DRACULA 2000

London today: a highly organized group of international thieves decides to loot the vault of a company specializing in the buying and selling of antiques but to their great surprise, instead of money, securities and priceless works of art, they find only a massive silver coffin. Unfortunately for them, it is the prison of Dracula who, carelessly released, will plunge the modern world into the ancient terror of the vampire count. A classic teen horror that, between throat slittings, vampirizations, ash wood stakes, and silver bullets (which usually kill werewolves and not vampires), drags itself towards the predictable ending, marked by the rhythm of a "metal" soundtrack. The director tries to introduce a couple of new elements, such as the "true" origin of Dracula (which I won't reveal to avoid "spoiling" your viewing of the film) or the genesis of vampirism, but the result is still disappointing: ridiculous and inexpressive actors (Gerard Butler is one of the worst "Draculas" that cinema has ever offered) with the exception of only the veteran Cristopher Plummer (Van Helsing), an inexpressive and banal direction, not to mention the citations (let's call them that) without art or part of which the film is stuffed, from "Nosferatu" (the vessel that, at the beginning of the film, brings Dracula to London) to Coppola's "Dracula" (the vampire who turns into a swarm of bats). The whole thing, as you will understand by watching the film, is heavily sponsored (the visit of Dracula to the Virgin Megastore with a full-screen logo is legendary). Wes Craven, a name blasted above the title to attract more "naive" viewers, is the executive producer and this seems to reinforce the idea that for some time the "good" Wes, to the great disappointment of his fans, thinks more about economic profit than about making good films (see the very disappointing "Scream 3").