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Did you know Dracula had his own TV show in 1990? This is the Halloween season, so let’s watch it!

Now that we’ve had half the season to get to know the characters, Dracula the Series episode 14, “Bad Blood” is where the creators really shake things up, complete with the show’s first cliffhanger.

Cemetery plot: Lucard (a.k.a. Dracula) is feeling under the weather. He receives a visit from Dr. Varney, a magical vampire doctor. Varney deduces that Lucard drank bad blood, from someone he shouldn’t have bitten. Uncle Gustav and young Max learn Lucard is sick, and decide this is their time to strike. Meanwhile, Sophie had fallen for a hunky-yet-sensitive guy, and Chris is crazed with jealousy. Lucard is healed at the last minute, but then there’s a twist: Sophie’s new beau is a vampire, and she’s been transformed into a vampire as well! To be continued!

Portal fiction.

King of the vampires: While sick, Lucard opines about wanting only the best blood, from the finest people, and how he’s been too long roaming the countryside just biting anyone. Later, it’s revealed that toxins from one of his factories are polluting the local water, and this is what made him sick. He actually doesn’t de-pollute the water at the end, though, content instead with having a small taste of morality.

Blood brothers: Chris breaks up Sophie and her new guy. He admits to Sophie that he likes her, as in really likes her. They agree not to be a typical boyfriend and girlfriend, but something more, something different. Why do relationships have to be so complicated?

Lurve.

The new Mina: Sophie’s new crush beguiles her by introducing her to the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre. (Sartre is a lot of things, but I wouldn’t call him romantic.)

Stake master: Lucard asks Gustav what he’d do if he didn’t have Lucard to pursue all the time. Gustav doesn’t answer, but hesitates when holding a stake over Lucard. (Varney’s the one who steps in and saves Lucard at the last minute.)

Slayer’s handbook: Little information is given about Dr. Varney. He appears to be some sort of interdimensional being, walking in and out of portals. His healing methods appear to be more psychological rather than general practitioner-y.

“Tell me about your vampire mother.”

Killer quotes: Lucard: “My children, turned against me. You will not take me! I am meant to persist!”

Trivia time: The music for Dracula the Series was provided by music supervisor David Greene and orchestrator Christopher Dedrick. Both have crafted music for a long list of TV shows and movies over the years. Greene’s credits include the Star Wars: Droids Saturday morning cartoon and the animated film Rock and Rule.  Dedrick’s notable credits include the oddball film The Saddest Music in the World and the ‘90s revival of Ray Bradbury Theater.

A girl walks home alone at night.

Bite me: Although this show is cheesy and campy, this episode is actually good, while still maintaining the cheesiness and campiness it’s known for. It’s fun and lighthearted, but life and death really is on the line, which makes all the difference.

Next: When good girls go bad.

****

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.

Did you know Dracula had his own TV show in 1990? This is the Halloween season, so let’s watch it!

We’re now more than halfway through watching Dracula the Series. Episode 13, if you can believe it, is actually called “The Great Tickler.”

Cemetery plot: Uncle Gustav befriends Mycroft Tickler, a musician and actor of some renown. Turns out Tickler is the brother of Dr. Smith, the scientist we met back in episode 5, who had invented an anti-vampire gun. Lucard (a.k.a. Dracula) kidnaps Tickler and Gustav, holding them hostage in exchange for the gun. Young Max and Dr. Smith pull off a rescue, but Lucard ends up with the gun.

Zap ka-pow! Revisited.

King of the vampires: The show maintains continuity nicely when Lucard says he has renewed interest in the anti-vampire gun after a bunch of other vampires recently attempted to usurp him, in reference to previous episodes.

Blood brothers: The subplot has Max helping older brother Chris write a “teen personal ad” to get a blind date, which this episode insists is a common thing in Europe. Any Europeans out there care to chime in on whether this is a real thing? I’d Google it, but I fear that searching for “European teen personal ads” will put me on some FBI list.

Manly man.

The new Mina: Sophie is the one who anonymously answers Chris’s ad for a blind date. Turns out the whole thing was a ploy by Max to get the two of them together. Sophie says she and Chris will let Max have it… but only after they enjoy their date.

Stake master: Gustav is completely enamored with this Tickler guy, even though it’s clear as the episode goes on that Tickler is not the famous celebrity he claims to be.

Slayer’s handbook: Lucard tests the anti-vampire gun on one of his zombie-like henchmen, and it works. So, I suppose they’re more vampire than zombie, despite being referred to as “zombies.”

So done with this guy.

Killer quotes: Gustav: “A weapon like that could make you undisputed master of the undead.” Lucard: “You do have a way with words, Helsing.”

Behind the screams: Dr. Smith was played by Hungarian-born actor Patrick Monkton. There’s not a lot of info about him out there. He had prominent roles in the movie The Borrowers and in TV’s Dinotopia. He played Dr. Watson (of Sherlock Holmes fame) in an episode of the 80s revival of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and, best of all, he provided the voice of a podling in The Dark Crystal.

“Ted, I thought you were dead, dude.”

Bite me: A very silly comedy episode, all about slapstick and buffoonery. I know the show was marketed as family-friendly, but it’s still Dracula. It some have some menace, right?

Next: Did somebody call a doctor?

****

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.

Did you know Dracula had his own TV show in 1990? This is the Halloween season, so let’s watch it!

Dracula the Series episode 12, “Double Darkness” introduces a rival for Dracula and growing pains for one of our kid heroes.

Cemetery plot: Lucard’s (a.k.a. Dracula’s) businesses around the globe are suffering from what appear to be natural disasters. They’re being caused by Nosferatu, an old enemy Lucard imprisoned years ago and is now free. Meanwhile, Uncle Gustav and young Max visit an archeological site, where Max is smitten by Dr. Cross, a lovely lady archeologist. The twist is that Cross is also a vampire, working with Nosferatu. Lucard and Max form a one-night-only truce to defeat the combined forces of Nosferatu and Cross.

Not Max Schreck.

King of the vampires: Lucard’s businesses include a South African diamond mine, an oil tanker in the Indian Ocean, and a Korean computer factory, a villa near Mt. Vesuvius, a Tokyo holding company, and an unspecified partnership with a South American colonel known for drowning peasants in a river.

Blood brothers: While Max deals with having his first crush, everyone has a good laugh at older brother Chris, who once asked his fourth grade teacher to marry him.

Elsa, don’t cross the seal!

The new Mina: Aside from a barely-there subplot of her cleaning the house, Sophie does nothing this episode.

Stake master: Gustav tries to have a very special talk with Max about Max’s feelings for an older woman, but it doesn’t go well, spurring Max to sneak out of the house to fight vampires on his own.

Slayer’s handbook: Lucard again demonstrates his teleportation power, disappearing and then reappearing in a flash of light. Nosferatu is a shape-changer, who makes himself look like Max to fool Lucard. He also makes himself look like Max while on a date with Dr. Cross. Ew…

Uh…

Killer quotes: Lucard (to Max): “Your uncle is going to be worried about you. Drive carefully on your way home. And be on the lookout for vampires. They’re everywhere.”

Behind the screams: Dracula the Series’ executive producers were Robert Halmi Jr. and David J. Patterson. Fans of genre television are familiar with Halmi, having seen his name attached to all sorts of things, including blockbuster TV miniseries Lonesome Dove, Dinotopia, and The 10th Kingdom, as well as fan favorite series Farscape and The Secret World of Alex Mack. In 1984, at age 26, Halmi founded the Hallmark Network, which went on to have huge success especially around Christmastime. Patterson was not as prolific, it seems, with a smattering of TV movies in his credits.

Buddies.

Bite me: I like how this episode introduces a friendship of sorts between Max and Dracula, but other than that, it’s frustrating how the show is falling into a pattern of this-new-character-we-just-introduced-was-really-a-vampire-the-whole-time.

Next week: The great WHAT???

****

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.

Did you know Dracula had his own TV show in 1990? This is the Halloween season, so let’s watch it!

In Dracula the Series episode eleven, “Mind Over Matter,” we’ve got psychics, gloomy crypts, a rabbit, and a TV-show-within-the-TV-show.

Cemetery plot: Uncle Gustav is appearing on a local TV show in an attempt to expose a fraudulent psychic named Lana. Meanwhile, the kids, Chris, Max, and Sophie, discover Dracula’s coffin while exploring some nearby ruins. Turns out the coffin is not inhabited by Dracula, but by the psychic’s husband, now a vampire. Lana uses real psychic powers to call on Gustav for help, and he saves the day.

Reality TV.

King of the vampires: The whole “Dracula’s coffin” thing was a ruse, as it turns out Dracula littered the city with fake coffins, to keep vampire hunters off his trail.

Blood brothers: The kids plan to stake Dracula in his sleep. Max wants to be the one who kills Dracula, hoping he’ll become the world’s most famous vampire hunter. When the big moment comes, though, he hands the stake over to big brother Chris.

Vampire hunters at rest.

The new Mina: The boys educate Sophie about American television, telling her all about tractor pulls and roller derby. (Chris must be talking about 1989’s Rock and Rollergames, correct?)

Stake master: Continuity! This episode mentions Gustav’s ex, Anna, and his son-turned-vampire, Klaus. The episode ends with Gustav writing a letter to Anna, perhaps wanting to reconnect.

Young Indiana Jones.

Slayer’s handbook: This episode doesn’t quite state that vampires sleep in coffins, but certainly suggests it. The writers do draw a distinction between “resting place” in this episode and “original resting place” from episode seven. When the husband tries to turn into a bat, he instead becomes a rabbit, because his powers aren’t fully developed. This is also why he casts a reflection. Finally, Dracula fires lightning out of his fingertips, so I guess this is something all vampires can do on this show.

Bunnicula, no!

Killer quotes: Max: “She’s obviously a vampire.” Lana: “Vampire? Don’t be silly. This is the real world. I’m a psychic.”

Behind the screams: I tried to find out where in Luxembourg they filmed the ruins in this episode, and it looks like me like it’s Larochette Castle, but it’s hard to tell. Also, Luxembourg and the surrounding area is apparently overflowing with crumbling old ruins, so the producers no doubt had their pick of where to film.

“I’m thinking of a number between 1 and 100…”

Bite me: This episode is very jokey, concerned mostly with sitcom-style bickering between the psychic and her husband. Even the final battle is more concerned with slapstick than with awesome vampire action. For fans, though, this is the “live action Scooby Doo” stuff that this show is most well known for.

Next: None more black.

****

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.

Did you know Dracula had his own TV show in 1990? This is the Halloween season, so let’s watch it!

Dracula the Series episode ten, “Damsel in Distress,” offers a lot of vampire action, but it’s really about family.

Cemetery plot: Teen brothers Chris and Max learn their mom Eileen, a traveling businesswoman, is doing business with Lucard (a.k.a. Dracula). They try to rescue her just as Lucard is putting the moves on her, but there’s a twist: Mom is a vampire! She and Lucard, with the help of a henchman, capture Uncle Gustav, so the kids mount a second rescue attempt. The kids and Gustav confront Lucard and Eileen, only for Eileen to be transformed back into a human at the last second. She was cured by the power of love (no, really).

Van d’oh!

King of the vampires: Lucard has a portrait of himself painted by none other than Vincent Van Gogh. The painting is destroyed during the final battle, which appears to cause Lucard intense physical pain.

Blood brothers: Mom Eileen works for the Pennsylvania Industrial Bank, which we’re told is making big waves in Europe. This was the reason why they moved from Philadelphia to Germany, so she could travel all over Europe while spending time with the boys more often.

Business mom.

The new Mina: During the rescue, Sophie stakes a vampire henchman by breaking part of a wooden door, and then opening the door so the broken piece stabs the vamp right in the chest. Buffy would be proud.

Stake master: It’s not specified whether Gustav is Eileen’s uncle or her brother. When someone asks is he’s her father, his answer is just, “Uh… no.”

Dungeon crawl.

Killer quotes: Gustav: “Lucard, let the young ones go.” Lucard: “What, and break up the family? I’m not a homewrecker.”

Slayer’s handbook: Gustav says he’s read stories about vampires turning back into humans through the power of love, but has never seen such a thing in action before now. Gustav is also bitten in this episode, but Sophie pours holy water on the bite, which prevents him from transforming into a vamp and keeping him out of Lucard’s influence.

“We have fun.”

Behind the screams: Eileen was played by actress Lynne Cormack, who has a long list of TV and stage acting credits. These days, she teaches weekend-long intensive acting classes and audition classes for up-and-coming actors.

The family unit.

Bite me: The Eileen character has barely been on the show, so it’s odd to have a whole episode devoted to her. This should be a big emotional story for Chris and Max, but we don’t really get that, in favor of chases, rescues and vampire fights. I’m in favor of chases, rescues and vampire fights, but I’m left with the feeling that this episode could have been more.

Next: They’re all going to laugh at you!

****

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.

Did you know Dracula had his own TV show in 1990? This is the Halloween season, so let’s watch it!

In Dracula the Series episode nine, “What a Pleasant Surprise,” we get to know another vampire. Oh, and we’re going to the movies.

Cemetery plot: Lucard (a.k.a. Dracula) is paying a fortune to buy the local movie theater. Suspecting Lucard is up to something, Uncle Gustav investigates. He finds a classic movie actor named Jonas there, now immortal as a vampire. Meanwhile, young Max places an ad in the local paper, inviting anyone who knows about the theater to their home, accidentally giving Lucard an open invite to attack that night.

Movie star.

King of the vampires: Lucard bought the theater knowing that Jonas was about to wake from a decades-long slumber, and would want revenge. In the end, though, Jonas stakes himself, preferring death over living as a vampire.

Blood brothers: Chris and Max’s mother, Eileen, makes a return appearance, following her brief introduction in the pilot. The episode’s B-story has the kids frantically trying to Dracula-proof the house while Mom is unawares.

The new Mina: After establishing in the last episode that Sophie is a music student, this episode shows her practicing the violin while Chris is trying to watch television.

Music of the night.

Stake master: Uncle Gustav complains about back pain at the start of the episode, only for it to slow him down during the finale. (Now that’s screenwriting!) He claims to have friends in town hall who prevent Lucard from buying the theater, but Lucard of course gets to them first.

Not weird at all.

Slayer’s handbook: This episode firmly establishes the “if you invite a vampire into your home, your weapons lose all their power” rule. Note the slight difference between this and the more well-known “a vampire can’t enter unless invited” rule. In other words, the show plays by Lost Boys rules, not Buffy rules.

Killer quotes: Lucard (to Jonas): “Ah, the old ham. Have a nice nap?”

Trivia time: A girl seen in the movie theater at the start of the episode is played by Brigid Tierney, sister of Jacob Tierney, who plays Max.

Drac Noir.

Bite me: I really enjoyed this one. It has a great sense of gloomy atmosphere and an over-the-top-but-in-a-good-way performance by Kim Coates, who plays Jonas. The jokes are hokey and the plot doesn’t entirely make sense, but for this series that’s all part of the fun.

Next: Don’t leave me in distress.

****

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.

Did you know Dracula had his own TV show in 1990? This is the Halloween season, so let’s watch it!

Dracula the Series keeps rockin’ right along, so it’s appropriate that episode eight, “A Little Nightmare Music” is all about music.

Cemetery plot: Sophie befriends a visiting countess, a wealthy patron of the arts. The countess also strikes a business deal with Lucard (a.k.a. Dracula) while in town. Surprise twist: The countess is a fellow vampire. Sophie goes rogue, arming herself and breaking into Lucard’s castle on her own. Chris, Max, and Uncle Gustav go after her. In the ensuing struggle, Lucard defeats the countess but lets her go, while the others manage to rescue Sophie.

Gal pals.

King of the vampires: Lucard and the countess aren’t aware that each other is a vampire and are surprised to learn it. The countess wants to take over Lucard’s business empire, not knowing Lucard is the one and only Drac.

Blood brothers: In this week’s B-story, we learn teenage Chris plays rock music as well as always talking about it. He gets a gig at a local dive, and then must overcome his stage fright. (This is amusing because the actor who plays Chris, Joe Roncetti, went on to become a successful musician.)

Take those old records off the shelf…

The new Mina: We learn that Sophie is a music student, although she prefers classical to rock and roll. She’s carrying what looks to me like a violin case, but we don’t see her play. She says she hopes to travel the world someday, playing with all the world’s greatest orchestras.

The stake master: Uncle Gustav kept the polaroid photos that Max took of Lucard a few episodes back, in case he needs “evidence” that Lucard is a vampire.

Tanz der Vampire.

Slayer’s handbook: The countess has lightning powers, which seems to physically hurt Lucard. We’re not told what these powers are or whether all vampires have them, she just flinging lightning bolts out her hands. Not to be outdone, Lucard demonstrates teleportation-like powers, disappearing in a cloud of smoke and then instantly reappearing on the other side of the room.

“Hey, that hurt!”

Killer quotes: Sophie: “You’ll never guess who came to my rehearsal.” Max: “The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?”

Trivia time: Dracula the Series was co-created by Glenn Davis and William Laurin. These two have co-created a whole assortment of forgotten-but-interesting TV series over the years, including the John Woo-inspired Once a Thief, the sci-fi actioner Mann and Machine, the FBI drama 1-800-Missing, the Miami-based crime drama South Beach, and sports agent comedy Power Play. They’re still at it, currently co-producing Aftermath on SyFy.

I got my eye on you.

Bite me: Aside from a neat vampire vs. vampire fight, not a lot happens in this episode. We get a little character development for Chris and Sophie, but mostly it’s like they said, “do a music episode” and then were done.

Next: Didn’t see that coming.

****

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.

Did you know Dracula had his own TV show in 1990? This is the Halloween season, so let’s watch it!

In the previous episode of Dracula the Series, we met Klaus, Dracula’s right-hand-man. In episode seven, “Black Sheep,” we learn why Klaus is a big deal.

Cemetery plot: A man named Yeager comes to Gustav for help, saying his wife Emilia was turned into a vampire by Klaus. He wants Klaus dead. Klaus has been running around at night killing folks, threatening to reveal Lucard’s (a.k.a. Dracula’s) secrets. Gustav won’t help him, saying it’s too dangerous, but later meets Klaus in secret, revealing that Gustav and Klaus are working together!  Later, Gustav traps Klaus inside Klaus’ tomb, and it’s here that we learn Klaus is really Gustav’s long-lost son. (Shocking reveal!) Gustav seals Klaus inside the tomb in the hopes that he can someday save his son.

I wear my sunglasses at night.

King of the vampires: Lucard is all about shutting down an anti-pollution bill that might harm his business interests. Also because he’s evil.

Blood brothers: The episode’s B-story is Chris and Max fixing up an old radio in the hopes of listening to American baseball. The radio is then used to listen in on some of Lucard’s private conversations.

Ham radio.

The new Mina: Sophie says she would rather listen to the New York Metropolitan Opera than the baseball game. She and Chris leave to go play tennis at the end of one scene, so I guess their romance is still going strong.

Stake master: We’re not told how, exactly, Klaus became a vampire, except that Lucard did it just to spite Gustav. Gustav keeps this a secret from Chris, Max, and Sophie.

Role reversal.

Slayer’s handbook: The episode takes place on St. George’s Eve on a full moon, which is the one time that a vampire must return to his or her original grave to sleep. This is what enables Gustav to catch Klaus. Lucard departs to his original tomb, but we don’t learn where that is.

Killer quotes: Klaus: “You’re always telling me about the good old days, when you used to terrorize the countryside.” Lucard: “Klaus, I know what it is to be young and enthusiastic, but we must have discipline.”

Does that map of the eastern hemisphere in background look off-model to anyone else?

Behind the screams: Younger brother Max was played by Jacob Tierney, who went on to be a regular on Are You Afraid of the Dark? He stuck with acting into adulthood with a number of film and TV roles. He’s also broken out into making his own films, having written and directed The Trotsky in 2009, among others.

“Look how shiny my cape is.”

Bite me: The show (mostly) drops the comedy shtick in favor of an attempt at horror and even drama in this episode. It doesn’t quite succeed, because this is Dracula the Series after all, but the fact that they tried to make the series more than just a hokey kids’ show should be applauded.

Next: Salieri does not approve.

****

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.