for agatha......her character annoyed me soooo much!!!!! nothing against the actress....but.....she was just too unrealistic for the time period....now, the character of zoe i was i fine with....which is why i say it was nothing against the acting

 

i just think it tried to be too "modern" or as someone else put it "edgy"....it just didn't work for the time period...but....i will say....i didn't mind the dracula being with men aspect of it....considering dracula is supposed to be seductive and a seducer....that part with the guy on the boat i could get behind...but the scene with him naked in front of the convent was just too much for me

 

count me in as someone who also loves the 1992 FFC version....nothing can beat the cinematography and score.....plus there's no way a movie like that would be made now with those scenes (especially the lucy/dracula scenes lol)