DARK PRINCE: THE TRUE STORY OF DRACULA

By: Fred Szebin
Date: Monday, October 30, 2000

If there is one personage in all of human history who remains enigmatic, feared, hated and loathed by much of the world, yet honored and beloved by his countrymen, that would be Vlad Tsepes (i.e., the Impaler), a.k.a. Vlad Dracula (Son of the Dragon). He was born into a powerful house in Romania, succeeded his murdered father as ruler of his city-state and began a legendary reign of 'justice' against those who would hurt his country or not live the way he believed a true Romanian should live. His horrendous acts (many of them historically accurate, some embellished by myth) as ruler and soldier included such potentially politically-damaging events as inviting to dinner and then murdering the local boyars whom he believed to be responsible for his father's murder, impaling on upright poles numerous 'enemies of the state,' and nailing the hats to the heads of visiting dignitaries who refused to remove their head gear in the presence of Prince Vlad.

If he hadn't existed, someone would have had to invent him. Bram Stoker found the name 'Dracula' (although probably not 'Vlad') in a history book and adopted it for his own inimitable monster, Dracula, Prince of Darkness and King of Vampires. The British author took some of the military exploits associated with the historical character and used them as the Count's 'back story,' although not nearly not nearly to the degree that some pop 'historians' would lead you to believe. But the USA Network doesn't care for the piddling morsels of historical accuracy that may get in the way of their newest film for television, Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula, which has nothing to do with the fanged Count of whom we are all so enamored, but instead details the historical figure of Vlad, portrayed as tortured as much as he was a torturer.


What we have here is a somewhat sanitized, network-friendly, but ultimately mildly affecting piece of pseudo-history just in time for Halloween. Some of Vlad's story does play much like a horror story, so it's suitable holiday fare for those of us who get into that kind of thing. If details are amiss, the film does keep a string of historic accuracy in the proceedings. We begin in 1476, when aged Vlad is on trial to be excommunicated due to the machinations of Father Stefan (Peter Weller), a Greek Orthodox priest who has watched Vlad's trail of blood go too far. The film then becomes a flashback to Vlad's birth and the teachings of his ruthless father, leading to the time when young Vlad (Sebastian Lupea) and little brother Radu (Niels Brinks) are captured by the invading Turks to be held for ransom.

As Vlad is tortured and eventually released, Radu is brought into the Turkish fold, now on the side of Vlad's enemies. Now a young man, Vlad (Rudolf Martin, who also portrayed Dracula on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer season opener) retakes his throne and sets up the peace he has envisioned for his Romania, which includes wholesale murder and torture, as well as various face-offs against the Turks over the years. He falls in love with beautiful Lidia (Jane March) and finds a life-long friend in Bruno (Christopher Brand), who becomes the prince's most-trusted companion.

Years pass and Vlad does his thing. Some of the prince's historic set pieces are recreated, such as the mass killing of the boyars, the impaling of his enemies while Vlad dines and watches, dipping his bread into the blood of his enemies, the execution of a guard for having fallen asleep on duty, and such. This all leads to the final confrontation with his grown brother Radu (Michael Sutton) and the final fates of those involved. (No spoilers here!)

This is a rather peculiar telling of the ancient tale. In his politically and religiously unstable part of the world, it took someone even more unstable to use any means necessary to keep the peace, and, golly, wasn't he a loving husband and good father, too? Tall, dark and handsome, Martin is cast as Vlad Dracula who, by all existing accounts, was a rather plain or downright ugly fellow. With the handsome actor, it's almost as if USA was too eager to court viewer sympathy for their anti-hero, who did so many horrible things. So his romanceuntil his wife discovers exactly what her royal husband's policies entailis all romantic with candle light and softly-spoken sweet things taking up the dialogue, and he loves his eventual son, but he still impales people. I guess the message is: If he's this good and nice to his family, can he be all bad? Ask his wife, who was driven to madness and committed suicide by jumping off the top of the castle.

The peculiarities of this production go right on to the end, with a touch of a Gladiator-type ending (tiny spoiler) that's supposed to convince us this isn't the horror story USA has been promising in its promos. It's actually quite sweet and old fashioned Hollywood schmaltz. But is this really the Impaler?

Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula toys with its audience a bit, but director Joe Chappelle pulls some wonderful moments out of Tom Baum's hindered screenplay. It comes to a dead stop during the romances (but don't they all?), and really lives during battles that are very nicely staged and photographed, but too few and far between. Vlad's acts are shown mostly at a distance, and never become too overwhelming for the faint of heart. True horror shines through during these moments, and you find yourself getting caught up when the energy is there. But it does drag a bit in the middle, and if you know the history, you might get antsy about this tall, handsome Prince who is being played as a romantic figure, when the real guy was more of a Hitler than Hitler was.

There are those who cheer for historical accuracy, and those who don't care, just as long as the material was handled well. My Darling Clementine, Bonnie and Clyde, and The Patriot are two genuine American classics and one recent hit that played with the facts, as does Dark Prince. Doc Holiday did not die at the O.K. Corral; Bonnie and Clyde were not misunderstood young lovers but cold-hearted killers; Mel Gibson's namesake in The Patriot was a blood-thirsty S.O.B.(and probably not nearly as cute as Mel); and Vlad the Impaler was a rat-faced mass murderer plying his trade in the name of a free Romania.

But does that matter? Well, it probably should, if they're going to use the phrase 'True Story' in the title; but not if you just want to get caught up in those shining moments and enjoy some rather nice characterizations, especially Peter Weller as Father Stefan (made up, in ancient clothes and gray hair, to be practically unrecognizable to his SF fans). Dark Prince is a nice start if you want to learn about this most horrifying and fascinating figure. For the real 'True Story of Dracula,' however, read a book.

DARK PRINCE: THE TRUE STORY OF DRACULA airs Oct. 31, at 9:00 p.m., EST, on the USA Network.