Truth be told, I don't remember having watched a serious movie about Dracula, so for me it is hard to compare this series with past productions. The only thing I remember watching that is about Dracula is the Netflix animated series Castlevania. So I don't have any references when it comes to comparing this new Dracula with those from the past.
This Dracula is highly intelligent as most ancient vampires usually are, he has accumulated knowledge and social skills thanks to his immortality and he is also capable of absorbing the knowledge of his victims when drinking their blood. His castle is huge of course, and it has an abundance of hidden entrances and halls. In the first episode, I thought the castle had the capability of changing its insides in order to confuse the poor victims of Dracula when trying to escape.
The character has a sort of elegant cruelty and is rather pitiless with his victims, no empathy whatsoever is ever shown. I also suspect he is a psychopath because he can very well fake a gentle personality when it is convenient for him, but what he is always trying to accomplish is to increase his knowledge by murdering new victims and expanding his power and influence in human society.
The first 2 episodes were as I was expecting them. Set in the past, we have a new victim in Dracula's castle experiencing torments, there are also a bunch of nuns in their convent with one of them possessing the Van Helsing last name which means she is very special, and we have Dracula doing what he does best.
It is the third episode that was very different because it is set in the present. There are new and modern ways of dealing and maybe learning from a bizarre being such as Dracula, and I thought we were going to see a raw approach regarding how would modern society deal with this specimen. Sadly, this wasn't the case. In what I believe is the worst mistake of this series, Dracula ends up finding a very silly and absurd way of releasing himself from his captivity.
Eventually, we also learn that the knowledge that Dracula gathers from the blood of his victims can be a double-edged sword in the right circumstances. The third episode has the chance of being the most interesting and original way, but it ended up being the most disappointing one. Despite this, fans of Dracula will probably enjoy this new show.
The best
- As the poster says, this is indeed a fresh take of this old villain.
- In the beginning, there were some scary scenes in Dracula's castle.
- Dracula personality was very well designed.
The worst
- The strategy Dracula uses to escape in present-day is absurd.
- There weren't enough security measures in modern times when Dracula was captured.
More information: https://www.themoviedb.org/tv/86850-dracula Review: AAA In numbers: 7/10
