In order to capture the atmosphere of the books, in which modern technologies and contemporary youth language are mostly dispensed with, “Erbe des Drachen” is deliberately old-fashioned. Smartphones are hardly used at all and Bob Andrews, still in charge of research and archives, still has to check the newspaper or drive to the library to do research. “Erbe des Drachen” takes place in a sometimes strange bubble world, which will sometimes irritate a young audience, but will make adults feel nostalgic. The film ironically refers to the difficulties it faced, as it is repeatedly mentioned that the film-within-the-film “Dracula Rising” is the filmmakers’ brave version of reinventing an old classic.
All of this is staged by Tim Dünschede in beautiful pictures, even if the many dark corridors of the castle can quickly seem monotonous and one likes to stay longer at this sun-drenched location, especially after the first few minutes, which (like most books) are still set in Rocky Beach, California would have lingered. On the other hand, some of the supporting actors are excellent, especially Gudrun Landgrebe (“Rossini or the murderous question of who slept with whom”) in her first feature film in 12 years shows in just a few seconds why she was sorely missed in German films. By the way, one holds back with allusions to the books or radio playsbut a prominent book cover will trigger warm feelings among fans, as it is obviously based on the style of “The Three ???” regular illustrator Aiga Rasch.
Fans will see “Erbe des Drachen” in the cinema anyway, but you can reassure them in advance: On the third attempt, “Die Drei ???” finally found a special stored special case worthy of the big screen.
