However, the Turks put more force into Rumania. Vlad can win some victories, but finally he has to flee to Hungary. There he is imprisoned for twelve years until the Hungarian king sends him back to reenter the throne. His comeback only lasts hours. The priests, who are not sure whether Vlad is the new messias or the anti-christ (Dracula has the double meaning of „dragon" and „devil"), lead him into a trap. His own brother will make the final blow against his brother.

"The Dark Prince" is not a major movie, but it has nice medieval music, lush costumes, acceptable actors and most of all a dedicated director. Joe Chappelle seems to aim for historical correctness paired with some movie-friendly plot-turns. He is weaving historical sources into the films: The story where Dracula nails the hats on some politicians' heads, because they won't take them of, is taken from a historical document (imagine that!).

Let's be honest: "The Dark Prince' is not a vampire movie, it's not even a horror flick. It's the first try to get the message over that Dracula was a real person and in no way less brutal than his fictional alter ego. He may not have been a vampire (although some source say he drank the blood of his enemies), but he was a hard and ruthless ruler. Nevertheless, still today he is "worshipped" in Rumania, because he was the first who could drive the Turks out of the country. He's a fascinating character, not only in novels, but also in his real historical life.

If you want to know more about the historical Dracula, "The Dark Prince" is an excellent way to start. The film is not historically correct to the last scenes, but it gives a good impression of the Middle Ages in Rumania (the movie was shot on location in Rumania, which shows a lot!). If then you licked blood, so to say, I recommend the work of Radu Florescu and Raymond T. McNally, who were the first to search for the real Dracula and published a highly interesting book on the matter.

With this, I'll end my first post and send you all warm greetings from cold rainy Germany.