Dracula

Scroll all the way down for a TL;DR Given each episode of this "mini-series" is 90 minutes long, I see it as some sort of trilogy with each movie envisioning Dracula in a different way and even a different genre. This is my short and unprofessional breakdown of it: Chapter 1: The Rules of the Beast This one is straight up horror to me, tackling this legendary story and even more legendary character in a very classic way. It takes place at the end of the 19th century and all of the scenery and characters fit this kind of era with a particular creepy vibe. The conversations between Johnny and Count Dracula are very tenseful and the way the two storylines intersect is quite interesting, making it a solid start to this trilogy. Chapter 2: Blood Vessel This one is less of an horror movie and more of a thriller/who done it kind of thing (even though we know perfectly well who actually done it). It wasn't as good as the first episode but it did have my attention throughout. The storyline gets kind of repetitive and I feel they could have cut around 30 minutes off the film without missing anything and even making it better. The ending offers a very intriguing concept for the third and final episode. Chapter 3: The Dark Compass I'm actually having a hard time defining this one in one or two genres. Sometimes it feels like a thriller, sometimes like classic horror, at times it even feels like a comedy or a sci-fi film. It does mix a lot of genres together which causes some pacing issues. Nevertheless it does feature some BEAUTIFUL visuals which reminded me a lot of Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049. The imagery and sound in this episode are absolutely stunning, London looks very vibrant and colorful, even futuristic at times. It is interesting because I feel we see London through the eyes of Count Dracula and for him it is obviously very futuristic and unworldly. It is in no means perfect, though. It suffers from a lot of what you call the Moffat-Gattis ending and I feel it's way more ambitious and pretentious than it should be. The ending wasn't as epic as I feel they thought it was but at the same time it wasn't as awful as many of the reviews here say. In conclusion/TL;DR Overall this "trilogy" was interesting enough for me to finish it, and even interesting enough for me to write my first "in-depth" review/analysis here. It is in no way a masterpiece or an accurate depiction of the original story but it is fun and intriguing enough for me to recommend it. It's on Netflix, it's in 4K, it looks amazing. Why not? BTW Claes Bang and Dolly Wells do a wonderful job as Dracula and Van Helsing respectively. 73/100