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| Eagle Entertainment (Australia). Region 4, PAL. 1.77:1 (16:9 enhanced). English DD 2.0. 83 minutes |
| The Movie |
| Cover Art |
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| Credits |
Director: Darrell
James Roodt
Starring:Casper Van
Dien, Erika Eleniak, Coolio, Alexandra Kamp, Tiny
Lister Jr, Udo Kier
Screenplay: Ivan Milborrow,
Darrell James Roodt
Country: South Africa/Germany |
When you hire or purchase a DVD with out seeing
the film first, you take a few risks, but luckily,
distribution companies put some hidden warnings
on the cover, you just have to know how to find
them. Dracula 3000 is an excellent
example of some of these subliminal warnings that
are put on these covers. Here is one: the film is
called Dracula 3000: Infinite Darkness
and has the catch cry of 'In Space, The Sun
Never Rises'. No, it doesn't, but the
warning here is that Dracula is in space. Did you
get that, Dracula…in SPACE, on a spaceship.
Then we look at the cast and immediately there are
a few warnings: Casper Van Dien, Ericka Eliniak
and Coolio, far enough if Eleniak is doing 'topless'
it is a plus, but not here, here she relies on acting
ability and tight pants. The slick also contains
this blurb 'From the producers of 'Boat
Trip', 'Barely Legal', Dumb and
Dumber' which I think speaks for itself. The
director/ co-writer Darrell James Roodt is also
known for the Patrick Swayze vehicle Father
Hood, and his co-writer, Ivan Millborrow
is previously known for being a boom operator on
such cinematic classics as From Dusk Till
Dawn 3: The Hangman's Daughter and Lunarcop.
The best warning of all is if there is any sort
of mis-spelling on the cover, and in this case,
the indicia on the back cover states the film is
called 'Dracular 300: Infinite Darkness'.
Ok, now prepare to start rolling your eyes at
every part of this plot synopsis. 50 years ago,
the space ship Demeter (called the Diameter on
the back of the box) had an unspeakable evil descend
upon it and kill its entire crew. The captain
of the ship (Udo Keir) recorded a warning to whoever
may come aboard the ship.
Flash forward to now, 2997, where deep-space
salvage ship Mother III's Captain Abraham
Van Helsing (Casper Van Dien), and his motley
crew: Arthur Holmwood a.k.a. The Professor (Grant
Swanby), Navigator Mina Murray (Alexandra Kamp
), Cargo Specialists Humvee (Tiny Lister) and
his stoner sidekick 187 (Coolio) and his vice
captain (Vice Captain, are they in High School?)
Aurora Ash (Ericka Eliniak) have found the ship
floating in the Carpathian galaxy, headed towards
Earth. On board is a cargo of 50 coffins, but
for what purpose, and who is the terrifying Count
Orlock (Langley Kirkwood)…
This film could have been excellent, if it had
just had a different storyline and script. Basically,
this film is a light-hearted parody of Alien,
with vampires instead of xenomorphs. All I can
say is the cast were either hungry or owed a project
on their contracts. |
| Video |
| This is 16x9 anamorphic widescreen, but still,
at times, looks like it was shot on home video. |
| Audio |
| Dolby Digital AC3 Stereo that is unfortunately
pretty clear, so every piece on contrived dialogue
is audible. |
| Extra Features |
| There are trailers for 5 movies on this disc: Dracula 3000, Pit Fighter, Menace, The Purifiers and The Hollow. |
| The Verdict |
Awkwardly directed, with a terrible storyline,
badly acted, with sub-standard costuming and the
occasionally addequate space ship effect, Dracula
3000 is horrible, and if not for Erika
Eliniak being excellent eye candy, there would be
no reason to watch it. The one star is just for
Udo Keir's pedestrian appearance.
Got something else to say? Spill your guts on the
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