Dracula 2001 Details

This ill-advised Bram Stoker redefinition from editor-turned-director Patrick Lussier takes most of its hoary plot cues from Hammer's Dracula AD 1972 and feels just as behind the times. A gang of stupid thieves break in to an ancient crypt in the modern London house of Abraham Van Helsing (Christopher Plummer) looking for treasure, but instead find a heavily sealed coffin. They put it on a plane headed for New Orleans, but, once airborne, they become victims of its occupant — Count Dracula (Gerard Butler) — who really appreciates the trip because he needs to find Van Helsing's Basin Street-based daughter, Mary (Justine Waddell), with whom he has sinister blood ties. It's up to antiques dealer Simon (Jonny Lee Miller in hilarious “diamond geezer” mode) and Virgin store sales assistant Mary to thwart the Count's family reunion plans. Lussier's attempt to inject hip life into vampire mythology by giving it a Scream spin is pretty much an all-round disaster because the plot is plodding and schematic to a ludicrous degree and hopelessly tarted up with boring rock video imagery and yawn-inducing camera trickery.

Despite being given the blessing of Wes Craven, this is just another vampire movie, even though it manages to identify Dracula with Judas Iscariot.