Dario Argentos Dracula

In his senior years, Dario Argento leaves his yellow brick road to have a go at gothic horror with Count Dracula. Tragically unsuccessful, the result is a stiff, non-atmospheric, cheap (the first boobs come out already five minutes in) dud, and the most interesting thing in it are the effects, which are bad in an utterly amazing way; here is when the film is at least funny. Unfortunately, there aren’t many of those effects (the “best” ones can be seen already in the trailer). And when you can’t even laugh at the effects, Argento’s Dracula is just a backdrop to boredom, with a very uncharismatic antihero on top of that. I’m giving it one star because I was expecting something a little worse. Rather than disappointment or mockery, I feel sad that one of the genre’s greats, which Argento certainly is, is involved in something like this. Maybe he will pull himself together and make a film that will be at least average. A filmography like his doesn’t deserve to end in this tragedy. (15.03.2013)