Saw the trailer for the new BBC TV adaptation of Dracula, the Count spouting humorous one liners and the action taking place in both the 19th and 21st Centuries I was not sure if I wanted to devote 4.5 hours of my time to watching this. But I'm a big Dracula fan, plus I like Mark Gatiss so how could I resist? I couldn't.
Divided into 3 episodes the first was for me the best. This is the beginning, set in the Old Country at Dracula's foreboding castle. Very impressive, the sets, the stunning location, superb special effects. It is also pretty scary. great acting. The only thing caught me off guard was having Van Helsing as a female, but it kind of worked and it is essential to treat that this as a "Based On" adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel, or in other words a re-imagining.
Pretty much the entire length of part 2 takes place on board the boat to England. It is good, thankfully the various characters help make it interesting, but it is a tad too long. Part 3 takes place over 100 years later in modern day England. This one is by far the most reworked part of the story. I like the idea of this but do feel that the writers are trying to be too clever for their own good with this section and the humour detracts from the horror, though it still has plenty of scary moments.
I am glad that I watched the series, despite initial reservations. Like I have mentioned this is very much a modern reworking of the novel (none of the film adaptations follow the book exactly), watch it with an open mind. It's not going to please everyone but despite all the negative reviews so far it does have a respectable current average score of 7/10.
Review of Dracula
