Tongue in cheek, stops short of a spoof

Rating: Null/10 (12 May 2004)

Very James Bond beginning. Special effects are interesting, sometimes a little less than perfect (Van Helsing jumping from horse to horse to return to carriage) Story is relatively uninspired but interspersed with enough action and amusing dialogue to entertain. At one point Dracula pleads with his lycanthropic adversary and appeals for a truce on the grounds that "we could be friends". The count is played with a great deal of his tongue stuffed in his cheek, and is never frightening, despite his metamorphosis into something less than human...no scares here, just the startle that comes from the typical "boo" devices...no one is going to go home and wonder what that vaguely menacing shadow could be in their closet. It was just OK.