Dracula II: Ascension



The first thing I had to get past when I watched Dracula II: Ascension (2003) was the absurdity that 70+ years after Tod Browning's Dracula (1931) any film would use the title "Dracula II." Oh well. This flick is actually a sequel to Dracula 2000 (2000) a film I quite liked, considering. After his complicated and very messy death in that film, Dracula's body is found by some medical students who are egged on by an anonymous benefactor to study and revive the corpse. For science, you know. Meanwhile a kick ass Catholic priest/vampire hunter played by Jason Scott Lee is hell bent on giving Dracula absolution so that Drac can die for good. There must have been some good hooch at Vatican II when they figured that one out...

Dracula is pretty much muzzled throughout the movie. The name Dracula is never even used, and the big guy spends most of the movie crucified in the middle of a well lit swimming pool. But I liked the way the movie struck a balance between the supernatural and scientific aspects of vampirism, and the claustrophobic situation of being stuck in a building with Dracula was well done, even if most of the people were stuck there by their own greed.

The ending, marred only by the pointless revelation of the anonymous benefactor, leads nicely into a sequel, Dracula III: Legacy.

Posted: Mon - October 6, 2003 at      

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