Review of Dracula

By Dave B.

​Netflix’s Dracula, is a modern take on the legendary vampire. Beginning in the late 1800s, the audience is told the tale of Dracula’s impending move from his native Transylvania to England. Despite time and distance travelled, Dracula is continuously confronted by his nemesis, the irreverent nun Sister Agatha, who is determined to protect the world from Dracula by discovering his only true weakness.

The first two episodes of the three episode Dracula series are entertaining. The show adopts a more traditional view of vampires, with them having vulnerability to sunlight, capable of being killed by wooden stakes to the heart, needing to rest in the soil of their homeland, etc. This take on the vampire mythos works, largely because the first two episodes of the show are intelligent and humorous, with dollops of psychological horror and a quite a bit of blood. It’s a winning and necessary combination, as each episode is about 90 minutes long, so despite there being only a few episodes, binging the entire series is like watching three consecutive movies. The best thing about these episodes, by far, is Sister Agatha, played gamely by Dolly Wells. Sister Agatha’s sharp intellect and blunt demeanor are the perfect foil for Dracula’s suave, but rabid personality.

The third episode departs from the formula of the first two, in part because of a time-jump. As a result of this time-jump, Dracula is introduced to new characters and instead of remaining an intelligent horror story, the plot loses direction. Further, when Dracula’s secret is revealed, it’s so obvious and unthoughtful, that it makes the entire series feel like a waste. Truthfully, the showrunners should’ve kept this story set in the 19th century, instead of moving into the 21st in some failed attempt to convey the timelessness of the struggle between the two main characters.

For the most part, Dracula is entertaining, relatively intelligent, and pretty bloody. If that sounds like your style, you should definitely spend some time watching this show. However, there’s a high probability that the last episode may throw you for a loop and you very well may be extremely disappointed in the show’s ending. If that’s not something that you want to go through, I think you would be missing out on a pretty good show, but I also understand if you’re inclined to give this one a pass.

Rating: 7/10