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Popular Culture Review
trap and his ostensible death at the hands of his brother, Radu. It is at this point in
the story that Stephan is discovered to be more than Vlad’s Judas, as when he
reveals that he was responsible for buiying Vlad’s father alive. The Prince’s body
is placed in a coffin and lies in state in the church. That night, Stephan hears sounds
coming from that area and discovers Vlad’s body no longer rests in state. Vlad
calls out to Stephan from a window and is shown moving faster than humanly
possible to the church floor and then beside Stephan where the priest dies from
fright as Vlad tells him, “You have doomed me to wander the earth incorrupt and
entire. You’ve given me life.”
A thread permeating both the Carpenter film and Chappelle’s is a corrupt
church’s role in unleashing vampirism upon the earth. Valek’s vampirism comes
about due to a botched exorcism, and Vlad becomes undead as the result of church
politics and his betrayal by one of its priests, even though the script would have us
recognize that he is ultimately fulfilling the destiny forecast by the church at his
birth. As a result, both films place the blame for vampirism on one of society’s
established institutions rather than attempting to develop further the mythological
origins of vampirism or continue the scientific rationale initiated by Dan Simmons.
The role of religious institutions in these two films is particularly intriguing in
light of the place religion plays in Dracula 2000.
Presented by Wes Craven, Dracula 2000 is directed by Patrick Lussier, who
conceived the story with Joel Soisson. Soisson’s initial screenplay was later
“...touched up by Scott Derrickson and Paul Harris Boardman (Urban Legends:
Final Cut) before receiving an additional rewrite by Ehren (Scream 3) Kruger
(Kendzior 44).” There is a lot for vampire fans to like about the narrative, in which
the Dracula legend is brought to modem times. Lussier and Soisson integrate many
touches into the film that followers of the Stoker novel will recognize, such as
naming Van Helsing’s (Christopher Plummer) antique dealership “Carfax Antiqui
ties,” and the decision to play the opening credits over a depiction of Dracula’s
initial trip to England on the Demeter emphasizing the carnage he wreaked upon
the ship’s crew. At the same time, some of Stoker is revised to reflect the Hammer
mythos, particularly sunlight’s ability to finish off a vampire.
The film’s conceit lies in the idea that Van Helsing remains alive in the late
twentieth century, acting as guardian over Dracula’s (Gerard Butler) body and keep
ing the vampire imprisoned in a silver casket while periodically draining blood
from him to sustain his own life. Van Helsing’s business is broken into by a group
of thieves who believe he has untold riches hidden away in the vault. Naturally,
what the old vampire fighter really has under wraps is Dracula himself and, after
the thieves make off with the casket and head for the United States, it is not long
until the Count manages to escape into contemporary New Orleans in search of
Mary Heller (Justine Waddell), Van Helsing’s daughter. The requisite vampirizing