Argento's DRACULA
Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2014 10:58 am
So has anyone else seen this yet?
I can't honestly say that I'm a huge fan of Argento as I am more in the Fulci and Franco camps. Although I really enjoyed SUSPIRIA, OPERA and PHENOMENA, I avoided a lot of his cinematic output during recent years due to hearing bad things about them from just about everyone. But I saw that Netflix had his latest film available for instant streaming so I decided to check it out last night.
I had very minimal expectations going into this but still have to say this is probably one of the worst movies I have ever sat through. The only good things were one really decent gore sequence and plenty of nudity (courtesy of Asia Argento and a few others). But everything else was pure shit. The whole thing has the generic look of a made-for-TV movie. There is no real atmosphere or suspense to speak of. The actors were all terrible with the exception of Rutger Hauer, whose role as Van Helsing is sadly limited. Even worse, Argento resorts to using horrible CGI effects and the results aren't very pretty (don't get me started on that "mantis" scene). There were a few times where I almost turned it off, but I decided to stay with it in the hopes it would payoff somehow. I was sorry that I did.
Aside from being the worst Argento film I've had the displeasure of seeing, it also rates in my book as the worst Dracula adaptation. I know a lot of people hated Coppola's 1992 adaptation of DRACULA (which I happen to love), but that version is a masterpiece compared to the crap I sat through last night.
Some time ago, someone mention in another thread that Argento should consider retirement and I would have to agree after seeing this. I honestly wonder if his version of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (which I avoided for years) could be any worse than this.
I can't honestly say that I'm a huge fan of Argento as I am more in the Fulci and Franco camps. Although I really enjoyed SUSPIRIA, OPERA and PHENOMENA, I avoided a lot of his cinematic output during recent years due to hearing bad things about them from just about everyone. But I saw that Netflix had his latest film available for instant streaming so I decided to check it out last night.
I had very minimal expectations going into this but still have to say this is probably one of the worst movies I have ever sat through. The only good things were one really decent gore sequence and plenty of nudity (courtesy of Asia Argento and a few others). But everything else was pure shit. The whole thing has the generic look of a made-for-TV movie. There is no real atmosphere or suspense to speak of. The actors were all terrible with the exception of Rutger Hauer, whose role as Van Helsing is sadly limited. Even worse, Argento resorts to using horrible CGI effects and the results aren't very pretty (don't get me started on that "mantis" scene). There were a few times where I almost turned it off, but I decided to stay with it in the hopes it would payoff somehow. I was sorry that I did.
Aside from being the worst Argento film I've had the displeasure of seeing, it also rates in my book as the worst Dracula adaptation. I know a lot of people hated Coppola's 1992 adaptation of DRACULA (which I happen to love), but that version is a masterpiece compared to the crap I sat through last night.
Some time ago, someone mention in another thread that Argento should consider retirement and I would have to agree after seeing this. I honestly wonder if his version of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (which I avoided for years) could be any worse than this.