Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Dracula: Season One Blu-ray Movie Review

NBC couldn't put a stake through this one fast enough...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 10, 2014

Whew. Dodged a bullet there. With just three million viewers per episode (often less), Daniel Knauf's Dracula wasn't cut down in its prime, didn't leave behind a legion of distraught fans, and certainly didn't send any ripples through NBC's broadcast schedule. For once, the network and audiences were right: Dracula didn't deserve to fill a timeslot, much less live to see the light of a second season. And there was never a saving grace to point to. The season doesn't get better as it goes along. Jonathan Rhys Meyers doesn't suddenly prove himself. The characters don't become more interesting, the dialogue any more bearable, or the performances any less flat or wooden. In fact, the pilot is the best thing the series has going for it, and that isn't saying much. Cancellation? No. A merciful execution, and one that should have come sooner than it did...

In the late 19th century, the mysterious Dracula (Meyers) arrives in London posing as an American entrepreneur who wants to bring modern science to Victorian society. He's especially interested in the new technology of electricity, which promises to brighten the night; useful for someone who avoids the sun. But he has another reason for his travels: he hopes to take revenge on those who cursed him with immortality centuries earlier. Everything seems to be going according to plan... until he becomes infatuated with a young woman (Jessica Du Gouw) who appears to be a reincarnation of his dead wife.

Dracula has been reborn, reimagined and, ahem, revamped via books, movies, television series, videogames... you name it. And as icons go, he's been subjected to change after change, update after update, transforming from evil incarnate to romanticized antihero and back again. No matter the form the good Count takes, though, one thing holds true: enduring Draculas are those that elicit an emotional reaction. Something poor Jonathan Rhys Meyers can't seem to pull off. With a dull American accent, empty eyes and a stiff hitch in his vampiric step, the brooding actor looks the part but lacks soul, villainous or otherwise. There's little charm, even less magnetism, and chemistry? There isn't any on-screen chemistry, regardless of who it is stepping into frame or sliding between Dracula's sheets.

Meyers' supporting cast isn't much stronger either. Du Gouw is pleasant but out of her depth. Thomas Kretschmann's Van Halsing is one of the most unlikable, weirdly forgettable vampire hunters the genre's seen. Victoria Smurfit's huntswoman oozes sex and overacting. Katie McGrath's Lucy is squandered in dead-end subplots and silly advances. Oliver Jackson-Cohen's Jonathan Harker would be more at home on Boardwalk Empire, though I doubt he'd pass Terence Winter's vetting process. And the Order of the Dragon thesps? They couldn't be less menacing. Only Nonso Anozie delivers; partially because he earns the sharpest material, partially because his casting as Renfield is one of the few bold moves the series makes in its spin on a very familiar mythos.

The production design, cinematography and music are suitably sumptuous I suppose but, like the performances, try so hard to hit the Victorian sweet spot dead center that the entire production dramatically (or rather melodramatically) overshoots the mark. At the same time, it's all so tepid and uninspired, so expected -- the look, the feel, the scripts, the acting -- that there's no sense of discovery to be had, no grand ideas to be explored, no shock to the system or jolt to the imagination. It's simultaneously a bland and dizzying adaptation of Stoker's novel that, for all it brings to the table, offers nothing in the way of real devil-may-care inventiveness. I'd forget the series entirely at this point -- out of sight, out of mind -- if watching it didn't irritate me to such a degree that I was beside myself in disbelief. Unless you're a glutton for punishment, skip right past one and give Penny Dreadful a try instead.

Dracula: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Universal's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation does a fine job with the series' ten episodes, and there really isn't a whole lot to complain about. That said, inconsistent black levels, at-times unwieldy noise, and some glaring crush amount to a mild distraction, even if they're a product of the source. But so it goes. Colors are warm and beautifully saturated on the whole, reds are fittingly splashy, and skintones are quite lovely. Detail doesn't disappoint either thanks to crisp, clean edges, well-resolved fine textures and disarming close-ups. An annoying digital polish undermines the more cinematic brushstrokes cinematographer Ousama Rawi is attempting to use throughout the series, but again, that has little bearing on Universal's efforts. All told, the highlight of the release is Dracula's video presentation, so there'll at least always be that.

Dracula: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Dracula's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track stays true to the series' sound design, without deviation. The problem being that the show's sonics are often too subdued and front-heavy to create a consistently immersive experience. Dialogue is clean, clear and intelligible at all times, although voices occasionally hover above the soundscape rather than dwelling within it. LFE output is decidedly decent when fangs are popped or swords are drawn, but such things are so rarely employed that it hardly matters. And the rear speakers are kept busy, albeit with unreliably restrained activity that's never quite as engaging or enveloping as it could be. Still, it's important to remind anyone shaking their heads that this is Dracula's audio as it was conceived, mixed and released. It isn't a remarkable lossless experience, but it also isn't hindered by any technical mishaps or flaws. Set your expectations accordingly.

Dracula: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• New Blood (HD, 13 minutes): This standard-fare behind-the-scenes featurette rolls out the promotional carpet for key members of the cast, who unfortunately proceed to offer very little insight into the production.
• Creating the World of Dracula (HD, 13 minutes): A short overview of the series' costumes, sets and production design, as well as the period research that defined the look of the show.
• Dracula Rising (HD, 11 minutes): A 5-part animated web series -- detailing the 15th century origins and exploits of Dracula -- that premiered online in the weeks leading up to the broadcast of the series' pilot.
• Van Helsing's Lost Tapes (HD, 8 minutes): Three silent movie "Experiments" courtesy of Dr. Abraham Van Helsing Research Films: "Vampire Autopsy," "Blood Reanimation" and "Solar Exposures."
• Deleted Scenes (HD, 10 minutes): Six scenes are included: "From Darkness to Light," "The Devil's Waltz," "Of Monsters and Men," "Servant to Two Masters," "Come to Die" and "Four Roses."

Dracula: Season One Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Dracula is a listless corpse compared to other horror series on television, offers very little satisfaction (if any), and doesn't have any magnetic characters, least of all Meyers' titular vampire. No one was surprised when it was cancelled and few have rallied to its defense. Watch for this one to become a mainstay in the bargain bin. Even so, Universal's Blu-ray release shouldn't be dismissed as quickly as the series, thanks to a solid AV presentation.