Deep Dive DC: Wes Looks at The Batman vs. Dracula

Welcome friends, our month long Halloween celebration continues with the long awaited return of Deep Dive DC. Before discussing today’s offering, we need to discuss The Batman. No, not the Robert Pattison movie. For one thing, this The Batman had a much more interesting version of The Riddler. Cry about it, nerds. No, the The Batman in question was an animated series that ran on the Kids WB Saturday morning block for five seasons between 2004 and 2008. Around this time, the DCAU had just finished wrapping up and this show had the unenviable task of filling that void. While it never quite reached the heights of the classic Batman cartoons of the 90’s, the show definitely had its moments and I feel still managed to be a great Batman series in its own right. While some fans didn’t care for the redesigns of certain villains and the complete omissions others (I myself was a bit perturbed that my favorite Batman villain, Two-Face, never put in an appearance) the show still maintained a loyal fanbase that endures to this day. The show opted for the angle of a Batman who had only recently started appearing in Gotham and hadn’t yet earned the trust of the police or the citizens. Later seasons would introduce several of Batman’s familiar allies such as Jim Gordon, Batgirl, Robin and eventually the entire Justice League, but the film we’ll be talking about today appears to take place sometime during the show’s first two seasons where Batman mostly worked alone, an era that most consider to be when the show was at its best. Batman’s only active allies at this time are Alfred and a GCPD detective named Ellen Yin who worked with Batman in secret, the latter of whom is absent from this film, I only mention her because she was inspired by Elisa Maza from Gargoyles. That finally leads us into today’s topic of discussion, the TV movie, The Batman vs. Dracula. As a fan of Batman and even bigger fan of Bram Stoker’s classic novel and the various adaptations thereof, naturally, this bad boy is right up my alley. Let’s get into the story. Following a tip from a fellow inmate of Arkham Asylum, the villainous Penguin searches for a hidden stash of stolen treasure hidden in a crypt in Gotham cemetery and accidentally stumbles upon the tomb of Dracula (the Count’s remains having been moved to Gotham following the events depicted in Bram Stoker’s novel in order to keep him hidden and far away from his homeland of Transylvania). While trying to open the coffin, Penguin cuts his hand and his blood resurrects the vampire king. Once awakened, the count wastes no time feasting upon the citizens of Gotham and building his vampire army. Any eyewitnesses to these abductions report seeing the giant shadow of a bat, leading the police to believe Batman to the perpetrator. To make matters even more personal, the count has set his sights in Bruce Wayne’s newest romantic conquest, Vicki Vale. Now it’s up to The Batman to clear his name, save the girl and the city, and put Dracula back in his grave for good. It’s a truly excellent film from an often overlooked series. Let’s take a look at The Batman vs. Dracula.

Main Character:

While I would not go so far as to say this is the best version of Batman, I can confidently say this Batman is one of the more underrated incarnations. True, Rino Romano is no Kevin Conroy, but that’s an extremely high bar so there’s nothing to be ashamed of here. Like I said, the show opted for a Bruce Wayne who was still in his twenties and had only recently donned the cape and cowl. He’s still the world’s greatest detective, but he’s also got a lot to learn still. Something that this movie shows that most live action Batman movies rarely do is Batman’s scientific skills. Sure, watching Batman do science experiments isn’t exciting as watching him beat up the bad guys (though fret not, there’s plenty of that to go around in this movie), but I still enjoyed seeing Batman using his brain to solve problems instead of his fists. We see Bruce spending days on end researching and testing a cure for vampirism in order to save the lives of all who Dracula has turned into his undead army. A nice touch is that he uses his father’s own medical library to assist his research. Very cool.

Villain:

Anyone who knows me knows that Dracula by Bram Stoker is actually one of my favorite books. As such, I am a huge fan of the various adaptations of the story and specifically the character of Count Dracula. This Dracula, voiced by the always awesome Peter Stormare, is certainly no exception. As soon as he pops out of his coffin, he wastes no time draining everyone he can find in order to bring himself back to his full power. Dracula also places the Penguin under his hypnotic thrall to act as his human servant, essentially making him the Renfield of this story. It’s implied that Dracula has been out of his grave for well over a week before Batman even realizes that there are vampires afoot, more than enough time for the count to build his army of the night. Once he’s drained enough blood to be able to take human shape once again, he ventures out into the night to hobnob with Gotham’s wealthy elite. Undead monster or not, Dracula is still nobility after all. It’s here where he meets Bruce Wayne, using the totally subtle identity of Dr. Alucard. Really? That’s what you’re going with. Even if we assume that Bruce Wayne has never played a Castlevania game, he’s still the world’s greatest detective and presumably knows how to spell. The only way the count could have been more obvious about his identity is if he, in fact, gave his name as Dr. Acula. In any case, what we learn in this scene is that Dracula is fascinated by the existence of the Batman. Dracula sees this man assuming the form of a bat and striking fear into the hearts of his victims as carrying on his legacy and believes the caped crusader to be a potential kindred spirit. When Batman turns down Dracula’s offer to join forces, Dracula deliberately frames Batman for the abductions purely out of spite. Dracula is clearly an opponent unlike anything Batman has ever faced or ever will face again. Batman’s vampire cure may work on his victims, but not the count himself. Dracula has been a vampire for centuries and it is made abundantly clear that while he may look like a man, anything that may have ever been human in him died a very long time ago. Dracula is a monster, pure and simple, and he may be more than even Batman can handle. Peter Stormare has a very intimidating voice to begin with, and he makes great use of it in the role of Dracula. Every time the count is on screen, you feel his power and his control. A credit to all the great Draculas who have come before and since.

Side Characters:

Surprisingly not a lot of side characters to talk about. We may as well start by discussing Alfred. I’ve come to a revelation recently. While over the years the Batmen, Jokers and such we’ve had have all varied in quality, I don’t think there has ever been a bad Alfred across any adaptation of Batman. I guess it’s just a hard character to fuck up. This version of Alfred, played here by Alastair Duncan, is no exception. He hits all the Alfred beats. He’s the only one who can sass Batman, aides him in his crusade against the criminal element but still would like nothing more than to see him give it all up and settle down. That brings me to the only other significant character in the movie who doesn’t fall into the villain’s category, Vicki Vale, making her sole appearance in this series. If you’re subscribed to my Patreon and have read my article on Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman film, you’ll know that I’m really not a fan of this character, having often described her as a dollar store Lois Lane. And also, why is it that any time I cover something with Vicki in it, there’s always some kind of love triangle between her, Batman and the villain de jour? Honestly, Vicki’s presence in this film feels mostly superfluous here. I can tell you exactly why she’s in this movie. When Batman gears up for his final assault on Dracula’s lair, he opts to wait until morning when he’ll have an advantage, but Vicki goes and gets herself kidnapped by Dracula, something about using her body to resurrect the soul of his bride or something, which in turn forces Batman to face the count in the dead of night. That’s it. That’s the only reason Vicki is here. Tara Strong does a fine job voicing the character, but Vicki Vale really wasn’t needed here.

Memorable Scenes:

My actual favorite scene is one we’ll be saving for the Dark DC Factor, but for now, let’s talk about the first one on one fight between Batman and Dracula. Earlier in the film, Batman struggled to fight off some of Dracula’s mindless minions, which gives you an idea of just how powerful the count himself must be. And indeed, when they finally do come to blows, Dracula absolutely wipes the floor with The Batman. Keep in mind, the Batman we see at this point in the series is one that has yet to join the greater DC Universe. He has never had to contend with cosmic level threats like Darkseid or Starro the Conqueror. The worst he’s had to deal with are the regulars of Gotham’s rogues gallery. Even the villains with superpowers like Clayface or Man-Bat are ultimately still just mortal men. Dracula, Dracula is something else entirely. Batman has never faced an opponent like the count before and in this fight, Batman is shown to be so far out of his league that they’re not even playing the same sport. Batman even tries to make use of the traditional vampire weaknesses like garlic and crosses, but to no avail. I actually love Dracula’s reaction to Batman’s garlic tipped batarangs. He’s all like, “Good for you, but it still won’t be enough.” And indeed, the count’s superhuman strength, speed and stamina are beyond anything Batman can contend with, even knowing his weaknesses. We’re talking about a guy who can push the Batmobile aside like it’s made out of Styrofoam. Dracula is one seriously tough son of a bitch. The only reason Batman survives this encounter is because the sun comes up, forcing Dracula to retreat. And even though Batman survives, he’s still been beaten within an inch of his life and is barely able to stand once he returns to the Batcave. Such a devastating defeat makes it all the more satisfying in their second encounter when Batman finally does manage to defeat the count. It’s scarcely midnight at this point, so the sun isn’t going to save Batman this time. This time around, Batman leads Dracula into the Batcave through Gotham’s underground catacombs. Once there, Batman switches on a machine being developed by Wayne Enterprises that stores sunlight to fry the count. Incidentally, my one nitpick with this movie is the sun machine. We know going into this movie that Batman will be fighting vampires so as soon as we hear about the sun machine, we know it’s going to somehow be used to defeat Dracula. Still, I can’t complain too much because it gives Dracula a pretty dope death scene. My favorite part is how Batman block the sunlight with his shadow just long enough for Dracula to know he’s dead and who killed him. In his final moments, Dracula puts two and two together that Batman is Bruce Wayne, to which Batman responds, “I’m the Batman, and you’re Dust.” Dracula may have been one of Batman’s toughest enemies to date, but in this moment, he proved that he was better and that in Gotham City, regardless of whether you’re The Joker, The Penguin, The Riddler or indeed, Count Dracula, all evil must fear The Batman.

Story:

One of the main themes of this film is the value that Batman places on human life, an aspect of the character that even some of the most iconic incarnations sometimes forget about. A major plot point I’ve neglected to mention up until now is that Penguin wasn’t the only one looking for treasure in the crypt. Joker also escaped from Arkham and went after the treasure for himself but ended up mixing it up with Batman, allowing Penguin to get there first. During the fight, Joker finds himself dangling off the side of a bridge, Batman tries to save him, but Joker attacks with an electric joy buzzer and accidentally falls into the river, the joy buzzer electrocuting and supposedly killing him. When Batman returns to the cave, he seems broken up about Joker’s demise, but why? Because Batman values life. As a small child, Bruce Wayne witnessed the two people he loved most killed pointlessly right in front of him and from then on vowed to protect people and never take a life or allow a life to be taken on his watch. So, seeing someone die hits him hard, even when that someone is The Joker. It’s for this reason that Dracula disgusts Batman so. While Batman values life, Dracula’s very existence is a mockery of it. Dracula believes that life should never be wasted when it can be spent in servitude to him. He will not stop until the entire world has been inducted into his twisted army of the undead. It’s for this reason that, when it comes to Dracula, the no kill rule goes out the window. As we established, anything that was ever human in the count died long ago. Dracula’s evil will continue unless someone puts an end to him. And because Batman values life, he will not rest until Dracula is destroyed.

The Dark DC Factor:

So, turns out Joker wasn’t as dead as Batman thought, at least not yet. See, Joker somehow managed to survive getting electrocuted (He’s The Joker, he’s harder to kill than the cockroach from WALL-E, just roll with it) and made his way to the cemetery where he had a very painful encounter with Dracula. This of course leads to the most horrifying thing in the movie, Vampire Joker! I mean seriously, look at that thing! I didn’t think we’d ever find something more terrifying than Joker as a giant snake from Batman vs. Ninja Turtles, but here we are. Vampire Joker has a pretty awesome showdown with Batman in, where else, the Gotham city blood bank. Something unique about this incarnation of The Joker is that this is one of the few incarnations that’s able to match Batman in hand-to-hand combat. Take that, The Joker’s normal madness and sadism and now add on top of all that the superhuman strength and agility of a vampire, and Batman is in for a hell of a rough night. Joker in his new form is pretty creepy, even more so than usual. The way he seems to have be in this trance of delight while covered in blood is deeply unsettling. When Batman manages to take Joker down, he locks him in the Bat Cave and uses him as a guinea pig to test his vampire cure, all the while Joker is heard writhing in agony over being deprived of the blood he now craves. Batman even goes so far as to keep Joker alive with his own blood, because again, Batman values life.

Final Thoughts: This movie is awesome! It pits Batman against the deadliest foe imaginable and sees him triumph over impossible odds. It's a blast to watch, even if you didn't see the series that spawned it. It's available on HBO Max if you ever want to check it out. Next time, our month-long Halloween celebration continues when we look at an episode of Gravity Falls. Happy Summerween!