A underrated horror movie has been dominating Netflix all week. For the past several days, subscribers have been loving Dracula Untold, the 2014 supernatural, action-infused horror flick starring Beauty and the Beast actor Luke Evans as the titular legendary vampire. Ever since the 1st, the film has been occupying a spot on the Top 10 most-watched list and today, it sits at #3.
The movie tells the secret origins of Dracula, exploring his beginnings as great military hero Vlad Tepes in medieval Europe, who turns to the dark side – Anakin Skywalker-like – in order to gain the power to destroy his enemies and save those he cares about. As directed by Gary Shore, Untold takes little from Bram Stoker’s original novel, though it does share some concepts with Francis Ford Coppola’s version, and offers a big old reboot of the mythical monster.
Yes, this was one of Universal’s many attempts to relaunch their shared horror universe. After only making $217.1 million off the back of a $70 million budget, though, they cancelled plans for any follow-ups and instead moved ahead with Tom Cruise’s The Mummy, and we all know how that turned out. In retrospect, they probably should have just pressed ahead with Untold, as it was received marginally better by critics and audiences alike.
Still, watching it now, it’s an entertaining one-off entry in the action-horror subgenre and Evans is a great leading man that Hollywood still hasn’t really made the most of – though he’s set to return as Gaston for a Disney Plus TV series. He’s also ably supported in the film by the likes of Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The First Avenger), Charles Dance (Game of Thrones) and Sarah Gadon (who later appeared in Netflix’s Vampires vs. the Bronx).
The only titles that are beating Dracula Untold on the scoreboard this week are recent additions Death to 2020 (#2) and We Can Be Heroes (#1). But you can help it reach the top by catching it on Netflix right now.
