Facing threats to his kingdom and his family, Vlad Tepes looks to make a deal with dangerous supernatural forces - without succumbing to the darkness himself.
The cast sink their teeth in but the resulting film is surprisingly bloodless.
Armour-clanging, cloak-swishing tosh with okay battles, terrible dialogue and sadly little horror or heroism. Nowhere near as bad as I, Frankenstein – but what is?
Thrown-together superhero epic could have been endearing with better editing and fewer cheap effects.
As a result, the film risks becoming stranded in a purgatorial wilderness somewhere between horror and romantic adventure. A little more venom would have helped.
Squandering the talents of Evans, Gadon and Cooper, this latest entry into Dracula's cinematic tomb is likely to neither satisfy horror hounds or drama lovers. The result? Toothless.
Luke Evans gives his Vlad the Impaler a brooding intensity, but this garbled origins idea is better left undead.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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