Doing ‘Dracula’ his own way, a Romanian provocateur sucks the audience’s lifeblood

by

I’m a big fan of Radu Jude, and his films always make you think. It’s fascinating to me that in a world where everyone’s losing focus, he keeps challenging us with these long, complex movies. His latest, a nearly three-hour take on the Dracula story, isn’t just entertainment – it really deconstructs the myth and throws everything you thought you knew about it into question. It’s a bold move, and I love it!

Don’t expect a respectful adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. If you want that, watch Francis Ford Coppola’s film. Instead, Jude has thrown together a chaotic mix of ideas about the vampire story – a legend rooted in the historical cruelty of Vlad the Impaler, but made famous by an Irish author in the 1800s. The result is a silly, over-the-top show that, even when it’s fun, is best described with a crude joke about bats.

Over the past ten years, Romanian filmmaker Jude has become a festival favorite by brilliantly capturing the problems and contradictions of modern Romania. His films use dark humor to expose the hypocrisy of global politics and society, tackling issues like how history is rewritten, our attitudes towards sex, and the failings of late-stage capitalism. He’s particularly skilled at showing how these issues are presented to us, and highlighting the sadness and absurdity within that process.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a wild ride – part challenging film, part outrageous comedy – and remains a testament to its creator’s unique vision. It’s a darkly funny, provocative work that initially started as a playful rebellion against typical horror films. But it evolved into something more, exploring the complex and often contradictory legacy of the historical figure who inspired the legend, and how that legend was shaped by Hollywood. Ultimately, the film is a biting satire of capitalism – how it exploits, consumes, and ultimately discards everything in its path, all wrapped up in an entertaining package.

Movies

Can’t wait until Halloween? Here’s a guide to the best classic horror movies showing in Los Angeles over the next eight days, including screenings on 35mm film and on massive screens – perfect for seeing those giant monsters!

The strange, sucking sound in Jude’s film represents artificial intelligence. The story follows a filmmaker (played by Adonis Tanţa) who’s struggling with writer’s block and starts using an AI chatbot for ideas for his vampire movie. The film opens with a playful montage of AI-generated vampires – all genders, colors, and ages. Throughout the movie, we see funny and often absurd visuals created by the AI. Sometimes these images are just strangely ugly, like when added to a tragic love story, and other times they’re intentionally provocative, reimagining scenes from Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula. These moments are a humorous critique of how AI can exploit and drain creativity, acting like a parasitic vampire itself.

The show features a series of short sketches and stories woven around a central plot: a cheesy Dracula-themed dinner theater in Transylvania. When the poorly paid actors finally quit during a performance, the audience gets unexpectedly involved in the chaos. The quick, clever scenes work best – like when the original Vlad the Impaler appears during a tour of his castle to defend his reputation (“I never killed rats!”) or a sketch where Dracula runs a heartless video game company. However, a drawn-out adaptation of Romania’s first vampire novel feels cheap and amateurish, and a silly fable about a farmer growing strange crops is more irritating than funny.

Jude often intentionally uses shocking language, and the film’s length might even be part of its message – a commentary on how we’re all exhausted by endless consumerism. But even with that in mind, the over-the-top and wild take on “Dracula” can be difficult to watch. While it’s sometimes amusingly ridiculous, it’s also draining and unsettling.

Read More

2025-10-31 23:01