FIF#125-Castlevania

When the church burns his beloved wife on accusations of Witchcraft, Count Dracula swears revenge on the entire county of Wallachia.  The dark lord keeps to his promise and a year later, he unleashes an army summoned from the very bowels of Hell itself to slaughter humanity.  Terror and fear grip the helpless masses.  But there are those who are coming out of the shadows themselves to challenge Dracula’s vengeance: Trevor Bellmont, one of the last of the Bellmont family known for slaying monsters for centuries; Syphia Belnades, a beautiful Speaker Magician; and Alucard…the dhamphir son of Dracular himself.  The fate of a blood soaked land rests in the hands of these three unlikely allies as the war against the night begins.

You know, given its popularity throughout gaming history, im surprised it’s taken so long to see a Castlevania series some to light.  It’s got loads of Dracula lore, memorable characters, bloody impressive action and epic scope, enough to make a possible Anime adaptation become the fusion of Berserk and Hellsing.  Well while this particular Castlevania on Netflix isn’t an Anime (it’s more of an Anime inspired American production along the lines of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Voltron: Legendary Defender), it still looks like it could be that ultimate fusion of horror, action and epic thrills.

The episode I watched managed to showed off a lot of what makes the Castlevania video games as a whole great.  There was a terrifying scene of horror where a Priest finds himself helpless to stop his own demise surrounded by a few very hungry monsters.  There was a surprising amount of dungeon hopping as lead characters Bellmont and Sypha head deeper into a hidden crypt where pathways bend and crumble ant any time (resulting in those quick jumps to ledges we all know so well).  And there was an incredible duel between Bellmont and Alucard, the son of Dracula, that has to be seen to be believed.  In a way, this felt more like the Video Game come to life than most other adaptations before it in a long time.  Story cutscenes followed by action segments leading into puzzle solving and dungeon crawling and then a boss fight, this episode could have been one continuously long level of one of the many Castlevania games and admittedly it was kind of awesome to see all of those elements represented in equal measure. 

Castlevania definitely benefits from its dark, gothic atmosphere.  The darkest red you can imagine follows monsters everywhere.  Said monsters are the stuff of nightmares and could keep you up at night.  The scenery invokes heavy Bram Stoker imagery of bloody battlefields and a feeling of hopelessness in the face of evil, a true Hell on Earth.  And despite that, Bellmont, Sypha and Alucard all have some of the wittiest dialogue in the face of overwhelming odds.  Bellmont calling Alucard Sypha’s “Floating Vampire Jesus” might be one of the funniest lines ever written by modern man.  Cudos go to everyones voice actors for a job well done too, especially Richard Armitage (The Hobbit) as Bellmont and James Callis (Battlestar Galactica) as Alucard.

Castlevania currently has three relatively short seasons on Netflix (the first is only four episodes long).  I feel like I should have watched this a long time ago, maybe even done a review of it.  I’m holding back on reviewing cause I don’t know about how long it’s going to be.  Even so, it might be fun to start this from the beginning and see where it goes.  If you’re a fan of the Dracula legend or just want to see some good Anime inspired horror action in the vein of Hellsing Ultimate or Berserk, or just really love the Castlevania games, this might be the title for you and me.