Netflix Original Series

[hepcat]

He came off as the classic, Bela Lugosi Drac to me. No issues that I saw.

Speaking of which, if you want to see one of the best Dracula movies ever made, Dan Curtis' Dracula is on Shudder. The screenplay is by the legendary Richard Matheson and stars Jack Palance as Dracula (trust me, it works).

[Isgrimnur]

Deadline

It’s a gothic reimagining of Bram Stoker’s 1897 story about a Transylvanian vampire who moves to England to find new blood. Gatiss said that after the Twilight phenomenon it “felt right” going back to the gothic roots of vampire stories with “big castles and moonlight and caves.”

One of the key differences in Moffat and Gatiss’ version, however, is they wanted to make Dracula less of a shadowy figure and more a central part of the story. “The big challenge we set ourselves was to make Dracula the central character in his own story for the first time. What’s it like as the anti-hero? What you have to give him is a personality which spans four centuries… You don’t want him to be just a shadowy presence,” Gatiss told an audience at the BFI screening.

Dracula is played by Danish actor Claes Bang, best known for his work in 2017 film The Square. Moffat said they had a clear set of instructions for casting director Kate Rhodes-James about who they wanted to play the iconic character.
...
Bang was not so sure about the idea at first. His initial response was, “Does the world really need one more Dracula?” but was eventually won over by Moffat and Gatiss’ script. “I read the script and then I was like, ‘Ok, sure.’ It is such a brilliant and new take on Dracula,” he added.

The end result is an uproariously gothic creation that does not pull any punches in the horror stakes. Bang is magnetic in the central role, dancing between menace and flickering humor. Moffat said the aim is for audiences to be laughing one minute and grossing out the next.

“We have a joint feeling that if the scene isn’t anything else, it should be funny. You can bury important plot information in a joke. You’re really setting them up for a sucker-punch if you make them laugh fondly and then chop someone’s head off,” he joked.

[Daehawk]

Im surprised with The Witcher and Game of Thrones that Netflix hasn't made The Dragonborn or Dragon Age into a show.

[sgoldj]

He came off as the classic, Bela Lugosi Drac to me. No issues that I saw.

Speaking of which, if you want to see one of the best Dracula movies ever made, Dan Curtis' Dracula is on Shudder. The screenplay is by the legendary Richard Matheson and stars Jack Palance as Dracula (trust me, it works).

I was beginning to think that I was the last one to remember Dan Curtis’ vampires (Barnabas and Palances’ Dracula). 50 yrs of Brooding Vampires, I am looking forward to a monster vampire again. OTOH, I have considered the Gary Oldman’s portrayal as “Capolla’s production of Curtis’ Bram Stoker’s Dracula”

[$iljanus]

There was this Dracula series on NBC a few years ago where Dracula was fighting an organization of evil oil magnates. Dracula was trying to bring clean energy to the common masses in his quest to bring down Big Oil. Also, Renfield was a total badass. I miss this show.

[hepcat]

It was also called Dracula and it had Johnathan Rhys Meyers as the lead. That was one weird and confused show...but I also found myself watching it each week.

I miss Moonlight, a short lived tv show about the world’s dumbest vampire named Mick St. John. Each week, he would do something ridiculously stupid and the show was hilarious.

After it ended, someone told me it was actually supposed to be a serious and brooding drama. But I never believed them. I mean, what vampire would stay in the same town without changing his name for 80 years or so...and still walk around like nothing was wrong. That was just one of the many hysterical things he’d do.

[$iljanus]

It was also called Dracula and it had Johnathan Rhys Meyers as the lead. That was one weird and confused show...but I also found myself watching it each week.

I miss Moonlight, a short lived tv show about the world’s dumbest vampire named Mick St. John. Each week, he would do something ridiculously stupid and the show was hilarious.

After it ended, someone told me it was actually supposed to be a serious and brooding drama. But I never believed them. I mean, what vampire would stay in the same town without changing his name for 80 years or so...and still walk around like nothing was wrong. That was just one of the many hysterical things he’d do.

I vaguely remember Moonlight. It was rather silly I think. I also miss the Vampire the Masquerade series that was on Fox back in the 20th century. Would be nice if that was rebooted on some streaming service.

[MonkeyFinger]

Speaking of which, if you want to see one of the best Dracula movies ever made, Dan Curtis' Dracula is on Shudder. The screenplay is by the legendary Richard Matheson and stars Jack Palance as Dracula (trust me, it works).

This is on Amazon Prime as well and I watched it last night. It is very 70s and does work. Only slight disappointment was at the end (spoilered just in case) when:

Spoiler:

The sunlight only seemed to disable him... no smoldering, no bursting into flames. And no Buffy-style Mr Pointy dusting. Ah well.

I remember Moonlight and seem to recall liking it. For what it was. Alex O'Loughlin has moved on from Mick St. John and has settled in nicely as Steve McGarrett.

[Tao]

I thought I remembered Moonlight but I kept trying to place a particular character and when I went Googling turns out the show I was recalling was actually Forever Knight. A Vampire/crime drama from 1992. The actor I was trying to place was Nigel Bennett, who portrayed Lucien LaCroix; Vampire Master and late night radio DJ.

[hepcat]

I was being sarcastic when I said I missed Moonlight. Count Chocula was a more believable vampire than that goofball.

[Jaymann]

Anyone else watching Messiah? I love me some Eric Banana, and he seems perfectly cast. The tone strikes a deft balance between charlatan or second coming. Second conning? I am definitely hooked.

[Isgrimnur]

Eric Banana

[hepcat]

Dracula is a hoot. I just finished part 1, and while it won’t win any awards, it is fully aware of that and just wants to have fun with the mythology, it does stick fairly close to the skeleton of the story, but I love the addition of Sister Agatha (she’s essentially an occult fighting nun with a sense of humor) and the changes to Jonathan Harker.

The actor playing Dracula is annoying people with his move from a bad Romanian accent to a cockney accent (although they do explain that he absorbs knowledge as well as life from Renfield early on), but I found him hilarious at times. He has a wicked way with sarcasm.

update: episode 2 wasn't as good as the first one as it's entirely set on the Demeter from the novel, but it still managed to make me laugh more than once thanks mainly to Sister Agatha and the actor who plays Dracula. He really can deliver a line in a way that's both funny and menacing at the same time. I especially liked the out of nowhere cliffhanger ending. I was not expecting that.

[$iljanus]

Dracula is a hoot. I just finished part 1, and while it won’t win any awards, it is fully aware of that and just wants to have fun with the mythology, it does stick fairly close to the skeleton of the story, but I love the addition of Sister Agatha (she’s essentially an occult fighting nun with a sense of humor) and the changes to Renfield.

The actor playing Dracula is annoying people with his move from a bad Romanian accent to a cockney accent (although they do explain that he absorbs knowledge as well as life from Renfield early on), but I found him hilarious at times. He has a wicked way with sarcasm.

update: episode 2 wasn't as good as the first one as it's entirely set on the Demeter from the novel, but it still managed to make me laugh more than once thanks mainly to Sister Agatha and the actor who plays Dracula. He really can deliver a line in a way that's both funny and menacing at the same time. I especially liked the out of nowhere cliffhanger ending. I was not expecting that.

Just finished ep 1 myself and just when I was thinking that Netflix was becoming a bit stale this show comes along. I can watch a conversation with Sister Agatha and Dracula all day!

This scene freaked me out though:

Spoiler:

A vampbaby crawling at you from the shadows! Yikes!

[hepcat]

They have fantastic chemistry, I must say. He's sardonic, she's sarcastic. I also find it great that the mystery of why Drac hates crosses is a lingering question that he refuses to answer, or won't/can't answer truthfully, and Sister Agatha thinks when she does finally find out, it will help her with her doubts about the existence of God.

This reminds me an awful lot of what Moffat did with Jekyll and Hyde years ago. I loved that one too.

[$iljanus]

They have fantastic chemistry, I must say. He's sardonic, she's sarcastic. I also find it great that the mystery of why Drac hates crosses is a lingering question that he refuses to answer, or won't/can't answer truthfully, and Sister Agatha thinks when she does finally find out, it will help her with her doubts about the existence of God.

This reminds me an awful lot of what Moffat did with Jekyll and Hyde years ago. I loved that one too.

I'm hoping they answer the question about the crosses power over Dracula. The show also has that Sherlock vibe which isn't surprising since Gatiss and Moffat are the creators of the show. Laughed when Agatha mentioned that she had a certain detective acquaintance in London.

[hepcat]

It's getting pretty good reviews, although I read one of them that reports the third and final episode falls apart as Moffat is good at writing the beginning and middle of stories, but can't seem to write a decent ending to save his life. I'm anxious to see what happens after the weirdness of the finale moments of episode 2 though. But I can see where it may go off the rails considering how drastically they changed things up at that moment.

[$iljanus]

I’m surprised that Dracula has a TV-14 rating. I guess you’re never too young to learn about the classics in all their bloody glory.

Damn, I just finished episode 2. That was some ending.

Spoiler:

Would be cool if they went the route of the Japanese anime series, Hellsing and now Dracula ends up working for the Van Helsing organization.

[hepcat]

Yeah, the final episode isn’t very good. I almost feel like telling folks to watch the first two, then maybe enough of the third to see the resolution to the cliffhanger from two...then bail. Although Dracula

Spoiler:

guessing his captor’s WiFi password was funny.

[$iljanus]

Yeah, the final episode isn’t very good. I almost feel like telling folks to watch the first two, then maybe enough of the third to see the resolution to the cliffhanger from two...then bail. Although Dracula

Spoiler:

guessing his captor’s WiFi password was funny.

I wished that...

Spoiler:

...they had more of the Harker Foundation. The show kind of screeched to a halt when Britain’s most vapid showed up. Wished he ate more of them but Dracula has standards. I did like the graveyard scene and the last part of the episode when Zoe bonded with spirit Agatha and the final unfolding of the episode in Drac’s blood penthouse.

Also everyone needs a Renfield organizing their life!

[JCC]

I finished this tonight. I was jarred a bit by the change from episode 2 to 3, but I didn't think the last episode was sub-par at all. I thought the ending was teriffic. Awesome awesome show.

Moffat and Gattis can continue making shows together as long as they want.

[hepcat]

It just felt so tonally different than the previous two episodes.

Spoiler:

It went from monster to tragic antihero way too fast for me. He started off episode 3 as the Drac I wanted, but then he went all emo on me as time went by. Here's what I want in a vampire show: a vamp who's a damn monster.

And I was hoping with the introduction of the Harker Institute, we'd get some fun science mixed in with our occult...but it ultimately proved to be a red herring as they released Drac the moment a lawyer showed up. Apparently you can get mass murderers released in England without a court order or anything. At that point, this hundred year old institution that's been waiting for the return of Dracula because a minor sidebar.

[JCC]

It just felt so tonally different than the previous two episodes.

Spoiler:

It went from monster to tragic antihero way too fast for me.

Spoiler:

I don't think this transition happened at all. He was a villain up until the end of the final scene. I just think he became ready to die, and once he did, he did something nice for his best frenemy. Loved it.

As for letting him go. Did you expect him to be tried for crimes from more than a hundred years ago? How would that work? Could they definitively prove he had been involved with any deaths in the current time? It wasn't like law enforcement had him incarcerated. He was kidnapped by a private corporation. And they had trampled all over his most recent crime scene - the only one there were witnesses to his having been there.

[hepcat]

Spoiler:

As for letting him go. Did you expect him to be tried for crimes from more than a hundred years ago? How would that work? Could they definitively prove he had been involved with any deaths in the current time? It wasn't like law enforcement had him incarcerated.

Spoiler:

No, but I did expect them to try him for the murders he committed that bloody week. Did you not see him kill a woman on the beach when he surfaced? And did you miss him folding a human being into a refrigerator shortly after that, then confessing as much to the woman in the house he was holding hostage? In both instances, there were freakin' witnesses. Witnesses who survived. You can't murder people in front of a large audience and expect to get away with it...even if that audience is comprised of people you don't like.

His release was in no way\even remotely plausible.

Spoiler:

I just think he became ready to die, and once he did, he did something nice for his best frenemy. Loved it.

There was zero indication that this was even remotely true throughout the first two episodes. He reveled in his undead life. In the final hour I'm supposed to buy into the concept that he's

Spoiler:

suffering from Anne Rice syndrome? No, I don't believe I can do that.

[JCC]

Spoiler:

No, but I did expect them to try him for the murders he committed that bloody week. Did you not see him kill a woman on the beach when he surfaced? And did you miss him folding a human being into a refrigerator shortly after that, then confessing as much to the woman in the house he was holding hostage? In both instances, there were freakin' witnesses. Witnesses who survived. You can't murder people in front of a large audience and expect to get away with it...even if that audience is comprised of people you don't like.

His release was in no way\even remotely plausible.

Spoiler:

I vehemently disagree. The testimony of employees of a company that kidnapped him is going to be poked with holes to (un)death by any good defense lawyer. He would make all the beach eyewitness testimony inadmissable. Not to mention he was surrounded by people pointing weapons at him. Self-defense would also have been a viable defense.

Spoiler:

There was zero indication that this was even remotely true throughout the first two episodes. He reveled in his undead life. In the final hour I'm supposed to buy into the concept that he's suffering from Anne Rice syndrome? No, I don't believe I can do that.

Spoiler:

There is plenty of evidence that he was fascinated by Ven Helsing as more than merely a victim. Clearly those feelings transferred over to her descendant.

Anyway, to each their own. I thought it was fantastic. You didn't like the final episode - and that's cool.

[hepcat]

Spoiler:

I vehemently disagree. The testimony of employees of a company that kidnapped him is going to be poked with holes to (un)death by any good defense lawyer. He would make all the beach eyewitness testimony inadmissable. Not to mention he was surrounded by people pointing weapons at him. Self-defense would also have been a viable defense.

Spoiler:

Except at no point did we see a trial or any indication that the lawyer did anything beyond show up and demand Dracula's release. It could just have easily been someone's 12 year old niece in that role, it had such little legal veracity. It was just lazy writing and it lessened to the point of irrelevance the Harker Institute.

Glad you liked it, but episode 3 was just not very good, in my opinion. Which sucks because episodes 1 and (to a lesser degree) 2 were hella fun without being Anne Rice levels of mopey vamp.

[Zaxxon]

Fear not; I shall adjudicate this dispute...

...in a few weeks.

[hepcat]

Please have your PowerPoint presentation ready shortly after you do so. I’ll also need you to whiteboard it all out.

[Jaymann]

Don't forget the yarn, stickpins, and post it notes.

[Zaxxon]

And here I was just going to use My Little Ponies.

*Ahem* Er, my daughter's My Little Ponies.

[Smoove_B]

[Skinypupy]

Just finished Dracula. I thoroughly enjoyed the first episode. Was iffy on the second episode, but was very intrigued by the twist. Thought the third episode lit itself on fire and careened off a cliff at 90 miles per hour.

Tough to recall a movie or TV show ending I liked less than that one. Absolutely nothing about it worked for me at all.

[hepcat]

Agree totally...with the sole exception of Dracula figuring out the institute's WIFI password. That actually made me laugh...

[Skinypupy]

The biggest problem for me was the supporting cast.

Spoiler:

In the first episode, Harker (and Mina, to a lesser extent) were interesting characters that you could root for. Same with Captain, Piotr, the Doctor and his daughter, the hook-hand dude, the gay noble, etc in episode two. I actually cared and was interested in what happened to them.

The support cast in episode three was terrible. I absolutely could not have cared any less about them. Mopey McLovelorn, “I’m too sexy” burnt nugget, the token gay friend with a stupid hat, Cheerleader/So-and-so/The Ugly One (cue Strongbad)...they were all just awful characters. I found myself actively rooting for Dracula to appear in the middle of their limo or at the club and simply go on a rampage to take out the gaggle of insipid twits because they were such dull and/or unlikable characters.

The whole sadboi ending didn’t work a bit for me either. Seemed completely out of character for what had come prior. I could do nothing but roll my eyes at the closing shot of them naked together in a fire.

Dracula and “Agatha” still had entertaining banter, but nothing else worked. Like...at all. Which is even more frustrating because they had set up such an interesting premise for episode three.

I will give episode three credit for the two creepiest moments in the whole series though:

Spoiler:

- the undead kid gave me the willies
- the scene where her dead body is lying still in the bed and you see her reflection screaming in the mirror genuinely unnerved me.

[Isgrimnur]

[Kurth]

Just started Ozark last night. I think I'm going to like this one. A lot.

[hepcat]

Julia Garner.

[McNutt]

Interesting. I like her because I feel like she's succeeding based on talent and not on looks, which is refreshing.

[hepcat]

I can still believe she's beautiful AND talented. They aren't mutually exclusive.

[Xmann]

I find her attractive BECAUSE she is an amazing actress.