Roy Scheider Appeared In Two Sequels To A Horror Box Office Flop
by Witney Seibold · /FilmAdd SlashFilm on Google:
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Remember Patrick Lussier's 2000 horror film "Dracula 2000?" You may not (it's a pretty sucky movie), but if you do, did you also know that "Dracula 2000" had two direct-to-video sequels, and that Roy Scheider was in both of them?
When the Gregorian calendar rolled over to the year 2000, many filmmakers took advantage of the epoch by slapping "2000" onto their film titles. There was "Godzilla 2000," "The Blues Brothers 2000," "Fantasia 2000," "Pokemon: The Movie 2000," etc. Lussier's "Dracula 2000" was just another member of the bandwagon and, like most of the aforementioned movies, it stinks out loud. It has a 19% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 70 reviews, and it wasn't successful at the box office. On a budget of $54 million, it only made $47.1 million back.
Action film fans might only know "Dracula 2000" for the fact that Gerard Butler played Dracula. Many may not even remember that the flick also featured Christopher Plummer as Van Helsing, and a great cast otherwise. Johnny Lee Miller plays Van Helsing's apprentice, Simon, and he was backed by Jennifer Esposito, Jeri Ryan, Omar Epps, Nathan Fillion, and Colleen Ann Fitzpatrick a.k.a. Vitamin C. The film posited that Count Dracula actually began his life as Judas Iscariot. One of the only good things to come out of "Dracula 2000" was /Film's speculative article about what might happen if Dracula 2000 fought Seth Gecko from "From Dusk Till Dawn."
Despite the film's failure, the caprices of Hollywood dictated that "Dracula 2000" left some kind of cultural impression, and sequels were put into production. Almost none of the same actors returned for the sequels, however, and Roy Scheider stepped in as the big celebrity "get."
Yes, Roy Scheider was in Dracula II and Dracula III
The Judas Iscariot plot wrinkle is actually quite clever, and definitely explains why Dracula has an aversion to crosses and to silver: He became a vampire after being cursed by God. David J. Francis plays Jesus Christ in flashbacks. The plot of "Dracula 2000" reveals that Van Helsing (who is still alive thanks to his harvesting of vampire blood) killed Dracula and kept his corpse in a coffin in his store room. Dracula is unleashed when a team of foolish heisters plunder Van Helsing's vault. Oops.
"Dracula II: Ascension" downshifted the budget from the first film considerably, costing only $3.2 million. Roy Scheider has a relatively minor role as a character named Cardinal Siqueros who gives some explanatory dialogue to the movie's protagonist, Father Uffizi (Jason Scott Lee).
The plot surrounds a back-and-forth over various players who want to take possession of Dracula's corpse. Jason London and Diane Neal play the pathologists who find that the corpse they're performing an autopsy on is actually a vampire. Rather foolishly, they submerge the corpse in a bathtub full of blood, and Dracula springs out, ready to start vamping again. Dracula is played by actor Stephen Billington from "Coronation Street." Uffizi, meanwhile, hopes to grant absolution to Dracula, sending him to Heaven and ending his reign of terror. Oh yes, and Uffizi has been infected with vampire blood and needs sunlight to stay human.
Naturally, "Dracula II" climaxes with a fight between Dracula and the warrior priest. It ends, however, with a sequel tease. Dracula gets away, and Uffizi is left alive.
Each of the three Dracula 2000 movies featured a different Dracula
"Dracula III: Legacy" takes place five years after "Dracula II," and Uffizi is still sniffing around for the rogue vampire lord. The Diane Neal character is also back as Dracula's new bride, having helped him escape at the end of the last move. Roy Scheider is also back as Cardinal Siqueros, but this time, he doesn't give Uffizi his blessing to go Dracula hunting. Uffizi decides to defrock himself and go hunting anyway. Jason London also returns from "Dracula II."
This time around, Dracula is played by Rutger Hauer, though the plot of the movie first moves through a distracting side quest involving a Romanian civil war before a vampire showdown can happen. By the climax of "Dracula III," Uffizi's vampire infection begins to assert itself, and he goes full vamp. One can tell how cheap the production was just by watching clips online, but it's clear that Jason Scott Lee and Rutger Hauer brought a lot of energy into to the mix. R.I.P. Rutger Hauer. He was always committed.
"Dracula II" and "Dracula III" didn't really become cult hits. They're the kinds of movies that one would idly handle while perusing a Blockbuster Video with no agenda. "Dracula II" has an unenviable 0% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes (based on only seven reviews), while Walter Chaw of Film Freak Central reviewed "Dracula III" and gave it the faint praise of being "north of mediocre."
And why did Roy Scheider agree to appear in "Dracula II" and "Dracula III?" We can only speculate. Perhaps he just needed playchecks. Perhaps he loved Dracula movies. Scheider passed away in 2008 and continued to act up until the end.