NBC's 'Dracula' is dark, incomprehensible (review) - Sentinel and Enterprise

DRACULA -- Episode 2 -- Pictured: (l-r) Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Alexander Grayson, Victoria Smurfit as Lady Jayne Wetherby. (Jonathon Hession/NBC)

Not funny enough to be campy, not smart enough to be serious, NBC's “Dracula” is an incomprehensible mishmash in period costumes. It's scary, all right, but only when you think of what the budget must have been.

Inexplicably preoccupied with the undead gentleman's scheme to innovate in the energy sector, the story wanders far afield. The effort to lend a steampunk touch to a classic character feels forced. (What next, Dracula as strict locavore?)

With moments of traditional vampire lore interrupted by a Victorian-era power struggle among business tycoons, it's a misguided period piece/soap/horror show that will dismay fans of the supernatural.

NBC's “Dracula,” premiering Oct. 25 (at 9 p.m. on KUSA) amounts to a mashup of mythologies, with references to the ancient Order of the Dragon and Vlad the Impaler while bringing the tale forward in time; it's about an anti-hero who is allergic to sunlight but heavily invested in the new technology of electricity, a man with a plan who gets distracted by a woman who looks exactly like his dead wife (Victoria Smurfit as Lady Jane).

The appeal of Jonathan Rhys Meyers (“The Tudors”) as the title character is significant, but he needs a better script. His gleaming eyes are not enough to overcome the series' handicaps.

“Doesn't it feel a bit dodgy?” asks Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Jonathan Harker, the nice young man engaged to Lady Jane, who is lured by Dracula (actually Dracula's alter ego, American entrepreneur Alexander Grayson) to become his company PR guy.

Dodgy, to say the least.

With “Dracula,” NBC is going for a slice of the booming vampire/zombie market. NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt defined the idea this way: “A big period show with a star and a sort of re-conceptualization of a story that everybody knows.” Unfortunately the execution feels as vague as the concept.

The network has acknowledged that it is struggling to compete with cable. Jennifer Salke, NBC Entertainment president, told critics, “In a world where these cable shows are beloved and infringing on real estate that was network real estate, obviously, we need to send a message to the community and to creators that we support a big, risky event kind of vision.” She was talking about “Hannibal,” which has always had a better idea of what it's trying to be.

“Dracula” is one so-called “event kind of vision” that's going to come and go and leave the audience in the dark.