This leaked sales teaser for Italian horror legend Dario Argento‘s Dracula 3D is so blatantly bootlegged, I expect we’ll get a take-down notice before I finish writing this post. I stopped watching 16 seconds in, when a blocky grey blob of barely computer generated owl “swoops” (rigidly floats) toward the camera as the words “visual effects work in progress” appears on screen. This footage is not intended for general audiences.
Dracula 3D features Rutger Hauer as Van Helsing in what looks to be a schlocky 3D take on the classic vampire tale. Director’s daughter Asia Argento (Land of the Dead) plays Lucy, Marta Gastini (The Rite) plays Mina, and Thomas Kretschmann (Wanted) plays the undead Count himself.
The movie, shot entirely in stereoscopic 3D, isn’t slated for release until late 2012, so this is super unpolished early footage, probably meant for studio eyes only. I don’t know if it makes the movie look terrible (it probably does) because I haven’t watched it. It’s that owl. I watched the first 16 seconds four times and can’t get past that owl.
If you’ve got the stomach for it, here’s the full 2 minutes 37 seconds. I hear there’s gore and nudity in the middle. Good luck.
What would happen if your favorite movie had a premature trailer like this?