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Dracula II: Ascension
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment // R // June 17, 2003
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
With Full Moon Entertainment apparently having vanished into obscurity, it seems as if the Direct-to-Video Genre Sequel Torch™ has been passed to Dimension Films. The quality of their small-screen followups have been all over the map, ranging from the dismal Hellraiser: Inferno and Children of the Corn: Revelation to the generally well-received Mimic 2 and From Dusk Till Dawn 3: Hangman's Daughter. Dracula II: Ascension is a feature-length check in the "win" column, towering above much of its DTV brethren and even recent Dimensional theatrical releases like the similarly-Wes-Craven-presented They.
Though Dracula II: Ascension is a sequel, as the Roman numeral in the title so subtly suggests, the movie isn't mired in continuity and can easily be taken on its own. I hadn't seen Dracula 2000 beforehand, and although this entry reportedly picks up right where its predecessor left off, there's not much need for flashbacks or awkward exposition to get new viewers up to speed.
Vlad's last social outing ended with him hung on a cross and lightly charbroiled, and what's left of his smoldering remains have been shipped off to the county morgue. The crispy cadaver finds itself in the capable hands of harried medical student Elizabeth (Diane Neal) and her morbidly curious pal Luke (Jason London, who'd previously co-starred with the walking undead in Blood Ties). As they poke and prod, Luke is convinced that they have a genuine vampire splattered across the slab. Elizabeth laughs it off until a spring-loaded fang convinces her otherwise. Since vamp leftovers aren't exactly readily available in your grocer's freezer, the news of their find spreads within a matter of minutes, attracting the attention of Uffizi the Catholic Vampire Slayer (Jason Scott Lee) and a mysterious buyer who phones in an offer of $30 million.
Elizabeth and Lucas, not surprisingly, follow the money. First, though, with Liz's wheelchair-bound lover and a handful of his students in tow, they conduct a series of experiments to get some vague inkling as to what they're dealing with exactly. A bloody bath revives Dracula to his usual cheerful self, but the quick arrival of Eric (John Light) keeps the body count from getting too out of hand. Drac is kept at bay with a series of ultraviolet lights as palsy-afflicted professor Lowell (Craig Sheffer) uses the vampire's blood to try to stave off his continued cellular degeneration. Dracula II wouldn't be much of a vampire flick if things didn't go horribly wrong, shattering longtime friendships, transforming everyone in sight into creatures of the night, and pitting our band of plucky heroes (and villains) against the vengeance-crazed Uffizi.
Since the title character (who is never actually referred to as Dracula, though it's implied in conversation) spends most of the movie's 82 minutes bathed in ultraviolet light, Dracula II could've easily wound up a talky, boring mess. Though some attempt is made at steering Dracula down Hannibal Lechter territory, a solid balance is struck between action and the more dialogue-oriented sequences, maintaining an appropriately creepy vibe throughout without skewing too heavily in either direction. It's not a particularly gory movie, but there are a couple of barrel drums of the red stuff along with more decapitation outside of any movie from the Joe Pesci ouevre. The packaging is prone to using words like "terrifying" (twice!), "chilling", and "intense". That's a definite exaggeration, but Dracula II offered enough in the way of suspense to maintain my attention throughout, and there are a couple of really great jump scares.
The most memorable character in Dracula II: Ascension is the determined halfbreed Father Uffizi, with his razor-edged arsenal and unwavering desire to exterminate vampires from the face of the earth. Falling just shy of cartoonishly over-the-top, Uffizi provides most of the movie's best action sequences. Unfortunately, he's also partially responsible for one of the movie's most glaring flaws. Its attempts at tossing religion into the mix are clunky and fall flat, from Catholicism-tinged rants about vampires to an out-of-place cameo by Jesus Christ (!). This thankfully isn't a dominant theme, but these short sequences really don't seem as if they belong.
The dark ending diverges from the expected conclusion to a vampire flick, leading right into the impending Dracula III: Legacy. It's an ending only in the sense that it comes at the last few minutes of the movie, but I guess that's preferable to having Dracula and company staked, only to be resurrected in the opening scene in Legacy.
More polished and effectively executed than other direct-to-video flicks whose titles are similarly riddled with numbers and colons, Dracula II: Ascension manages to be fun and entertaining without careening head-on into camp. Not the most original movie, no, but there are worse inspirations to have than the likes of Fright Night, Silence of the Lambs, and Blade, and the sum total makes for a different sort of vampire movie. Its release on DVD includes an anamorphic widescreen presentation, a booming Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, and a decent assortment of extras.
Video: Belying its direct-to-video origins, Dracula II: Ascension is presented at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and this disc is enhanced for widescreen televisions. The movie is closer in appearance to a modestly-budgeted theatrical release than shoddy DTV fare, and that's reflected on its release on DVD. In particular, the amount of detail exhibited in most of the film's close-ups is almost astonishing. Given the number of dark interior shots, it's natural that the palette veers heavily towards cold, blue hues for much of the movie. Other portions, particularly those that sneak outside in the daylight, offer more of a variety of vivid colors. The ruddier end of the spectrum, needless to say, comes through perfectly as well. There is some slight film grain visible from time to time, most often creeping onto the image during foggier, smokier sequences. Detail and clarity also remain respectably high in Dracula II's more dimly-lit moments. Speckling is kept to a bare minimum, with only a handful of tiny white flecks noticeable throughout. The only flaw of note comes in the form of some intermittent haloing around certain edges. I didn't find it terribly intrusive on my 36" display, but owners of larger screens may find these haloes to be more of a nuisance. An example is provided below, zoomed in and cropped, but otherwise unaltered.
Taken as a whole, exceedingly minor quibbles and all, Dracula II looks great.
Audio: Almost as impressive as its visual presentation is Dracula II: Ascension's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack (448Kbps). Whenever the opportunity presents itself, the movie summons an unexpectedly hellish amount of bass, serving up the kind of low-frequency activity that makes geeky DVD reviewers frighteningly giddy. Though substantial, the thunderous rumble of the subwoofer doesn't overwhelm other elements of the mix, and its use doesn't come across as gimmicky or excessive. The rears are frequently active, offering a few discrete effects and pans in with an extensive amount of ambiance. The role of the surround channels in Dracula II is often to reinforce, particularly when it comes to the score, vampiric voices, and certain effects such as roaring fires. A very nice track.
Other audio options include English subtitles and closed captions.
Supplements: The extras on Dracula II: Ascension kick off with more than twenty-five minutes of audition footage, featuring Brande Roderick (3:29), Khary Payton (4:30), Diane Neal (12:08), John Light (2:07), and Daniela Nane as the nameless "Young Woman" (2:27). Each actor runs through a variety of scenes from the movie, with the obvious exception of Nane, whose audition for her minor role starts off with an introduction and various poses for the camera. Neal's lengthy reel begins with a quick shot of a list that mentions Gabe Carpenter auditioning for the role of Kenny. Isn't that the dopey jock from Drive Me Crazy? Anyway, the quality of this footage is expectedly rough, sporting a multigeneration video appearance and hiss-drenched audio.
The most notable extra on this disc is the audio commentary with writer/director Patrick Lussier, screenwriter Joel Soisson, and special makeup effects supervisor Gary Tunnicliffe. One frequent topic of discussion is the difficulty shooting this sort of film in Romania, as well as some of the issues they encountered with the Romanian crew. For one, some of the staff was unnerved when the Westerners would take catnaps on slabs in the morgue. Tunnicliffe provides plenty of details about the movie's effects and how some of the more subtle work tended to be the trickiest to implement, such as a foam corpse that refused to sink in a bathtub of blood. Some other random notes include the studio's concern that the character of Dracula was too sympathetic, how villains require coats to be properly evil, the hassles of cutting around blinking, burning corpses, John Light's feminine gait, and having to resort to a crew member manually spinning a large fan where a motor couldn't be placed. A couple of unfilmed sequences are mentioned, including a larger ending and a Marco Polo sequence (?). Though it's never explained why the movie is called "Ascension", the commentary moves at a solid pace and offers a pretty decent amount of information.
The DVD also includes four deleted scenes, which run just shy of four minutes total. They appear to be presented in chronological order, beginning with "One Good Finger" (1:57), an extended scene with Lowell and Elizabeth having a minor spat with the threat of finger-wagging. "Severed Snake Head" (1:01) also differs from the final cut by just a few lines of dialogue, with Elizabeth reiterating just how dead the crispy corpse they're lugging around is. The second pair of deleted scenes is considerably shorter. Uffizi encounters an uncooperative receptionist at the morgue in "Burn Victims" (0:27), followed by a brief exchange between Luke and Eric about the investor lurking behind the scenes in "You Still Don't Get It" (0:23). These four deleted scenes feature Dolby Digital 2.0 audio (192Kbps) and are letterboxed to an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Though not presented in anamorphic widescreen like the film itself, this footage is otherwise roughly comparable in quality.
The obligatory "Sneak Peeks" this time around include trailers for Dracula 2000 (1:20), Tangled (1:14), Asunder (1:21), and Kill Bill (1:50). Tarantino's latest is letterboxed to an aspect ratio of approximately 2.0:1, and the remainder are full-frame. Though none of the four trailers take advantage of anamorphic widescreen enhancement, they do all feature Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks (384Kbps). As is standard practice for Buena Vista, no trailer is provided for Dracula II, although seemingly every other genre release of theirs from the past six months has included one.
Dracula II: Ascension comes packaged in a keepcase and does not include an insert. The DVD features a set of silent, static 16x9-enhanced menus, and the movie has been divided into fifteen chapter stops.
Conclusion: I got enough of a crimson kick out of Dracula II: Ascension that I plan on snagging the DVD of its predecessor, Dracula 2000, as well as sticking around for Dracula III: Legacy next year. At least I think that's a hell of a lot of praise for this, a movie that easily could've fallen into the same trap as the innumerable mediocre direct-to-video retreads before it. Dracula II's release on DVD sports a respectable audio/video presentation, along with some quality extras. The $29.99 list price is a little much for my tastes, and even though most retailers are offering this disc in the $20 range, I'm not sure I'd enthusiastically recommend Dracula II: Ascension as a blind purchase at that price point. This DVD is definitely recommended as at least a rental, and fans of Dracula 2000 might want to consider plunking down twenty bucks for a purchase. Recommended.
Related Links: The Internet Movie Database's entry for Dracula II: Ascension includes a trailer.
Boring Image Disclaimer: The screen captures in this review are compressed, slightly digitally sweetened, and don't necessarily reflect the appearance of the movie on DVD.
Though Dracula II: Ascension is a sequel, as the Roman numeral in the title so subtly suggests, the movie isn't mired in continuity and can easily be taken on its own. I hadn't seen Dracula 2000 beforehand, and although this entry reportedly picks up right where its predecessor left off, there's not much need for flashbacks or awkward exposition to get new viewers up to speed. Vlad's last social outing ended with him hung on a cross and lightly charbroiled, and what's left of his smoldering remains have been shipped off to the county morgue. The crispy cadaver finds itself in the capable hands of harried medical student Elizabeth (Diane Neal) and her morbidly curious pal Luke (Jason London, who'd previously co-starred with the walking undead in Blood Ties). As they poke and prod, Luke is convinced that they have a genuine vampire splattered across the slab. Elizabeth laughs it off until a spring-loaded fang convinces her otherwise. Since vamp leftovers aren't exactly readily available in your grocer's freezer, the news of their find spreads within a matter of minutes, attracting the attention of Uffizi the Catholic Vampire Slayer (Jason Scott Lee) and a mysterious buyer who phones in an offer of $30 million.
Elizabeth and Lucas, not surprisingly, follow the money. First, though, with Liz's wheelchair-bound lover and a handful of his students in tow, they conduct a series of experiments to get some vague inkling as to what they're dealing with exactly. A bloody bath revives Dracula to his usual cheerful self, but the quick arrival of Eric (John Light) keeps the body count from getting too out of hand. Drac is kept at bay with a series of ultraviolet lights as palsy-afflicted professor Lowell (Craig Sheffer) uses the vampire's blood to try to stave off his continued cellular degeneration. Dracula II wouldn't be much of a vampire flick if things didn't go horribly wrong, shattering longtime friendships, transforming everyone in sight into creatures of the night, and pitting our band of plucky heroes (and villains) against the vengeance-crazed Uffizi.
Since the title character (who is never actually referred to as Dracula, though it's implied in conversation) spends most of the movie's 82 minutes bathed in ultraviolet light, Dracula II could've easily wound up a talky, boring mess. Though some attempt is made at steering Dracula down Hannibal Lechter territory, a solid balance is struck between action and the more dialogue-oriented sequences, maintaining an appropriately creepy vibe throughout without skewing too heavily in either direction. It's not a particularly gory movie, but there are a couple of barrel drums of the red stuff along with more decapitation outside of any movie from the Joe Pesci ouevre. The packaging is prone to using words like "terrifying" (twice!), "chilling", and "intense". That's a definite exaggeration, but Dracula II offered enough in the way of suspense to maintain my attention throughout, and there are a couple of really great jump scares.
The most memorable character in Dracula II: Ascension is the determined halfbreed Father Uffizi, with his razor-edged arsenal and unwavering desire to exterminate vampires from the face of the earth. Falling just shy of cartoonishly over-the-top, Uffizi provides most of the movie's best action sequences. Unfortunately, he's also partially responsible for one of the movie's most glaring flaws. Its attempts at tossing religion into the mix are clunky and fall flat, from Catholicism-tinged rants about vampires to an out-of-place cameo by Jesus Christ (!). This thankfully isn't a dominant theme, but these short sequences really don't seem as if they belong.
The dark ending diverges from the expected conclusion to a vampire flick, leading right into the impending Dracula III: Legacy. It's an ending only in the sense that it comes at the last few minutes of the movie, but I guess that's preferable to having Dracula and company staked, only to be resurrected in the opening scene in Legacy.
More polished and effectively executed than other direct-to-video flicks whose titles are similarly riddled with numbers and colons, Dracula II: Ascension manages to be fun and entertaining without careening head-on into camp. Not the most original movie, no, but there are worse inspirations to have than the likes of Fright Night, Silence of the Lambs, and Blade, and the sum total makes for a different sort of vampire movie. Its release on DVD includes an anamorphic widescreen presentation, a booming Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, and a decent assortment of extras.
Video: Belying its direct-to-video origins, Dracula II: Ascension is presented at an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and this disc is enhanced for widescreen televisions. The movie is closer in appearance to a modestly-budgeted theatrical release than shoddy DTV fare, and that's reflected on its release on DVD. In particular, the amount of detail exhibited in most of the film's close-ups is almost astonishing. Given the number of dark interior shots, it's natural that the palette veers heavily towards cold, blue hues for much of the movie. Other portions, particularly those that sneak outside in the daylight, offer more of a variety of vivid colors. The ruddier end of the spectrum, needless to say, comes through perfectly as well. There is some slight film grain visible from time to time, most often creeping onto the image during foggier, smokier sequences. Detail and clarity also remain respectably high in Dracula II's more dimly-lit moments. Speckling is kept to a bare minimum, with only a handful of tiny white flecks noticeable throughout. The only flaw of note comes in the form of some intermittent haloing around certain edges. I didn't find it terribly intrusive on my 36" display, but owners of larger screens may find these haloes to be more of a nuisance. An example is provided below, zoomed in and cropped, but otherwise unaltered.
Taken as a whole, exceedingly minor quibbles and all, Dracula II looks great.
Audio: Almost as impressive as its visual presentation is Dracula II: Ascension's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack (448Kbps). Whenever the opportunity presents itself, the movie summons an unexpectedly hellish amount of bass, serving up the kind of low-frequency activity that makes geeky DVD reviewers frighteningly giddy. Though substantial, the thunderous rumble of the subwoofer doesn't overwhelm other elements of the mix, and its use doesn't come across as gimmicky or excessive. The rears are frequently active, offering a few discrete effects and pans in with an extensive amount of ambiance. The role of the surround channels in Dracula II is often to reinforce, particularly when it comes to the score, vampiric voices, and certain effects such as roaring fires. A very nice track.
Other audio options include English subtitles and closed captions.
Supplements: The extras on Dracula II: Ascension kick off with more than twenty-five minutes of audition footage, featuring Brande Roderick (3:29), Khary Payton (4:30), Diane Neal (12:08), John Light (2:07), and Daniela Nane as the nameless "Young Woman" (2:27). Each actor runs through a variety of scenes from the movie, with the obvious exception of Nane, whose audition for her minor role starts off with an introduction and various poses for the camera. Neal's lengthy reel begins with a quick shot of a list that mentions Gabe Carpenter auditioning for the role of Kenny. Isn't that the dopey jock from Drive Me Crazy? Anyway, the quality of this footage is expectedly rough, sporting a multigeneration video appearance and hiss-drenched audio.
The most notable extra on this disc is the audio commentary with writer/director Patrick Lussier, screenwriter Joel Soisson, and special makeup effects supervisor Gary Tunnicliffe. One frequent topic of discussion is the difficulty shooting this sort of film in Romania, as well as some of the issues they encountered with the Romanian crew. For one, some of the staff was unnerved when the Westerners would take catnaps on slabs in the morgue. Tunnicliffe provides plenty of details about the movie's effects and how some of the more subtle work tended to be the trickiest to implement, such as a foam corpse that refused to sink in a bathtub of blood. Some other random notes include the studio's concern that the character of Dracula was too sympathetic, how villains require coats to be properly evil, the hassles of cutting around blinking, burning corpses, John Light's feminine gait, and having to resort to a crew member manually spinning a large fan where a motor couldn't be placed. A couple of unfilmed sequences are mentioned, including a larger ending and a Marco Polo sequence (?). Though it's never explained why the movie is called "Ascension", the commentary moves at a solid pace and offers a pretty decent amount of information.
The DVD also includes four deleted scenes, which run just shy of four minutes total. They appear to be presented in chronological order, beginning with "One Good Finger" (1:57), an extended scene with Lowell and Elizabeth having a minor spat with the threat of finger-wagging. "Severed Snake Head" (1:01) also differs from the final cut by just a few lines of dialogue, with Elizabeth reiterating just how dead the crispy corpse they're lugging around is. The second pair of deleted scenes is considerably shorter. Uffizi encounters an uncooperative receptionist at the morgue in "Burn Victims" (0:27), followed by a brief exchange between Luke and Eric about the investor lurking behind the scenes in "You Still Don't Get It" (0:23). These four deleted scenes feature Dolby Digital 2.0 audio (192Kbps) and are letterboxed to an aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Though not presented in anamorphic widescreen like the film itself, this footage is otherwise roughly comparable in quality.
The obligatory "Sneak Peeks" this time around include trailers for Dracula 2000 (1:20), Tangled (1:14), Asunder (1:21), and Kill Bill (1:50). Tarantino's latest is letterboxed to an aspect ratio of approximately 2.0:1, and the remainder are full-frame. Though none of the four trailers take advantage of anamorphic widescreen enhancement, they do all feature Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks (384Kbps). As is standard practice for Buena Vista, no trailer is provided for Dracula II, although seemingly every other genre release of theirs from the past six months has included one.
Dracula II: Ascension comes packaged in a keepcase and does not include an insert. The DVD features a set of silent, static 16x9-enhanced menus, and the movie has been divided into fifteen chapter stops.
Conclusion: I got enough of a crimson kick out of Dracula II: Ascension that I plan on snagging the DVD of its predecessor, Dracula 2000, as well as sticking around for Dracula III: Legacy next year. At least I think that's a hell of a lot of praise for this, a movie that easily could've fallen into the same trap as the innumerable mediocre direct-to-video retreads before it. Dracula II's release on DVD sports a respectable audio/video presentation, along with some quality extras. The $29.99 list price is a little much for my tastes, and even though most retailers are offering this disc in the $20 range, I'm not sure I'd enthusiastically recommend Dracula II: Ascension as a blind purchase at that price point. This DVD is definitely recommended as at least a rental, and fans of Dracula 2000 might want to consider plunking down twenty bucks for a purchase. Recommended.
Related Links: The Internet Movie Database's entry for Dracula II: Ascension includes a trailer.
Boring Image Disclaimer: The screen captures in this review are compressed, slightly digitally sweetened, and don't necessarily reflect the appearance of the movie on DVD.
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