Scruffy television documentary based on the book by Raymond McNally and Radu Florescu about the legendary character created by Bram Stoker. Screenwriter Yvonne Floyd (director Calvin Floyd's wife) handled a lot of information about Transylvania, its customs, beliefs, and myths; and about Vlad Tepes, the Impaler, but she failed to combine all the data into a coherent film.
The scriptwriter and the director, through inadecuate decisions, got lost in poorly staged reconstructions, in a Mary Shelley voyage around Europe, or including footage from two films, one with Bela Lugosi in the role of a dirty old man, and the other with Theda Bara as a man-eater (with offensive parodic music). But above all they lost the opportunity of having Christopher Lee willing to narrate and personify Tepes. On only two occasions does he narrate directly to camera. Otherwise, he appears dressed in cheap costumes and a stiff wig to revive old Vlad.
Truly a job that leaves much to be desired.
The scriptwriter and the director, through inadecuate decisions, got lost in poorly staged reconstructions, in a Mary Shelley voyage around Europe, or including footage from two films, one with Bela Lugosi in the role of a dirty old man, and the other with Theda Bara as a man-eater (with offensive parodic music). But above all they lost the opportunity of having Christopher Lee willing to narrate and personify Tepes. On only two occasions does he narrate directly to camera. Otherwise, he appears dressed in cheap costumes and a stiff wig to revive old Vlad.
Truly a job that leaves much to be desired.