DRACULA UNTOLD – news of the undead

Vampires never die – good! This one rises for the first time … a sort of “making-of” the Vampire, a prequel to the brooding Dracula figures sitting in their Transsylvanian castles: DRACULA UNTOLD. In this film a warrior sacrifices his humanity because he wants to protect his family and – as Dracula – rises to supernatural power. Welsh actor and singer Luke Evans (IMMORTALS, THE RAVEN, THE HOBBIT) plays this father of all modern Vampires, a type of monster who already has more sex appeal than your average blood sucking cadaver, according to Swedish Vampire researcher Anna Höglund from Växjö Univerity (we discussed her theories already here in connection with TRUE BLOOD). I’m looking forward to the film. See Trailer (in German, alas, I’m Austrian) here on my YouTube channel.

Genre: Epic Action-Adventure

Cast: Luke Evans, Dominic Cooper, Sarah Gadon and Charles Dance

Directed by: Gary Shore

Screenplay by: Matt Sazama & Burk Sharpless

Produced by: Michael De Luca

Executive Producers: Alissa Phillips, Joe Caracciolo, Jr., Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni

An Extra from UNIVERSAL’s press kit is this information about Dracula, the historical figure:

ABOUT VLAD III, PRINCE OF WALLACHIA: THE REAL DRACULA

• Vlad III was born in 1431 in Transylvania.

• As a child, Vlad III and his younger brother were sent by their father as hostages of Sultan Murad II to Constantinople, where they were held for six years and trained in warfare.

• As Transylvania was located at the center of two empires—those of the Ottoman Turks and the Austrian Hapsburgs—Vlad III lived in a time of constant war.

• Vlad III’s favorite method of torture was to impale people and leave them writhing in agony for days. This is what earned him the posthumous nickname of Vlad the Impaler (aka Vlad Tepes).

• His father, Vlad II, belonged to the Order of the Dragon—a secretive organization of Christian knights—which fought the Muslim Ottoman Empire.  It was here that Vlad II took to the name Dracul, which means “dragon/devil” in Romanian.

• Following his father’s death, Vlad III ruled Wallachia and Transylvania from 1448 until his own death in 1476.

• Following in his father’s footsteps, Vlad III was also inducted into the Order of the Dragon.  It was then that he took the name Dracula, which means “son of the dragon/devil” in Romanian.

• Vlad III was incredibly religious and a steadfast defender of Christianity. He believed that religious charity and a proper burial would erase his sins and allow entry to heaven. To ensure this, he surrounded himself with religious leaders such as priests and monks, in addition to founding five monasteries.

• Reportedly killed in 1476 fighting the Turks, Vlad III’s head was cut off and displayed in Constantinople…for all the city to see and fear.