STORYLINE: When a 15th-century prince denounces God after the devastating loss of his wife, he inherits an eternal curse: he becomes Dracula. Condemned to wander the centuries, he defies fate and death itself, guided by a single hope – to be reunited with his lost love.  (IMDb)

   How do you think it would it have been to sit in the audience, in 1931, when Bela Lugosi first brought Dracula to cinemas?  How about laughing out loud, when Leslie Nielsen portrayed the character in Mel Brooks” 1995 comedy Dracula: Dead and Loving it?  Who can forget when Gary Oldman masterfully portrayed the prince of darkness in 1992 adaptation?  How much fun was 2023’s Reinfield, starring Nicolas Cage?  February 2026 welcomes the latest interpretation of the vampire tale, Dracula.

   With a variety of Dracula adaptations already in circulation, this one had a high bar to clear to make an impression.  This 2026 feature misses that mark, and becomes white noise among all the adaptations. Dracula is visually unimpressive, with an actor playing Dracula who showed no emotion in the his performance.  The film over all played like a drawn out love story. The kind you find on daytime soap operas.  Those stories work for day time soap operas, but not for a Dracula feature. 

   Christoph Waltz seemed to be having fun with his supporting, Van Helsing like role.  His performance was not enough to elevate the movie to mediocrity.

   This Dracula adaptation is one that missed the mark.

    Until next time I will see you at the movies!