Dracula Untold
Universal Pictures | Release Date: October 10, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
40
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
15
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
40
Arizona RepublicBarbara VanDenburghOct 9, 2014
Aside from Dance and some hazy views of impaled bodies, the film is low on shock and gore. It's aiming more for sweeping historical epic, but it doesn't work on either level. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovOct 8, 2014
Another addition to Universal’s Pictures Classic Monsters arsenal of crap (remember Van Helsing?), director Shore, in his feature debut, displays a fine sense of pacing but little else. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesBruce IngramOct 9, 2014
Vlad’s numerous speeches about love, honor and family grow tedious, along with the film’s wooden dialogue in general. And it quickly becomes obvious that Dracula Untold is more interested in being cool than making sense. Read full review
40
EmpireKim NewmanOct 2, 2014
Armour-clanging, cloak-swishing tosh with okay battles, terrible dialogue and sadly little horror or heroism. Nowhere near as bad as I, Frankenstein – but what is? Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyKyle AndersonOct 8, 2014
It works neither as a sweeping historical epic nor as an action-horror hybrid. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinOct 9, 2014
As effective and fat-free as its sinewy star, Luke Evans, Dracula Untold proves an absorbing, swiftly comprehensive origin tale. Read full review
50
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreOct 8, 2014
Charles Dance is the Nosferatu-garbed monster in the cave, a balding, toothy villain in the great tradition of British vampires — Christopher Lee, Gary Oldman, Michael Sheen and Kate Beckinsale among them. The moment he shows up, all shadowy menace and prophecy, “Dracula” gets interesting. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJordan HoffmanOct 9, 2014
The CGI — mostly Evans transforming into fightin’ bats — look muddy and cheap, but the weapons, Turkish helmets and Romanian interiors are all gorgeous. If only the rest of this “Lord of the Rings” wanna-be were at the same level. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriOct 9, 2014
Dracula Untold is a dumb, lowest-common-denominator kind of movie, but it’s a surprisingly entertaining one. It’s brisk, which counts for a lot in this overbaked genre. The action is directed with verve and imagination — and it’s all gorgeously bleak, with black clouds of bats whipping around remote, craggy castles beneath portentous Carpathian skies. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle SmithOct 9, 2014
The origins story Dracula Untold is Dracula unbold — unoriginal, unimaginative and utterly non-unprecedented. This Vlad the Impaler has all the edge of Vlasic the pickle. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerDavid HiltbrandOct 10, 2014
Dracula Untold is a movie that gives good trailer. That's not surprising because it's a visually arresting saga. Unfortunately, the story in the final, full version is thicker than blood. Read full review
25
Portland OregonianStephen WhittyOct 9, 2014
If this Dracula can kill hundreds of enemies by himself — and he can, and does, in several dull and protracted battle scenes — then where's the suspense? If he's become a monster for noble reasons, then where's the dark conflict? Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliOct 9, 2014
Instead of being respectful of Bram Stoker's creation, it attempts to remake him as a tragic figure with superhero powers. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsOct 10, 2014
The good news barely outweighs the bad in Dracula Untold, a lightweight war-adventure that is ultimately stranger and more enticing when it remembers it's also a horror film. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 9, 2014
No campy vampire movie, and the early part of the film is well-made enough that the sadness of Vlad’s dilemma is truly felt. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineEd GonzalezOct 8, 2014
It's a story arc that wouldn't be out of place on Game of Thrones, except it lacks for the HBO program's dense and surprising dramatic reflexes. Read full review
38
St. Louis Post-DispatchKevin C. JohnsonOct 9, 2014
This toothless attempt is just dead on arrival. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Oct 8, 2014
More sad dad and noble martyr than creature of the night, Evans’ dashing Prince Of Darkness inspires less fear than just about any incarnation of the famous character, save perhaps the one played by Leslie Nielsen. Read full review
30
The DissolveScott TobiasOct 8, 2014
Dracula Untold boldly attempts to retell the Dracula origin story by sinking its teeth into Bram Stoker’s novel and draining it of all the passion, sensuality, and ambience that have seduced readers and moviegoers since the turn of the 20th century. Read full review
40
The GuardianMike McCahillOct 2, 2014
It’s no-frills, B-movie modesty might have been winning, if it weren’t so dashed-off. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckOct 1, 2014
Much like the recent, widely reviled I, Frankenstein, this misconceived project mainly signals a need to go back to the drawing board. Read full review
40
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergOct 9, 2014
Looking for plausibility in a movie called Dracula Untold is as pointless as looking for humor or personality in Mr. Evans’s dour performance. Read full review
58
The PlaylistDrew TaylorOct 9, 2014
He's a romantic and a psychopath and creature of the night. Sadly, Dracula Untold, with its humorless aura and been-there-done-that feel, doesn't allow Evans to inhabit many of these aspects. Instead, Dracula Untold feels largely uninspired. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyOct 2, 2014
If they had to give Drac an “origin story” this literal-minded, at least they had the sense to keep it keen and lively, whittled to a point. Read full review
40
TheWrapDan CallahanOct 9, 2014
For about the first hour of its running time, Dracula Untold is far too restrained and tasteful, and it certainly suffers from its tediously noble hero; it's well made but fatally lacking in thrills or excitement. Read full review
20
Time OutTom HuddlestonOct 7, 2014
Drab, silly and mind-numbing, this Dracula is strictly for the suckers. Read full review
50
USA TodayBrian TruittOct 9, 2014
At times Dracula Untold flirts with dullness so much that it might as well just stick a stake in the heart of Bram Stoker's legacy. Read full review
30
VarietyScott FoundasOct 1, 2014
Dracula Untold opts for the stately, staid approach, and even at a mere 85 minutes (sans credits) it’s something of a bore — neither scary nor romantic nor exciting in any of the ways it seems to intend. Read full review
40
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlOct 7, 2014
Too much of the last hour is a muddle of unconvincing, hard-to-read nighttime action scenes. Read full review
37
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanOct 9, 2014
The film isn’t awful. There are moments of handsome cinematography and occasional effects that both frighten and impress. Read full review
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