Meet Mr. Karma

Until its last 20 minutes, Dracula Untold is as much a vampire movie as World War Z was a zombie movie. That is to say, not very much at all. The majority of the film plays out as a PG-13 Game of Thrones episode with a nod toward the Lord of the Rings movies. While entertaining enough despite some slow patches and predictable plot points, the horror lite flick, as constructed, calls into question recent press reports that Dracula Untold is one part of a classic Universal monsters reboot with Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, the Mummy, and perhaps even the Creature from the Black Lagoon to follow. The inchoate title – (couldn’t go with Dracula: The Untold Story or maybe even just Dracula?) – does not ring of a franchise launch pad, although it does lead to mirthful speculation about what the sequel will be called: perhaps Dracula Told, with the final chapter of the trilogy coming in as Dracula Told Off. The eccentricities of this production bolsters the notion that Universal was simply being opportunistic in tying this to a potential renaissance of the beloved black-and-white horror icons. However fans and critics view this film as standalone entertainment, Dracula Untold is simply not good enough on its own merits to justify expectations that the studio has a supernatural Avengers on its hands. (more…)