Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula
Encyclopedia
Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula (alternately titled Dracula: The Dark Prince and Dark Prince: Legend of Dracula) is a horror-war television film, which premiered in the United States on the USA Network
on Halloween
, October 31, 2000. It is about Vlad III Dracula, "the Impaler"
, the historical figure who gave Bram Stoker
's Dracula
his name.
, the historical figure who gave Bram Stoker
's Dracula his name. Vlad is a dispossessed noble
, and a patriot
who fights the occupation forces of the Turks
hoping to avenge the murder of his father by Romanian nobles and the capture of his brother by the Ottoman sultan. The King of Hungary
(Roger Daltrey
) becomes Vlad's ally and, with his support, Vlad and his men attack the occupying Turks and turncoat Romania
n boyars, and seizes the throne of Wallachia
.
His bride Lidia (Jane March
) discovers what Vlad does to the bodies of his enemies and is horrified. She begins to lose her grip on sanity, claiming to hear the voices of the dead. He reluctantly banishes her to a nunnery, which he later regrets and amends. Lidia, however, remains the same and ultimately commits suicide, leaving Vlad dispirited and alone with their adolescent son. Vlad's brother Radu arrives at the head of a large Turkish invasion force.
The narrative of the film is presented as evidence given at a hearing following Vlad's alignment with the Roman Catholic King of Hungary. At the end of the film, Vlad is excommunicated
by the Orthodox Church
shortly before being assassinated by Radu. As a result of his condemnation by the priests, Vlad is found to have risen from the grave and gained eternal life, free to roam the earth (as he has been denied entrance to both Heaven and Hell), implying that he has now become the very vampire
for which his name is famous
.
said, "For such a familiar story, Dark Prince has all the excitement of something brand new. These characters can easily become caricatures, growling for gore and calling down vengeance from heaven. But the excellent cast and ferocious battle scenes make for one of the best war movies to hit TV in a while." Ryan Cracknell of the Apollo Movie Guide wrote, "Despite the weak acting, Dracula: The Dark Prince is a welcome extension of the Dracula brand. Unlike the multitudes of generic rip-offs that come out annually, this low-key effort finally puts a new spin on an old myth."
Mark Bourne of The DVD Journal said, "It plays hell with the facts and reduces its potentially gripping subject to cheesy soap opera
tic melodrama. ... It's not awful, but it is awfully ordinary. For the real goods, find McNally and Florescu's Dracula: Prince of Many Faces: His Life and Times instead." Christopher Null of Filmcritic.com said, "It's obviously fluffed up but at the same time it's a bit repetitious, with countless battle scenes that don't offer much closure. In the end we're left with the notion that Vlad the Impaler was (and remains) a national hero, not a demon walking among the dead. And that might put a crimp in your enjoyment of the Bram Stoker stories." Melissa J. Perenson of SciFi.com
wrote, "Though flawed, Dark Prince nonetheless offers a rough-hewn look at the man who would be known simply as Dracula. But the lack of connection between the so-called reality and the modern-day myth left me wanting."
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
on Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
, October 31, 2000. It is about Vlad III Dracula, "the Impaler"
Vlad III the Impaler
Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia , also known by his patronymic Dracula , and posthumously dubbed Vlad the Impaler , was a three-time Voivode of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462, the period of the incipient Ottoman conquest of the Balkans...
, the historical figure who gave Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
's Dracula
Dracula
Dracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker.Famous for introducing the character of the vampire Count Dracula, the novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to relocate from Transylvania to England, and the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and women led by Professor...
his name.
Plot
Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula tells the story of Vlad DraculaVlad III the Impaler
Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia , also known by his patronymic Dracula , and posthumously dubbed Vlad the Impaler , was a three-time Voivode of Wallachia, ruling mainly from 1456 to 1462, the period of the incipient Ottoman conquest of the Balkans...
, the historical figure who gave Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
's Dracula his name. Vlad is a dispossessed noble
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
, and a patriot
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
who fights the occupation forces of the Turks
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
hoping to avenge the murder of his father by Romanian nobles and the capture of his brother by the Ottoman sultan. The King of Hungary
King of Hungary
The King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.The style of title "Apostolic King" was confirmed by Pope Clement XIII in 1758 and used afterwards by all the Kings of Hungary, so after this date the kings are referred to as "Apostolic King of...
(Roger Daltrey
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE , is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also...
) becomes Vlad's ally and, with his support, Vlad and his men attack the occupying Turks and turncoat Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n boyars, and seizes the throne of Wallachia
Wallachia
Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
.
His bride Lidia (Jane March
Jane March
Jane March is an English film actress and former print model.-Life and career:March was born Jane March Horwood in Edgware, London, England. Her father, Bernard Horwood, is a secondary school teacher of English and Spanish ancestry. Her mother, Jean, is Vietnamese and Chinese...
) discovers what Vlad does to the bodies of his enemies and is horrified. She begins to lose her grip on sanity, claiming to hear the voices of the dead. He reluctantly banishes her to a nunnery, which he later regrets and amends. Lidia, however, remains the same and ultimately commits suicide, leaving Vlad dispirited and alone with their adolescent son. Vlad's brother Radu arrives at the head of a large Turkish invasion force.
The narrative of the film is presented as evidence given at a hearing following Vlad's alignment with the Roman Catholic King of Hungary. At the end of the film, Vlad is excommunicated
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
by the Orthodox Church
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
shortly before being assassinated by Radu. As a result of his condemnation by the priests, Vlad is found to have risen from the grave and gained eternal life, free to roam the earth (as he has been denied entrance to both Heaven and Hell), implying that he has now become the very vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
for which his name is famous
Count Dracula
Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...
.
Cast
| Character | Actor |
|---|---|
| Vlad Dracula the Impaler | Rudolf Martin Rudolf Martin Rudolf Martin is a German actor working mainly in the US. He first appeared in off-Broadway productions and then moved on to extensive TV and film work. He has made guest appearances on numerous hit television series and recently started working in Germany as well. He currently resides in Los... |
| Lidia | Jane March Jane March Jane March is an English film actress and former print model.-Life and career:March was born Jane March Horwood in Edgware, London, England. Her father, Bernard Horwood, is a secondary school teacher of English and Spanish ancestry. Her mother, Jean, is Vietnamese and Chinese... |
| Bruno | Christopher Brand |
| Father Stefan | Peter Weller Peter Weller Peter Frederick Weller is an American film and stage actor, director and lecturer.He is best known for his roles as the title character in the first two RoboCop films and Buckaroo Banzai in the cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension... |
| King Janos | Roger Daltrey Roger Daltrey Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE , is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also... |
| Radu | Michael Sutton Michael Sutton Michael Sutton is an American actor who is best known for playing the HIV-positive teenager and AIDS victim Stone Cates on the daytime serial General Hospital. He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 1996 for that role. Mr... |
Reception
Critical reaction to Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula has been mixed. John Walsh of MaximMaxim (magazine)
Maxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured dressed, often pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude....
said, "For such a familiar story, Dark Prince has all the excitement of something brand new. These characters can easily become caricatures, growling for gore and calling down vengeance from heaven. But the excellent cast and ferocious battle scenes make for one of the best war movies to hit TV in a while." Ryan Cracknell of the Apollo Movie Guide wrote, "Despite the weak acting, Dracula: The Dark Prince is a welcome extension of the Dracula brand. Unlike the multitudes of generic rip-offs that come out annually, this low-key effort finally puts a new spin on an old myth."
Mark Bourne of The DVD Journal said, "It plays hell with the facts and reduces its potentially gripping subject to cheesy soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
tic melodrama. ... It's not awful, but it is awfully ordinary. For the real goods, find McNally and Florescu's Dracula: Prince of Many Faces: His Life and Times instead." Christopher Null of Filmcritic.com said, "It's obviously fluffed up but at the same time it's a bit repetitious, with countless battle scenes that don't offer much closure. In the end we're left with the notion that Vlad the Impaler was (and remains) a national hero, not a demon walking among the dead. And that might put a crimp in your enjoyment of the Bram Stoker stories." Melissa J. Perenson of SciFi.com
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
wrote, "Though flawed, Dark Prince nonetheless offers a rough-hewn look at the man who would be known simply as Dracula. But the lack of connection between the so-called reality and the modern-day myth left me wanting."