Cormac 👑’s review published on Letterboxd:
New lifeblood comes injected into legends of old by way of lush technicolour sheen. To warm the cheeks of dark forests, dread mountains and the black, unfathomed lakes of fog-soaked Transylvania.
No Dracula to be seen in this Dracula movie, but his legacy lives on beyond the grave. As the nineteenth century draws to a close, the cult spreads and a chronic corruption threatens to take over. And thrust a hefty stake into the hearts of any man who dares cross the long-laid path of the monarch of all vampires, once and for all.
Nothing like a rich slice of Gothic Hammer horror to still the nerves after an especially stressful day. To this end, I’m still vying to gauge what it is about these chilly British spook-fests that essentially makes them my own personal definition of a comfort watch. I never grant them particularly high scores nor do they excite or even stimulate my senses as a favourite might or maybe should.
Still, a hazy charm permeates and I’m left at quiet ease without much room for failure. Is there something very wrong with me or is this simply the norm? I’m not sure, but I’m willing to watch as many as it takes to chase this theory into the fine points. And then some more.
All I know is: Give me enough stately castles, silly costumes and a splattering of luscious colours to sink my teeth into. Plus a romanticisation of the lore of a legend that makes history look sexy again. And I’m more than ready to go bloody batty for these bereft brides. In a way that makes die-hard loyalty seem like it is in fact the most crippling ailment of them all.