If you follow Dracula, or vampire movies in general, as I do, you're probably well accustomed to B movies, and have an appreciation and understanding of them. You understand how the direct-to-video market works, and accept more than a few shoddy productions. The popular term "so bad it's good" comes to mind.
Dracula 3000, however, is in a league of its own. Where other Dracula movies may be campy, or just variations on a tired theme, they still have their appeal. This one doesn't. Due to the title, I expected it had something to do with the Dracula series that started with "Dracula 2000." Well, it doesn't. It's a German / South African production, of all things.
There's so many hideous aspects of the film, it's hard to know where to start. First off, Casper Van Dien. That should be enough to warn everyone away. Surprisingly enough, and to be fair, his isn't the worst performance of the bunch. Then we've got the mandatory washed up Playmate role, filled this time by Erika Eleniak. Tom Lister Jr. and Coolio provide equally atrocious acting.
There are only three worthy actors and somewhat engaging characters in the movie. First is Udo Kier. The guy's a cult icon, and you've got to love him. Second is Alexandra Kamp-Groeneveld as Mina. Of course, she's barely given any screen time, and is quickly killed. Finally there's Grant Swanby as Professor, a character that had lots of potential, but was totally misused. Granted, the film was a disastrous "Jason X" ripoff from the get go, but it could have been better if these three characters had been used more effectively, and if Dracula hadn't been so lousy.
In fact, Dracula hardly figures into the film at all. If you added up all his screen time, it might be 8 minutes. Most of it is spent on the bickering between the crew members, much of which is focused on racial tension. Which I confess, doesn't look good coming from a South African movie. One would think that a thousand years from now we'd have these things sorted out. But then again, the movie suggests that Communism is alive and well, the concept of god is all but erased, and while we may have mastered space travel, we still use projectile weapons. Yeah, go figure.
Perhaps the worst element of this movie is the ending. Because there isn't one. The ship just suddenly explodes without any warning, and the credits roll. Perhaps they thought this would be very clever. I think it's pretty clear they just didn't feel like writing an ending. One has to wonder why. They were doing so well up until then....
Dracula 3000, however, is in a league of its own. Where other Dracula movies may be campy, or just variations on a tired theme, they still have their appeal. This one doesn't. Due to the title, I expected it had something to do with the Dracula series that started with "Dracula 2000." Well, it doesn't. It's a German / South African production, of all things.
There's so many hideous aspects of the film, it's hard to know where to start. First off, Casper Van Dien. That should be enough to warn everyone away. Surprisingly enough, and to be fair, his isn't the worst performance of the bunch. Then we've got the mandatory washed up Playmate role, filled this time by Erika Eleniak. Tom Lister Jr. and Coolio provide equally atrocious acting.
There are only three worthy actors and somewhat engaging characters in the movie. First is Udo Kier. The guy's a cult icon, and you've got to love him. Second is Alexandra Kamp-Groeneveld as Mina. Of course, she's barely given any screen time, and is quickly killed. Finally there's Grant Swanby as Professor, a character that had lots of potential, but was totally misused. Granted, the film was a disastrous "Jason X" ripoff from the get go, but it could have been better if these three characters had been used more effectively, and if Dracula hadn't been so lousy.
In fact, Dracula hardly figures into the film at all. If you added up all his screen time, it might be 8 minutes. Most of it is spent on the bickering between the crew members, much of which is focused on racial tension. Which I confess, doesn't look good coming from a South African movie. One would think that a thousand years from now we'd have these things sorted out. But then again, the movie suggests that Communism is alive and well, the concept of god is all but erased, and while we may have mastered space travel, we still use projectile weapons. Yeah, go figure.
Perhaps the worst element of this movie is the ending. Because there isn't one. The ship just suddenly explodes without any warning, and the credits roll. Perhaps they thought this would be very clever. I think it's pretty clear they just didn't feel like writing an ending. One has to wonder why. They were doing so well up until then....