Rutger Hauer has played a vampire more times than I’ve been laid (let me check IMDb here… yup, three times), but now he’s staking out the Van Helsing role in Dario Argento’s upcoming horror flick, Dracula 3D. All of that sounds awesome, except for the ‘3D’ part… and the Dracula remake part… and frankly Dario Argento is a little troubling these days… Hmm… Oh screw it, Rutger Hauer is such an a total badass that we’d probably watch Dracula 3D if it was filmed in Dr. Katz “Squiggle-Vision” and directed by David DeCoteau. (Oh, just look him up.)
Despite a plunge into straight-to-video waters, Hauer – who made a big splash in the 1980’s with lead roles in Blade Runner, Ladyhawke and The Hitcher – has always kept himself afloat thanks to consistently strong performances and smaller parts in mainstream fare like Batman Begins, Sin City and the recent Anthony Hopkins horror vehicle The Rite. This year he’s primed for a proper comeback with the lead role in the upcoming Grindhouse spinoff Hobo with a Shotgun. Alas, working with former horror master Dario Argento (Suspiria, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage) might not be the wisest career move: Argento arguably hasn’t made a great movie since 1996’s The Stendhal Syndrome, and significantly less arguably since the 1980’s. We’re interested in what Argento can do with 3D technology since he used to be considered quite the camera virtuoso, but he hasn’t exactly been pulling out the stops lately with fairly conventional thriller like Do You Like Hitchcock? and the really, really bad Adrien Brody vehicle Giallo.
Still, Argento’s older work was so distinctive and so masterful that everyone keeps hoping for a return to form. If Woody Allen can come out of a slump to pull a Match Point, maybe Dracula 3D will be able spark that old fire Argento’s been keeping snuffed for the last 15 years. But probably not. It’s still a Dracula remake, after all. Thanks to TwitchFilm for the original scoop.
CraveOnline will return with more Rutger Hauer news because we think he’s totally awesome.
