Dracula Archives | Otaku No Culture

Perhaps It’s Best Not to Book Passage on the Last Voyage of the Demeter

Sometimes, a new life can be breathed onto the The Last Voyage of the Demeter, had it been released on a different platform.

Although The Last Voyage of the Demeter has set sail, away from theatrical screenings, hopefully it’s eventual home video release will do better to help make Warner Bros. think this release isn’t doomed to failure. This expansion of the material presented in Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula, is an effective horror film. Plus, not only does this take offer a lot more story than the eight pages featured in the book but also expands on it!

Here, horror fans are treated to a two hour film (which equates to approximately 120 leaflets). Also, instead of seeing a group of five navigate the stormy seas, the crew has become eight! Although one individual was unnamed, the others include first mate Wojcheck (David Dastmalchian, a character created for this movie), Olgaren (Stefan Kapicic), Abrams/Abramoff (Chris Walley) and Petrofsky (Nikolai Nikolaeff).

I’d have to rewatch this film again to double check who was second in command and served the food. In charge of this brigade is Captain Eliot (Liam Cunningham). In regards to who’s new are Doctor Clemens (Corey Hawkins) seeking passage to London, a stowaway going by the name of Anna (Aisling Franciosi), and the cabin boy Toby (Woody Norman) who also happens to be the captain’s grandson. Continue reading “Perhaps It’s Best Not to Book Passage on the Last Voyage of the Demeter”

Brian Richmond’s Adaptation of Dracula Continues at Blue Bridge Theatre!

Artistic Director Brian Richmond’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic 19th century gothic horror story is back! The next part of the dramatised reading of parts one and two is set to thrill, and this time it’ll be Dracula in Red.

Blue Bridge Theatre
2657 Quadra St
Victoria, BC

Showtimes:
Saturday, February 26, 2022

Dracula In Black – 5:00 pm
Dracula In White – 6:30 pm
Dracula In Red – 8:00 pm

Artistic Director Brian Richmond‘s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic 19th century gothic horror story is back! The next part of the dramatised reading of parts one and two is set to thrill, and this time it’ll be Dracula in Red.

For avid radio drama enthusiasts, there’s over six hours of material to get reacquainted with, or those who want to get to the meat can partake in a particular section. Each colourized section focuses on a specific group of chapters, so that attendees are only getting part of a greater picture, which will cumulate to the ultimate confrontation with the master of darkness himself!

Continue reading “Brian Richmond’s Adaptation of Dracula Continues at Blue Bridge Theatre!”

Aren’t you Vlad to See Delgado’s Stake with Dracula?

Whether you’re in love with Bela Lugosi or Vlad Tepes, each personality–including artists visions–contributed to the legend all have a place.

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

CLOVER PRESS
To back this project, please visit the Kickstarter page.

No matter which publication and or interpretation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula readers love, to have the vision of Ricardo Delgado adding to the lore will no doubt add to the appeal! This storyboard artist and character designer is well known for his work in films like Apollo 13, The Incredibles, and Men in Black. His Age of Reptiles graphic novels are acclaimed for their stunning depiction of dinosaurs and prehistory. But Delgado’s latest creative endeavour may well be his most ambitious to date: a fresh and unsettling take that reimagines Bram Stoker’s classic ghost story.

“Dracula of Transylvania supports and builds upon Stoker’s classic, haunting original story, but this is not your parents’ Dracula or your grandparents’ Dracula,” says Delgado. “This personification of the Nosferatu king is dark and powerful, a malevolent antagonist who suffers no fools, accepts no failure and crushes anyone in his path. This Dracula is not a romantic. He’s a complete horror. Just the way I always wanted him to be.”

Continue reading “Aren’t you Vlad to See Delgado’s Stake with Dracula?”

The Stakes were Never Big in Netflix’s Dracula

Image result for bbc dracula poster By Ed Sum
(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.

Continue reading “The Stakes were Never Big in Netflix’s Dracula”

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The Humanity of Dracula Untold Gets Explored, A Movie Review

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Dracula_Untold_poster Try as Dracula Untold might, this film does not endeavour to be historically accurate in every detail about how Vlad Dracul the Prince (played by a daunting Luke Evans) saves his people from Turkish rule. There are little nods to recall how he was raised by them to become a brutal soldier and how he earned his reputation (to which he’d become known as the Impaler, hence Țepeș) but a lot of that origin is quickly marginalized than expounded upon.

The reason about to why he was fearsome is missed in favour for a PG-13 rating to show why he was much-loved. When he returns home to Wallachia, he gets warmly embraced as this country’s lost son. All he wants to do for much of the film is to protect them from a darker world at large. He’s experienced a lot of horror and he does not wish to share that. When the Ottoman’s demands are ill met, war and rebellion is inevitable. This movie shows him reverting to his old ways.

Continue reading “The Humanity of Dracula Untold Gets Explored, A Movie Review”

[Victoria, BC] Exploring Dracula, The Blood is The Life’s Revisions & News for Next Year

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Dracula

Craigdarroch Castle
1050 Joan Crescent
Victoria, BC V8S 3L5

Ticket Reservations:
250-592-5323

Dates and times:
October 30th 7pm & 9pm
October 31st 8pm

Lord Dracula is back, and this time, the terror is twice as bloody, if not wickedly fun. Launch Pad and Giggling Iguana Productions revisits the legend of the vampire king in a show that’s said to be pumped up to an extra level of terror. Practically all of the classics from the Golden Age of Terror — Dorian Gray, Jekyll & Hyde, Poe and Faust — has been covered, and the news that The Wolfman will be appearing next will be highly anticipated. To round out the world, Frankenstein may be a massive undertaking to pull off. It can be done, if the management of Craigdarroch Castle allows it.

But for visitors pondering a visit to Victoria, BC for All Hallows Eve, they might want to consider purchasing tickets in advance to ensure this type of site-specific play will not be missed.

Continue reading “[Victoria, BC] Exploring Dracula, The Blood is The Life’s Revisions & News for Next Year”