I’ve never been into Italian horror films. When they were new, Italian horror featured cutting edge gore and nudity that seems dated and innocent in retrospect. Dario Argento was the leading director of that genre, and in 2008, I saw a handful of his films, which failed to consciously take root in my memory, specifically his trilogy, the Three Mothers: Suspira, Inferno and The Mother of Tears. I also saw Argento’s two entries in the Masters of Horror tv anthology: Pelts and Jenifer-again, little to no memory.
So why would I watch Argento’s Dracula? Argento’s Dracula has vampires and Rutger Hauer. Despite its low rating, I have to say that I really loved Argento’s Dracula. Argento’s Dracula’s soundtrack and special effects are very dated and can be unintentionally funny. Argento’s Dracula felt more like a Hammer production than an Argento production, which is not a bad thing. I adored Argento’s Dracula’s departure from the Bram Stoker story.
Argento’s Dracula felt more like a horror metaphor for real life corruption such as feminicidio in Ciudad Juarez and how the government, church and private sector are complicit in the murders of their mothers, daughters and wives in exchange for prosperity. Such complicity inevitably leads to the death of young men and those who were complicit. I am less familiar with Italian politics so I do not know if there are Italian parallels to Ciudad Juarez, which Argento was probably targeting.
While watching Argento’s Dracula, I recalled my earlier musings on The Strain and the idea of a Jewish vampire hunter having roots in the popularization of Simon Wiesenthal’s work to stop the Nazis. In Argento’s Dracula, Van Helsing is still a doctor, but not someone who does not wear a cross, which I always attributed to his scientific leanings. He appears to be pointedly separate from the Catholic priest and more than understanding at his lack of courage instead of shocked. So I began wondering if Stoker’s ABRAHAM Van Helsing is supposed to be Jewish! I have no idea, but I am intrigued by this trope of the eternally vigilant Jewish hunter against evil.
I also love Argento’s Dracula for irrational reasons. First, Dracula loves books and has a great library. Second, I love the casting. Thomas Kretschmann plays the titular role, and he was Van Helsing in the uber sexy NBC series Dracula. I also think that I need to admit that I have a slight crush on him since I’m always happy to see him in such tv series as The River or FlashForward. Also Rutger Hauer played Lothos in Buffy the Vampire Slayer the movie, Kurt Barlow in Salem’s Lot tv miniseries remake and Dracula in one of the dreadful sequels to Dracula 2000: Dracula III: Legacy.
Side note: Asia Argento often appears in her dad’s movies, and in this one, she is naked.