Dracula III: Legacy
NOTE: Sequel to Dracula II: Ascensiion (2003). Dracula III: Legacy can be viewed alone, without having seen I & II, but it helps to know the history of how Uffizi, Luke, and Elizabeth got involved with the hunt for Dracula, to know that Uffizi was "tainted" at the end of Dracula II, and to know what Dracula is referring to when he says stuff like Luke made him suffer at the hands of the experimenters.It is five years after the events of "Dracula II". Dracula [Rutger Hauer] has
returned to Romania, taking Liz Blaine [Diane Neal] with him. Father Uffizi [Jason Scott Lee]
wishes to pursue, but the church has withdrawn its support. They are
worried that he has become "tainted" following his last encounter with
Dracula, and they want Uffizi to get out of the vampire business and take
a position as pastor at a church of his choice. Uffizi's choice is to hand
in his collar and pursue Dracula on his own. Armed with his weapons of
choice -- a scythe and a bullwhip -- Uffizi heads for Bucharest, Luke [Jason London] in
tow. Uffizi hopes to destroy and absolve Dracula; Luke hopes to find and
rescue Liz, with whom he is in love.Romania is in the throes of a civil war. TV news reporter Julia Hughes
[Alexandra Westcourt] announces that the list of demands submitted to the Geneva Council
by the rebels includes the curious requirement that all present and
prospective government officials make at least one public appearance
during the daylight. Because of the war, no one may pass outside Bucharest
without military approval. While Uffizi and Luke wait at a checkpoint to
obtain permission, a jeep drives up bearing two French soldiers and a
bloody body. The driver says that they were attacked 51 kilometers outside
the city, not by rebels but by people with big teeth.Finally out of the city, Uffizi and Luke drive all night. The next
morning, they run into some rebels who are taking people prisoner. Uffizi
learns that they are not rebels but "procurers" who kidnap people to sell
for food to the nosferatu. Luke won't have it and forces Uffizi to stop
the car. Luke succeeds in freeing the prisoners, but the procurers blow up
their car. Now, Uffizi and Luke have to proceed on foot. In the first town
they come to [filmed in Sigisoara], all the inhabitants are dead. Later
that evening, after they have burned all the bodies, they come across a
very scared man and woman near a downed helicopter. The woman turns out to
be reporter Julia Hughes, and the man is her cameraman Tommy [Gary J. Tunnicliffe]. Julia and
Tommy say they were attacked by rebels and shot some camera footage to
prove it, but when Tommy runs back the film, there is no one on it except
themselves. Suddenly, a vampire on stilts swoops down and carries off Tommy.
Uffizi tries to follow, while Luke and Julia head back to a church for
refuge. Uffizi finds the vampire sucking Tommy's blood and cracks one of
the stilts with his whip. The vampire tumbles to the ground and impales
himself on his own stilt. But now where is Tommy? Tommy has gone back to
the church. Julia opens the door to him, but it soon becomes apparent that
Tommy is now a vampire, so Luke shoots him with his speargun.The next morning, Luke and Julia are joined by Uffizi, who has
commandeered a military jeep. Now that they have transportation again,
they find a car for Julia. Before they part ways, however, Julia asks to
see Uffizi's eyes (he always wears sunglasses). It's obvious that Julia
and Uffizi are attracted to each other. She tilts down his glasses for a
last soulful look and notices that his irises are reddish.
Julia goes her way and Luke and Uffizi go theirs. After driving for a
while, Luke notices a woman on the side of the road holding a baby and
crying. Against Uffizi's better judgement, Luke stops to help. As he tries
to convince her that he is a friend, she suddenly tosses the "baby" into
his arms. It's a bomb. Uffizi grabs it and tosses it away just in time.
They have been captured by rebels and are taken to their headquarters in
an old army bunker. Uffizi tells leader Gabriel [Serban Celea] that they share the
same enemy - Dracula. Gabriel guffaws. "Dracula is a fiction, gypsy myth,
tourist prattle, bedtime story." He takes off Uffizi's glasses and sees
his red eyes. "I'm fighting the infection," Uffizi explains, referring to
the vampirism he caught from Dracula five years ago. Just then, more
rebels come in along with Julia, who seems to be friends with them.
Gabriel orders that Uffizi and Luke be put in the stockade. "You're either
a hero or a demon," he says to Uffizi, "but we can't take any chances.
Come dawn, you are free to go."During the night, the bunker is attacked by vampires. Julia lets
Uffizi and Luke out of the stockade, but Uffizi pushes them both back
inside, locks the door, gives them the key, and tells them to stay inside
until he finds the way out. They wait till morning then let themselves
out. Julia goes outside and finds Uffizi standing in the rising sun, his
shirt off and screaming in obvious pain, Uffizi's way of purging himself
of the infection. Julia covers his shoulders with his coat.
Luke notices the procurers driving their trucks down the road.
Uffizi, Luke, and Julia follow in their jeep until they come upon a
gruesome scene. About a dozen priests have been impaled on stakes along
the road. Uffizi orders Luke and Julia to go back, but they refuse, so
they all go on together, arriving at Dracula's castle. As they watch from
a safe distance, they are suddenly ambushed by the procurers. They
shoot Uffizi, knocking him over a cliff. Then they knock out Luke and
take Julia prisoner.
Luke is tossed into a large courtyard with a dozen or more prisoners,
all awaiting slaughter. Luke climbs up the wall and finds his way to a
room filled with at least a dozen televisions. He is greeted by an old,
unkempt, bored-looking Dracula who remembers him (from Dracula II) as the
coroner who stole his body and made him suffer at the hands of the
experimenters. When Luke asks to see Liz, Dracula tosses him into a
pit of bloody, writhing, half-naked vampiresses, all feeding off each
other. "Be careful," says Dracula. "They WILL bite."Meanwhile, Uffizi has climbed to the top of the cliff. He is in bad
shape and coughing up blood, but he is healing. He makes his way back to
the castle and goes looking for Julia.
Julia has awakened to find that she is clothed in the dress of Dracula's
favorite bride. Dracula recognizes Julia from the TV and seems excited to
have her in his chambers, but when Uffizi arrives, he finds Julia lying on
the floor, bleeding from a stake in her abdomen. He pulls out the stake as
Dracula shows up to taunt him. Just as Dracula is about to plunge a sword
through Uffizi's heart, Liz cries, "Enough!" and shoots a flaming
stake into Dracula's stomach. As Dracula looks at the stake in awe and
pulls it out, Uffizi jumps him from behind and viciously bites his neck.
He then takes the sword and beheads Dracula, who almost seems to be
offering his neck for the final blow. As he swings, Uffizi says, "Consider
yourself forgiven." Dracula destroyed, Liz silently takes the sword
and walks over to Luke. Uffizi asks a dying Julia whether there is
anything she wants to confess. "I've had impure thoughts about you," she
admits. "As I have about you," Uffizi replies.
"Please..." says Liz to Luke.
"...don't..." says Julia to Uffizi.
"...let me..." says Liz to Luke.
"...die." say Julia and Liz together.
Luke beheads Liz as Julia dies in Uffizi's arms.Epilogue: It is morning. Luke stumbles out of the castle and looks
back for Uffizi. He does not come. Back in the castle, Uffizi sits on
Dracula's throne, holding Julia in his arms. There is a bite on her neck,
and she is "alive" again. A postscript appears, saying THE KING IS DEAD! LONG LIVE THE KING! [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl]
violence