Rish Outfield's reviews
This film impressed the hell out of me.
A group of high-tech thieves break into the museum owned by Abraham Van Helsing's descendent, only to find that the treasure that is so highly guarded is none other than Dracula himself! For a hundred years, he has been locked away, kept safe by Van Helsing himself (Christopher Plummer), who has been sustaining himself with Dracula's own undying blood. But now that the Evil One (I can capitalise that, right?) is loose in America, it's up to him and his young apprentice Simon to stop him before, well, you know, it's too late.
The acting was nice, the colors bold and bright, the effects good, the editing tight, but mostly, I think it was the intelligent, entertaining script that did it for me. The main twist regarding the origin of vampirism was brilliant and made a sick kind of sense.
I also liked the cast. Christopher Plummer as Van Helsing was excellent, and for the first time in a long long while, I actually wanted good to triumph over evil. The women were all lithe and, for lack of an intelligent word, hot. And Gerald Butler, who plays Dracula, was actually quite good. I liked that at first, Dracula says nothing, he just strides powerfully along, stalking men and seducing women with his powerful gaze. Most of the time, when movie monsters/killers talk a lot, they get less and less scary. Butler did well, though, managing to be believable and threatening in all his guises. Plus, he had the prettyboy European looks that worked well for this script.
On the downside, I found the ending too rushed and was left somewhat unsatisfied. I think there was enough for two movies in this script, and some of the subplots should've been more resolved. Also, the defeat of the vampires was just too easy after what they had set up. They didn't have to let the bad guys win, but the headlong destruction of Evil came too quickly.
Still, these are small things, and who knows, there may be a longer cut out there just waiting to be seen.
Though I had my money on Final Destination, I think Dracula 2000 really gave it a run for best horror film of the year.
Best Scare: There's a great scene where Danny Masterson gets a REALLY good look at a leech.
I'd Recommend It To: Horror fans and all Vampire fans.

The tyranist's thoughts
There were a number of films released this holiday season that I really wanted to see and Dracula 2000 was actually really close to the top of the list. All that anticipation in mind, I tried really hard to prepare myself for disappointment just in case. Luckily, there was no need for that.
For vampire film fans this is a must see. Very rarely have I been so captivated by a vampire movie that I even gasped when I understood certain plot points. There is humor and sexual tension in with the horror as well. But all very carefully balanced. Combine the marvellous script with high production values and some choice casting and you should be able to come up with a movie that shines in all the right ways.
The negatives in this film for me were few, but noteworthy. It was extremely fast-paced as if it were 3 hour movie packed into 2. Several subplots were lost and some of the character development lacked. The core was rock solid and the storytelling quite good, but there were those few small holes that I wish had been filled. They could probably have tacked on another 30 minutes without making me feel like it was too long. The editing was so well done that the story literally flowed when it needed to.
Christopher Plummer is wonderful, but so is the rest of the cast. I warn you though, that if you are seeing the movie specifically for Jeri Ryan, chances are you'll be at least a little disappointed. She was barely in the movie. This is one of the subplots that seemed neglected to me.
Pay close attention to the details here. There are numerous clues to the truth and you'll want to figure it out as soon as possible. I felt that this provided one of the truly brilliant twists on the Dracula legend of all times. See this if you love vampire film, and if you are just a horror movie lover in general, you owe it to yourself to check this out as one of the best movies in the genre.