Penguin stumbles on Dracula's remains (relocated to Gotham some time after the events of Stoker's novel), and accidentally revives him. Dracula vows to take over Gotham. But first he must remove the one obstacle to his ruling the night... the Batman!
Obviously inspired by the DC Elseworlds comic Red Rain (1991), this sole spin-off feature from The Batman 2004 animated TV series has a much darker tone than the show. It features the voices of Rino Romano as Batman, Peter Stormare as Dracula, Kevin Michael Richardson as Joker, and Tom Kenny as Penguin. Character designs are generally very good (I'm not a huge fan of this Joker's look, but it kinda works here). Backgrounds range from very good to fantastic (with Arkham Asylum and Gotham Cemetery looking like they've been pulled straight from a 1940s horror movie). Voice acting is spot-on (with Richardson's performance definitely helping to make this Joker easier to take). And although this isn't the DCAU, there are some apparent influences from Burton's movies; the design of the Batcave, Wayne Manor looking very similar to the one in Batman Returns, Penguin's 'flipper hands', and Vicki Vale (voiced by Tara Strong) being Bruce's love interest. There's also, interestingly, a line that Nolan used three years later in The Dark Knight, as Joker tells Batman 'You complete me'. Animation is smooth throughout. And Alfred (voiced by Alastair Duncan) gets a badass moment!
This isn't aimed at young kids. The 'turned' humans rising as vampires are pretty creepy, a scene paralleling blood-lust with drug addiction/withdrawal is very on the nose, and some vampire destruction is pretty graphic.
Well worth a watch. 7.5/10.
Obviously inspired by the DC Elseworlds comic Red Rain (1991), this sole spin-off feature from The Batman 2004 animated TV series has a much darker tone than the show. It features the voices of Rino Romano as Batman, Peter Stormare as Dracula, Kevin Michael Richardson as Joker, and Tom Kenny as Penguin. Character designs are generally very good (I'm not a huge fan of this Joker's look, but it kinda works here). Backgrounds range from very good to fantastic (with Arkham Asylum and Gotham Cemetery looking like they've been pulled straight from a 1940s horror movie). Voice acting is spot-on (with Richardson's performance definitely helping to make this Joker easier to take). And although this isn't the DCAU, there are some apparent influences from Burton's movies; the design of the Batcave, Wayne Manor looking very similar to the one in Batman Returns, Penguin's 'flipper hands', and Vicki Vale (voiced by Tara Strong) being Bruce's love interest. There's also, interestingly, a line that Nolan used three years later in The Dark Knight, as Joker tells Batman 'You complete me'. Animation is smooth throughout. And Alfred (voiced by Alastair Duncan) gets a badass moment!
This isn't aimed at young kids. The 'turned' humans rising as vampires are pretty creepy, a scene paralleling blood-lust with drug addiction/withdrawal is very on the nose, and some vampire destruction is pretty graphic.
Well worth a watch. 7.5/10.