At under an hour and a half, Dracula's Widow feels like a three-hour runtime. The pacing is terrible, the story lines are all over the place, the tone is off, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. The movie starts off strong enough, with a Re-Animator (1985) feel, and given the wax-museum setting, it gives off a familiar House of Wax (1953) vibe. It's all downhill after that. A huge issue here is the uneven tone: it's too goofy to truly be horror, but not enough to be a comedy, so it's more of a weird vampire movie with moments of odd humor. Now, while horror/comedy can work, and was popular in the 1980s, this attempt falls on its face. Next, there are too many story lines: who are we following here, Vanessa, Lannon, Raymond? The film is a tangled mess. Being that this is titled Dracula's Widow, let's talk about the titular vamp herself. Why have Sylvia Kristel - Emmanuelle herself - and not... properly make use of her? Another very strange part here is the overall direction: this is an '80s movie, but it feels like the 1950s. So many great '80s horror movies. Go watch one of those instead. Watch Fright Night (1985), but give this a hard pass.
Review by BronsonBlockedParent2024-03-09T05:38:58Z
At under an hour and a half, Dracula's Widow feels like a three-hour runtime. The pacing is terrible, the story lines are all over the place, the tone is off, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
The movie starts off strong enough, with a Re-Animator (1985) feel, and given the wax-museum setting, it gives off a familiar House of Wax (1953) vibe. It's all downhill after that.
A huge issue here is the uneven tone: it's too goofy to truly be horror, but not enough to be a comedy, so it's more of a weird vampire movie with moments of odd humor. Now, while horror/comedy can work, and was popular in the 1980s, this attempt falls on its face.
Next, there are too many story lines: who are we following here, Vanessa, Lannon, Raymond? The film is a tangled mess.
Being that this is titled Dracula's Widow, let's talk about the titular vamp herself. Why have Sylvia Kristel - Emmanuelle herself - and not... properly make use of her?
Another very strange part here is the overall direction: this is an '80s movie, but it feels like the 1950s.
So many great '80s horror movies. Go watch one of those instead. Watch Fright Night (1985), but give this a hard pass.