Unlike the MPAA we do not assign
one
inscrutable rating based on age, but 3 objective ratings for SEX/NUDITY, VIOLENCE/GORE
and PROFANITY on a scale of 0 to 10, from lowest to highest,
depending on quantity and context.
In this contemporary adaptation of the perennial tale
Dracula (Gerard Butler) is freed from his coffin by thieves and travels to New Orleans.
Vampire hunters Christopher Plummer and Jonny Lee Miller follow and predictable carnage
ensues. Also with Justine Waddell, Gerard Butler, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Jennifer Esposito,
Danny Masterson, Jeri Ryan, Lochlyn Munro, Sean Patrick Thomas, Omar Epps and Shane West. [1:45]
SEX/NUDITY 6 - During one sex scene the couple is shown to writhe and roll
while mostly covered in sheets. The woman briefly shows her breasts. There is some sexual
innuendo and several instances of very explicit sex talk. We see the silhouettes of
several women who are dancing in the nude. A woman lifts her top to reveal her breasts to
a Mardi Gras crowd (the sequence is very fast and to the side of the screen and barely
discernable). Dracula and other vampires bite into necks, and in some instances lick faces
as well as blood, in a rather sensual manner. A woman is in her underwear and several
women are shown exposing varying degrees of cleavage. One woman talks about her prominent
breasts and another woman begins to pull up her hospital gown while acting in an overtly
sexual manner (she shows only her legs). We see scantily clad women on a few postcards and
several women in a music video are evidently topless although their chests are obscured by
fuzzy pixels.
VIOLENCE/GORE 8 - There are many close-ups of vampires biting people in the
neck. Invariably the neck is bloody and has the tell-tale bite marks. A vampire uses his
nail to gently and slowly make small incisions on several women's necks; he then proceeds
to lick the blood. Several vampires have their heads cut off: we see one vampire's head
land in a dumpster and we see a headless body. Two men are impaled by metal doors equipped
with long spikes: Both men are very bloody, and their blood is absorbed into a coffin. A
vampire is shot several times. He reaches in and pulls out the bullets from his chest.
Several vampires are shot with short silver arrows; the scenes are graphic and we see the
arrows stick out of the vampires' chests. Several men trap a vampire in a metal cage and
proceed to impale him with spears from all sides (a man is accidentally also impaled in
the shoulder). A man drives an arrow into a vampire's eye and kills several vampires by
driving stakes and knives into their chests. A man cuts his finger, and a leach attaches
itself to his eyelid -- he manages to pull it off after several attempts and steps on it,
squishing it. A sailing ship is revealed to contain many dead and bloodied bodies. We also
see several dead bodies in a building. Presumably all have been killed by vampires. A
man's body is discovered under a bed. He seems to have been impaled through the bed and
onto the floor. A man is shown hanging from a tree, and in an extended scene we see a man
hanging off the side of a building and being strangled (a neon cross with a picture of
Christ essentially serves as the gallows). We see him in close-up as he gasps for breath.
Sunlight causes a vampire to burst into flames; he burns for a while -- we see his
dangling silhouette engulfed in flames. A crypt is decorated with many vampire skulls with
protruding teeth. A vampire corpse in a coffin is emaciated and very white; leeches are
attached to his skin. A man uses a stun gun on another man, and a man is knocked out by
some sort of white powder. We hear about a plane crash and see the broken-up plane resting
in a swamp. A man is pulled through a two-way mirror, shattering the glass.
the review continues below...
PROFANITY 7 - About 16 F-words, a few scatological terms, a couple of
anatomical terms, several religious profanities and religious exclamations, and a few
milder obscenities. [profanity glossary]
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Dracula and vampires, betrayal, immortality, dreams,
Christianity, Jesus and Judas Iscariot (please see the Note below for
more, but be warned that it reveals a major plot element).
MESSAGE - Even supernatural beings like Dracula can be killed eventually --
at least until the next Dracula movie.
(Note: The following reveals a major plot element: Dracula is revealed to be
Judas Iscariot, hence his antagonism toward Christianity crosses and silver -- there's no
explanation as to why he also abhors garlic.)
A CAVEAT: We've gone through several editorial changes since we
started covering films in 1992 and some of our early standards were
not as stringent as they are now. We therefore need to revisit many
older reviews, especially those written prior to 1998 or so; please
keep this in mind if you're consulting a review from that period.
While we plan to revisit and correct older reviews our resources are
limited and it is a slow, time-consuming process.
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