You Probably Forgot That Gerard Butler Played a Major Horror Icon in His First Leading Role in This Wes Craven-Produced 2000s Nightmare
Dracula 2000 is a forgotten and nostalgic vampire flick produced by Wes Craven and starring a young Gerard Butler playing a recognizable horror icon.
There’s no doubt that Dracula is one of the most popular literary characters to be adapted into new media; the master vampire has featured in at least five movies and TV shows in the last five years alone, including Nosferatu, since it was originally an unauthorized version of Dracula. Modern versions of the character seem to be favoring the more monstrous look of the villain that appeared in the original Bram Stoker novel, but there was a long period when he was often a more conventionally attractive villain, like Claes Bang’sportrayal in the Dracula miniseries from BBC. And although he might not be the first one to come to mind, Gerard Butler fit the “smokin’ hot vampire” archetype surprisingly well in his early career: his first leading role, a full six years before his real breakthrough in 300, was the blood-sucking lead in Dracula 2000. And although a rushed production led to a movie that producer Wes Craven eventually disowned, there's something comfortingly familiar about Butler's performance. The movie is also an incredible time capsule of the year it was made and set, with Butler sharing the screen with the likes of Jonny Lee Miller and singer Vitamin C, of all people. Not to mention all the late 90s/early 2000s style—who doesn't want to see Dracula in the same room as a transparent telephone?
