Argento’s Dracula

Release Date: OUT NOW!

2012 | 18 | 110 minutes | £ 12.99 ( DVD)

Bram Stoker’s

novel has been adapted many times over the years, but Dario Argento brings something completely new to this attempt. Unfortunately, that something is a giant, badly animated praying mantis.

There are plenty of other things to criticise about this movie – it’s far too long, the accents are hard to decipher, and the character dynamics have been unnecessarily swapped around, making nonsense of the story – but the mantis stands out as uniquely awful. Yes, Count Dracula has always been able to shapeshift, but it never seemed quite as ridiculous as it does here.

Argento used to be brilliant at intense and strange visuals, but those days are, sadly, long gone, and all we’re left with is subAsylum movie CGI bugs.

A trailer. Sarah Dobbs