lemon_magic Warning: the actual plot of the film has very little to do with Bram Stoker, Universal, or Hammer films aside from recycling the character names. That may or may not be a disappointment depending on whether you are tired of the same old tropes or want to see them done one more time with Argento's trademark visual style.Speaking of which - the photography and scene design roll over your visual inputs like melted butter. Every scene, every shot is just drenched in color and detail. Sometimes I wanted to do a screen capture of a scene and frame it on a wall of my house. So that alone made me feel as if I got my money's worth and spent my time in a worthwhile manner.On the other hand...well, on the other hand, some of the dialog is risibly bad. And some of the acting (including 70-80% of what Asia Argento does) is clunky and wooden. I'm willing to overlook some of this in a film where the lines are probably dubbed...but there are an awful lot of clunkers here that detract from the film. Casting: the actor playing Dracula was an interesting choice and had some visual appeal, but seemed too calm and sedate for the part. That might have just been an effect of the way the character was written. Gerard Butler had the same problem in a previous Dracula movie - they just didn't frame the actor in a way that best framed his strengths. This actor doesn't ruin the movie by any means, but he isn't Christopher Lee. You don't spend all the down time between his scenes holding your breath for his next appearance. As I mentioned, the plot's all over the place and doesn't really have a lot of momentum and sometimes doesn't make a lot of sense. The editor also tends to stick in short scenes and shots here and there that either stop the movie cold or else disrupt the flow. I'm not sure I got to see the best version of the movie, either - for instance, Dracula's spy/henchman Zoltan is made out to be a pretty ruthless bad ass in three different scenes, but Hauer/Van Helsing dispatches him in about 5 seconds. And did I mention that Hauer/Van Helsing only appears after more than 1/2 the film has gone by? Oh, well. It was worth seeing once in the DVD player on a Tuesday afternoon when I was under the weather and unable to go to work.

Brandon Stephens Since we have been discussing famed Italian Director Dario Argento in the group I decided to post this review about Dario Argento's newest incarnation from IFC which has many mixed reviews, it has some throwing their hands up in submission that he's truly lost in celluloid hell. Others think this film is typical "newer Argento" which is what most have come to terms with since his release of "Mother of Tears". I know I'm gonna get a lot of heat, but I enjoyed Dracula 3D. I thought the sets were a reminiscence of the Hammer era, esp the "Curse of the werewolf" & Dracula films. The sets and costumes were so beautiful to look at, so Gothic and elegant. I also loved listening to Claudio Simonetti's score. For those who own the blu-ray there is a special feature of the video "Kiss Me Dracula" - Performed by Simonetti Project, where you can watch Claudio play a mean theremin. As we all know, he has a strange fascination with filming his daughter in the nude which is another reason to watch this as get to enjoy Asia's body on celluloid once again. Thomas Kretschmann and Rutger Hauer both pull off great performances with what they have to work with. I'd also like to say that newcomer Marta Gastini, who has a few titles under her belt (ie. Borgia & The Rite) did an amazing job as well more so in fact that she should have been top billed next to the two main actors instead of Asia herself.Now, on to my complaints: Asia's performance seemed quite wooden at times. The Nintendo 64 CGI Graphics are quite painful to look at especially the god awful Praying Mantis scene which I've heard about since the release, he would've pulled it off in a much scarier way if he would've kept that "creature" in the shadows instead of showing the beast off. I can honestly say that I enjoyed this film more than "Giallo" and "Do you like Hitchcock" combined. This is a fun movie, as I mentioned this is far from Argento's best work but you can see that Dario pulled from the Bram Stoker & Hammer lore of Dracula and made something that ONLY Argento could do. This IS Dario Argento's Dracula...a TRUE 3D bella morte experience.

kosmasp I haven't seen the 3D version, so I am not at liberty to judge that (though a friend told me that a scene with a naked lady almost at the beginning is looking good). What I can say, is that the movie in general is not looking good. I watched it on DVD but it's painfully obvious that there was almost no money to spend. While small budget movies in America make it look like they do have a big budget, Dario Argento is not able to make it look like anything.Family "issues" aside (though Asia never had a problem with her body, so let's not read anything into her being naked once again in a movie by her dad), it's the acting altogether that will have you shaking your head, if not giving you a bad feeling. It's a disaster and not in a good or funny sense. In Giallo you could have fun with how ridiculous and how bad the acting was (or the "plot"). Unfortunately there is nothing to laugh here. There is a bit of the mentioned eye candy for lovers of the female body, don't wait for any male hunk to appear though.The "special" effects are another tragic category that add to the confusion. If it were a student movie you might be able to forgive and forget, but for a former (?) maestro of the horror genre this is just pitiful. And that's me being nice. He might be forced to have his actors talk in English (which makes them look worse), but that doesn't change the fact, that the direction is bad too, the script is lacking and a general absence of anything that might be able to save this .... I do wonder if his early work might have been elevated by the people surrounding him (Goblin and other people) ...

ManBehindTheMask63 Dario Argento's recent work may not be as solid as his 70's and 80's stuff but he throws enough boobs and blood at the screen in "Dracula 3D" to keep you entertained. The film feels like a throwback to some of his 70's/early 80's output due to the dubbing and bad acting. The opening sex scene set in a barn feels like it was ripped from a classic 70's giallo. The CGI effects are pretty lame and seem cheap (like Playstation 1 cheap). But the practical effects (slashed throats,heads getting ripped off) all look solid.Asia Argento gets nude and Miriam Giovanelli is sexy as the voluptuous Tanja. Seriously, Giovanelli has the best breasts I've seen in a horror film since the 80's. Rutger Hauer shows up an hour in and he does a solid job, albeit looking very haggard and bored. The film's biggest flaw is that it's too long. At an hour and fifty minutes, "Dracula 3D" could have used some editing to trim it down.Overall, I'd say it's worth checking out if you're a fan of Argento or want to see a semi-fresh take on the Dracula lore.