Gary Shore directs Luke Evans, Sarah Gadon and Dominic Cooper in this period action horror where Vlad The Impaler is granted vampiric superpowers for three days to protect his people from the Turks… the only catch is that if he drinks blood he is cursed forever.

Very much a project of its decade. Rejigged to be a franchise starter, made from the fag ends of a Game Of Thrones concept sketchbook and with the heroic beats of a Marvel movie rather than a horror flick. The superhero squat and the CGI swirl are prominent here. It is mindlessly entertaining – Evans is a purebred classic leading man and the big scene between Charles Dance’s vampire hermit and our hero is a hammy delight. There’s a decent enough look and hook. Neither are brilliantly exploited. We end up with three very similar one man army vs hordes battle sequences to sate our blood thirst. These undermine the central tension. Will he…Won’t he bite his delicious missus?

6

Perfect Double Bill: The Mummy (2017)

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