(The Vintage Tempest)
Just how many reimaginings of Bram Stoker’s Dracula do we need? Let me count the works from this century: there’s at least a dozen—Untold, Dark Prince, and Reborn are perhaps the closest they can get to the book’s lore. The rest sticks around even after being “killed” so he remains a threat to humanity.
Mark Gatiss (Sherlock) and Steven Moffat (Doctor Who) developed this latest take and it’s a curious mix of period drama and Hammer style horror. This three-part series has each episode nearly movie length. Like the novel, it begins conveniently enough with Jonathan Harker (John Heffernan) visiting the Count (Claes Bang) and Mina (Morfydd Clark) swearing her eternal love. The nobleman has other plans and his lust for both the male and female gender goes nowhere fast. Either he’s too decrepit to get off, or those tones brought down for Netflix’s broadcasting standards.
Stoker’s Dracula represented unbridled passion. The romantic vampire is better explored in Coppula’s Dracula
Any authentic scares come briefly. In part one, “The Rules of the Beast,” the relationship between Dracula and Harker feels like its own movie. It goes into better details of the many days spent at the castle. The lighting, cinematography and gothic atmosphere is terrific. It’s as close as the show runners can get to the source material before they finally go off on a tangent. This act one update is not without certain surprises.
When reimagining a classic, no original detail is safe. Either certain characters are gender swapped or killed sooner than later. Those changes are generally acceptable. My biggest complaint is that without bringing the insane Renfield—the faithful disciple of Dracula—early on, this update is lacking. This update is missing a key theme. The famous phrase, “Blood is life,” is repeated and nobody understands its significance. The madman knows the meaning and without him around, nobody gets it.
The second episode “Blood Vessel” almost stands alone. This act fills in all the details not mentioned about the crossing of the boat, Demeter. It’s a whodunnit with the viewer knowing who the killer is. An additional mystery had me trying to figure out who resides in cabin 9. Had the producers included elements of The Shining to this nautical tale, I’d be all over it. The Samuel Taylor Coleridge reference went nowhere and I caught this detail right away because I’m adore the Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Aside from the cold nights, the boat never sailed far north to encounter the spirits of the dead, or curse any noble mariners to an immortal life.
The first two episodes are well executed for its general intent. They introduce newcomers to the alpha vampire. A heavy analysis which includes spoilers follow and is separated by a next page break.
In Francis Ford Coppola‘s 1992 film adaptation, Renfield was the barrister who met Dracula first before the company sent Harker on the same mission. When compared to the original source, just how he knew of the vampire was more of a metaphysical tête-à-tête. This latest version takes its cue from the movie and introduces him much later in the narrative to be of any significance. The overall story loses gravitas since he’s not revealed until much later.
The modern setting is plausible with the final part, “The Dark Compass.” I’m flexible enough to accept a massive leap of faith on what Moffat and Gatiss can do to give new life to a familiar tale. Not everyone appreciated Moffat’s work in Doctor Who and I was never got into Sherlock despite having a terrific actor who plays the lead.
The third chapter offered a few elements which feels ripped from Universal Pictures failed Dark Universe franchise, namely with an organization named after the sacrifice of Jonathan Harker. This group exists for a reason, and instead of having Dr Jekyll around, an ancestor of Van Helsing is in charge.
I’m more disappointed in the fact the superstitions regarding how to keep a vampire at bay are long gone. Just how a vampire can survive in an ocean (of constantly moving water) is crazy! Wouldn’t all that dirt wash even since those coffins were never airtight? The aversion to sunlight signifies how the cursed can never be with God again, and all the spiritual context is washed away by the third episode. By the third episode, they are treated as less of a supernatural threat and more of being like an infection.
Shades of Forever Knight is even noticeable because all vampires can find redemption. If the sympathy Dracula has for Dr. Zoe Van Helsing is not bad enough, the significance of Lucy Westenra makes little sense to all the suitors who wanted her as a girlfriend, and Mina Harker is completely forgotten.
I’m sure Bram Stoker is fuming in the great beyond. His invention, his tale doesn’t quite work in a modern day setting. His ideas were guided by the fact he took inspiration from a royal king who saved a nation from Ottoman rule. He took a few notes from Slavic folklore to make him a haunting figure, and Lugosi pioneered the gaze. Seriously, this reinvention is more like a reworking of the pop culture vampire formula (including the wry humour from What We Do in Shadows) where thankfully Twilight is not in the mix. I’d have to stake myself had it gone that far.