The Batman vs. Dracula

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The Batman vs. Dracula
Directed by	Michael Goguen
Produced by	Duane Capizzi Michael Goguen Kimberly Smith
Written by	Duane Capizzi
Starring	Rino Romano Peter Stormare
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	October 18, 2005
Running time	84 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Batman vs. Dracula is a 2005 animated movie based on The Batman television series. It has a much darker tone than the show, and features Vicki Vale (in her first animated appearance, voiced by Tara Strong, who voiced Barbara Gordon / Batgirl on The New Batman Adventures). The movie was released to DVD on October 18, 2005 and made its television debut on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on October 22, 2005 (see 2005 in film). It was released on DVD as a tie-in with the live-action Batman Begins.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Quotes 4 The Batman Strikes #15: The Lost Ones 5 Reaction 6 Reference to pop culture 7 Previous Versions of Batman and Dracula 8 Cameo 9 External links

[edit] Plot

At Arkham Asylum, the Penguin is told by another prisoner that a large amount of money is hidden in Gotham Cemetery, in a crypt behind a tombstone with a cross. After the prisoner mentions he told the Joker, an alarm sounds and a guard yells that the Joker has escaped. Penguin uses the confusion to break out as well.

Penguin meets up with Joker on his way to the graveyard and they strike a deal - but Joker loses no time in double-crossing Penguin and knocking him out with an electrified Joy Buzzer. As Penguin watches, he sees The Batman following Joker.

Penguin reaches the graveyard, but it turns out that many of the tombstones have crosses. Meanwhile, The Batman and Joker fight, ending in Joker's apparent death, falling in water and being electrocuted by his own Joy Buzzers.

While in the graveyard, Penguin finds a crypt and cuts loose a suspended coffin. In the process, he cuts his hand on the blade of his umbrella and the blood drips onto the corpse inside. As Penguin leaves the crypt, the corpse reanimates and gains new flesh and organs.

Penguin hears the corpse and sees Dracula rise. He runs trying to escape but Dracula follows the scent and trail of blood from Penguin's cut. Dracula finds the night watchman and drains his blood. Penguin is surprised when he sees the watchman become a vampire, protesting that a dead man can't do that. Dracula replies that he is undead.

Dracula hypnotizes Penguin into becoming his servant to show him Gotham so he can feed. Dracula notes that Transylvania has changed, and is informed by Penguin that he is in Gotham City. Dracula concludes that he has been moved since his death. On a flashback, a group of angry people, led by a well-dresses and seemingly very educated man, to the castle Dracula. The leader drive the stake to Dracula's heart in order to finally destroy him. However, the leader knew that was merely incapacitated the vampire in a death-like state. Soon, he arranged the vampire's body to move away to from Transylvania, to be buried on America within a land known today as Gotham City.

Bruce has an interview with Vicki Vale at a restaurant. On his return to Wayne Manor, he tells Alfred that he invited her to the corporate dinner and a dinner on Saturday.

As the Batman patrols the city, a woman is robbed but when the crook is stopped before he can get there he decides he's not needed. Hearing the woman scream again, he sees that the night watchman is a vampire. The crook and the woman have also become vampires. The Batman fights them but is unable to defeat them and forces them to retreat. Penguin then wakes up Dracula who now looks more human, having fed on some people and plans to turn Gotham into a city of vampires.

Batman does not believe what he has seen, but knows something is wrong. At the party Bruce meets Dracula under the name of Alucard. Dracula takes an interest in Vicky Vale and says he is studying The Batman. When a waiter comes by with a tray of garlic shrimp he is noticeably disturbed. Bruce notices this and offers him some but Dracula hypnotises him and leaves. A moment later the hypnotised Bruce leaves Viki and wanders over to the balcony where Dracula is waiting to bite him. However just before Dracula is able to Alfred arrives prompting Dracula to disappear and Bruce to snap out of the trance. Dracula meanwhile feeds on one of the waiters. Alfred discovers the waiter is a vampire and narrowly avoids being attacked. Bruce meanwhile deduces "Alucard"'s true identity: Dracula.

After an intensive research with Alfred on the Batcave, Batman begins to realize that many of the Dracula's legends were true events. Also realizing that Gotham citizens' disappearances are because of Dracula, he and Alfred awares that the vampires' number will grow exponentally into an army in a matter of weeks. Rather than killing vampires, Bruce decide to find a way to revert Dracula's victims to normal again, since vampirism seems to be transmitting as a disease, normally there's a chance to treat it. Bruce and Alfred heading toward the manor's library for its collection of medical textbooks and researches belonged to Bruce's father himself, Dr. Thomas Wayne.

The next morning it is reported that The Batman is causing people to disappear and is attacked that night on patrol. As Batman traching the city's number of the disappearances, he discovered that the earliest was at Gotham Cemetery, where a disappeared watchman worked. After awaring that vampirism are plauging the city, Alfred not only arms the mansion with relics and herbs known to ward off the creatures, but also Batman's own arsenals as well. At night, while investigating at the cemetery, the Gotham P.D. SWAT unit members are also at the scene. As he escapes, the police members are taken by Dracula. Batman encounters Dracula on a rooftop. Dracula, admittingly admires the Dark Knight, offer him a chance of immortality. Batman understand what this offer would really mean to him and refused, and tries to fight, but is unable to defeat him and severely injured. Fortunately, Dracula retreats when the sun rises, but not before Dracula promises to the Dark Knight that he will kill him because of the rejection. Bruce wakes up later on in his bed after having a nightmare in which he sees his parents killed after finished watching the movie The Cloaked Rider and sees the Batman as a vampire. The young billionaire woke up, in fear of his own persona as The Batman and Dracula's evil.

Joker shows up at the graveyard after a fisherman took him to a boat and demands his share from Penguin. He chases Penguin into the crypt where he opens Dracula's coffin and is attacked. Later, in a bloodbank, a nurse is attacked and The Batman finds Joker feasting on the blood from the numerous vials on the shelves. The two fight until they knock over the shelves. While Joker is distracted drinking blood raining down from a collapsed set of shelves, The Batman hits him with garlic bombs.

Batman takes him inside the Batcave and gets to work curing vampirism, which the computer identifying it as a form of virus infecting a host's cellular structure, and also interrogating with the Clown Prince of Crime of the whereabout of the Prince of Darkness. The Joker, despite his hatred toward the vampire lord, is unable to tell his location, due to the vampire has completely taken control of his will, as the Clown Prince of Crime are now his vessal. Unfortunately, as the Dark Knight works toward discovering the cure and locating Dracula and his victims, he stands up Vicky who is at a train station where she meets Dracula. Bruce tries to call her but gets no answer. He finishes work on the cure in the form of a vaccine, using it to cure Joker. He has lost his memory of what happened at the crypt, however what he remembered prior before he was bitten made Batman figure out where to find Dracula. Batman then proceeeds to mass produce the vaccine and planning his attack.

Inside the crypt Dracula takes the ashes of his former wife, Carmilla, who was killed when exposed to the sun as she was also a vampire, and places them on a slab suspended above Vicky. He then begins to use her soul to reanimate her.

The Batman enters the crypt at Gotham Cemetery, and discover a catacomb underneath it, which explains how Dracula was able to bypass the Christian relics above it. During the Dark Knight's attack, Batman cures all the vampires with the vaccine. He then rescues Vicky and fights with Dracula. Batman learns that the caves lead to the Batcave and uses explosives to delay Dracula and enter the Batcave. However, he is beaten and Dracula plans to kill him rather than turn him into a vampire.

Alfred stabs a vial of the vaccine into Dracula but it does not work as Dracula is the original - "evil incarnate". Batman then activates a device from Wayne Industries that can store and emit sunlight as well as turn it into energy. Dracula realizes too late that Bruce Wayne is Batman. Batman steps away from the sunlight which then dissolves Dracula, leaving only a skull with fangs. Alfred proceeds to sweep his remains to the dustbin.

In the meantime, Penguin is chasing Vicky, and is just about to catch her when he is freed from his hypnosis and they finally discover the gold. He is overjoyed but is then caught by police. News reporters state that the people were under Penguin's control and Penguin keeps saying they were vampires as he is taken away. Vicky sees The Batman, who arrives to check on the victims, and smiles knowing he saved the city. The Batman swung proudly throughout the city, knowning that he has defeated an ultimate evil, and resume his patrol readily to against others that might threaten Gotham.

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role
Rino Romano	Bruce Wayne / The Batman
Peter Stormare	Dracula
Tara Strong	Vicki Vale
Tom Kenny	The Penguin
Kevin Michael Richardson	The Joker
Alastair Duncan	Alfred Pennyworth

[edit] Quotes

• Dracula: (Being set on fire by the solar energy storage machine) You're Bruce Wayne.
  Batman I'm the Batman...and you're dust.

• Vampire Joker: (to Batman) Why do you torment me, Batsy? I thought you cared.
  Batman: Trust me, Joker. I'm trying to help you.
  Vampire Joker: THEN, FEED ME!!

• Vampire Joker: Thirsty! Burning up inside! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!

• Vampire Joker: (to Batman, after being turned into a vampire by Dracula) You're the second Batman I've met tonight and you're both a pain in the neck!

• Batman: Don't get caught in the rain wihout your straightjacket.
  Joker: Batsy, (draws two razor sharp playing cards) you're such a card.

• Batman: No more games! Where's Dracula?
  Joker: I'm looking at him.

• Joker: (to Penguin) By the way, who knew that the electro-shock therapy could be so vigorating? It doesn't matter, its all water under the bridge now, because Joker's back from the grave.

• Joker: Nice hideout you got here, Pengy. Dripping with atmosphere.
  Penguin: I'm warning you, Joker! There's nothing here for you!

• Joker: You wouldn't leave me hanging here out now, would you? (Batman was about to grab Joker until a raindrop hits the buzzer, and shocks it, making Batman refuse to hold him) Almost had ya. (falls) Bye-bye Batsy!

[edit] The Batman Strikes #15: The Lost Ones

This moody tale, which guest-stars the Penguin, serves as a companion piece to The Batman vs. Dracula, and introduces Dracula into Gotham City.

Even though the Penguin is under Dracula's control, that doesn't keep him from tending to his own business. He exploits the missing Gothamites / The Lost Ones, by kidnapping citizens and holding a ransom. He is aided, by the Kabuki Twins.

As the issue comes to a close, Batman is about to apprehend Penguin when he is rescued by Dracula. Dracula doesn't appreciate the exploitations of his activity, and makes sure to keep Penguin on a tighter leash.

[edit] Reaction

The movie was received fairly well and its dark nature applauded by critics, many of whom were opposed to the toned down, cartoonish nature of The Batman animated series.

[edit] Reference to pop culture

Dracula uses the pseudonym, Alucard at the party. The name is often used for Dracula's son as in the Castlevania series or for Dracula himself as in Son of Dracula and Hellsing.

[edit] Previous Versions of Batman and Dracula

• The movie may have been inspired by the Elseworlds story titled Batman & Dracula: Red Rain by Doug Moench, Kelly Jones, and Scott Beatty; where Batman encounters Dracula and becomes a vampire, which the story was continued in Batman: Bloodstorm and Batman: Crimson Mist.
• There have been two other movies in which Batman fought Dracula: Batman Dracula (1964) and Batman Fights Dracula (1967). However, neither of these movies was authorized by DC Comics.

[edit] Cameo

• The Ventriloquist and Scarface briefly appear in this movie. This happens when Batman is in the Batcave and a broken Scarface puppet is in the cameo, as well as in the film's opening when Arnold is shown playing bingo at Arkham.

[edit] External links

• The Batman vs Dracula at the Internet Movie Database
• The Batman vs. Dracula at TV.com
• The Batman vs. Dracula DVD - The Official Site
• The Batman vs. Dracula @ BYTB: Batman Yesterday, Today and Beyond
• The Batman vs. Dracula at Legions Of Gotham

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