31 Days of Horror 2013: Dracula S01 E01: The Blood Is the Life

Welcome my little blood banks. Are you ready for a good vampire show that doesn’t have synthetic blood or vampires who sparkle? Dracula, which is produced by Carnival Films, created by Cole Haddon, and has Daniel Knauf as showrunner, stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Dracula/Vlad Tepes/ Alexander Grayson. How well does Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who played Henry VIII so stunningly in the The Tudors, portray Dracula? Find out after the jump.

The Plot

It’s 1881, and someone is digging up the very dead Dracula. Fifteen years later, an American entrepreneur is in London with the claim that he can bring modern technology to the Victorian rich and powerful. Our entrepreneur is none other than Dracula, but he goes by the name of Alexander Grayson, and he’s accompanied by R.M Renfield (Nonso Anozie), his faithful servant. At this event is a cub reporter Jonathan Harker (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), who is trying to work his way into the ranks of said rich and famous, his sweetheart, Mina Murray (Jessica De Gouw) and her saucy friend, Lucy Westenra (Katie McGrath).

With a nod to my hero, Nikola Tesla, Dracula/Grayson hands out light bulbs to the crowd and lo and behold the bulbs light up. You would think that act would get a big applause, but no. It seems the rich and powerful are petroleum men and they don’t like alternative power. They will do all in their power to stop this colonial misfit from succeeding. Sound familiar? Dracula/Grayson spots our little Mina and he’s certain that she’s his reincarnated wife. Mina feels this attraction, likes it, but is also frightened of the vibes between Grayson and her. But, there’s one lady who isn’t frightened of the new kid in town and that’s the very sexy and mysterious, Lady Jane (Victoria Smurfit).

Mina is a medical student at the University where her instructor is none other than Abraham Van Helsing (Thomas Kretschmann). Kretschmann played Dracula in the 2012 Italian horror film, Dracula 3D. Okay, so now that you have the run down, here is where the show is different than earlier portrayals of Dracula. Our handsome blood sucker is here on a mission of revenge, going after the powerful and wealthy members of the Order of the Dragon. They nasty boys were responsible for his wife’s death.

Order of the Dragon

Lady Jane works for the bad guys, but she’s taken a liking for Grayson. Does she suspect who he is and vice versa? A henchman is sent to kill Dracula, but fails. One by one, Dracula begins his elimination of the members of the order, but it won’t be easy; they have a big supply of henchmen.

Conclusion and Spoiler Alert

The first episode was just a way to introduce the cast, so it’s hard to tell if this show will be a winner, but that said, with Jonathan Rhys Meyers as the lead character, Dracula, and Thomas Kretschmann as Van Helsing, I have high hopes for the show. How can you go wrong with a handsome, talented, and sexy vampire? Now here is the spoiler: Dracula and Van Helsing are working together to destroy the Order of the Dragon. It was Van Helsing who freed Dracula from his tomb. I like this new twist to an old tale. Watch the show and tell me what you think.