BBC/Netlix Dracula Is A Tribute To The British Hammer Horror Films – Forbes

Claes Bang as Count Dracula (photo credit: BBC/Hartswood Films/Netflix/Robert Viglasky)

The last episode of the three feature-length mini-series ofDracula was aired Friday night on BBC One, the whole series is now available on Netflix. Written and created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss (the co-creators of BBC dramaSherlock),Dracula is produced by Hartswood Films and is a co-production between BBC One and Netflix. Danish actor fromThe Square, Claes Bang has taken up the titular role of Dracula.

Over the years there has been numerous adaptations of Bram Stokers novel, from Murnaus 1922 silent classicNosferatu to Gary Shores 2014 filmDracula Untold. The story in Stokers novel is told through letters, diary entries and newspaper clippings, but never through Count Draculas perspective. The version adapted by Moffat and Gatiss is not a faithful adaptation of Bram Stokers novel, in fact the whole diary entry aspect is thrown out of the window from its very first episode, when it is revealed that Jonathan Harkers written account is in fact just scribblings of Dracula will be served he has obsessively written on hundreds of pages.

This BBC/Netflix three-part mini-series on Dracula is very much a tribute to the British Hammer Horror films on Dracula that starred Christopher Lee. The Hammer films, such asDracula also known asThe Horror of Draculaof 1958, orThe Brides of Dracula, did not have much to do with Stokers novel. Certain elements from the original novel were used (such as names, or that Dracula is sucking someones blood and Van Helsing must come to the rescue) but the situations and circumstances were completely different. This is exactly what Moffat and Gatiss have done for their new version. The mini-series encapsulates all the usual horror tropes present in the Hammer films, and clearly has a lot of fun with them.

The three episodes work almost separately as three different films. It is only the story arc of two distinctive characters that ties the whole mini-series together. What made the Hammer films so popular was not only Christopher Lees fantastic and sexy portrayal of the undead count, but it was also Peter Crushings Dr Van Helsing, Draculas nemesis. This is what ties the three episodes together in this new BCC/Netflix adaptation.

The first film begins in 1897 Hungary where we meet a worse-for-wear Jonathan Harker, surrounded by flies, being interrogated by a nun, who introduces herself as Sister Agatha (played rather brilliantly by Dolly Wells), at a convent. Through her questions, Harker recounts his encounter with the count Dracula at his castle, and how he managed to escape from him. Claes Bangs Dracula is witty and sexual, following in the footsteps of Christopher Lees while making it very much his own. Dracula has some very funny one-liners in this mini-series, although by the third episode they become a little tedious.

Dolly Wells as Sister Agatha Van Helsing (photo credit: BBC/Hartswood Films/Netflix/Robert Viglasky)

Sister Agatha is in fact Draculas nemesis, Van Helsing. Her first name seems to be a reference to Agatha Christie, as her character resembles a detective like Mrs Marple or Hercule Poirot. This correlation is much more apparent in the second episode. Set in the Demeter, the boat that takes Dracula across the seas to Whitby, a seaside town in northern England. This episode works like Agatha ChristiesAnd Then There Were None, but it is clear from the beginning who the culprit is. The only mystery lies on who hides in cabin number 9.

The third episode is a little slower than the first two. Set 123 years later, it is now Sister Agathas descendant Dr Zoe Helsing who tracks Dracula down. This episode does not feel as well thought-through as the first two episodes, and has a rather interesting ending. The clear reference toThe Horror of Dracula towards the end of this episode (which involves a heavy set of curtains being pulled down) confirms the whole dynamic of this mini-series: the hunter/hunted relationship between Dracula and Van Helsing. In a way, the title of this mini-series should really be Dracula vs. Van Helsing, with an added Agatha Christie twist.

What makes this series so enjoyable is all the references it makes to the horror genrefrom using the same castle featured in Nosferatuin the first episode, to the numerous nods to the Hammer Horror films. I particularly liked the gruesome reference toThe Company of Wolvesin the first episode, when Dracula literally comes out of a black wolf.

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BBC/Netlix Dracula Is A Tribute To The British Hammer Horror Films - Forbes

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero