Vlad 2004

Prologue: In the year 1447, amidst the turbulent backdrop of Transylvania, a great battle occurs near Tirgoviste, where the formidable Transylvanian prince, Ianco De Hunedoara, successfully captures Vlad Dracul, the ruler of Wallachia. With his elder son Mircea by his side, Dracul stands resolute before his enemies while his two younger sons, Vlad and Radu, watch in horror as their father faces his impending doom. In a moment of desperation, Dracul throws a sacred necklace across the battlefield, entrusting it to Vlad, who stands ready to take on the mantle of leadership. This necklace is said to possess mystical powers and bears the emblem of Order Draculeus, a secret society of which Dracul was a member. With a heart full of vengeance against those who betrayed his family, Vlad, adopting the moniker Vlad the Impaler, embarks on a ruthless path of torture and death, establishing a legacy so dark that even in death, it is believed that he roams the earth eternally as a tormented spirit—the legendary vampire Dracula.

Fast forward to modern-day Romania, where the Order Draculeus continues to exist, and the coveted necklace has mysteriously vanished. At the University of Bucharest, Professor Adrian [Billy Zane] along with Dean Radescu [Brad Dourif] become alarmed when they learn that one of their new foreign exchange students may be in possession of this very necklace. The Dean warns that if the necklace reaches Poenari, the dark legacy of Vlad will be revived, potentially endangering lives. The story unfolds during a welcome reception, where four new exchange students—Americans Jeff Meyer (Stanford), and his sister Alexa (UCLA), along with Justin Wiley from England (Cambridge), and Romanian student Marilena “Lensey” Constantin (Sorbonne)—gather to share drinks and introductions. After presenting their thesis topics to Dean Radescu, the students retreat to their rooms, where Lensey discovers a troubling intrusion: someone has been rifling through her belongings, although fortunately, the necklace remains hidden.

As mysterious visions begin to haunt Lensey, she sees Vlad Tepes fleeing from pursuers. The following day, the group, led by Adrian, embarks on a hiking expedition to Tirgoviste, where they meet Professor Mircea Ileva [Emil Hostina], who has charted a path that takes them through the historical landscape Vlad traversed in 1459 when he commanded his nobles to construct a castle. That night, Lensey becomes increasingly troubled by her visions of Vlad in battle, leading Jeff [Paul Popowich] to witness her in a trance-like state. As they share their knowledge, Lensey discovers that her visions may somehow be intertwined with the necklace, which prompts her to sneak it into Jeff’s backpack as a means of proving its significance.

The group’s journey takes an unsettling turn during a camping night infused with camaraderie and the relaxation of smoking “devil’s grass.” Jeff experiences an unsettling dream of a girl fleeing from Vlad, awakening to find her, an ethereal presence, before him. She fails to communicate in English, but through various languages, eventually reveals herself as Ilona [Iva Hasperger], a girl from Oxford who was captured amidst the chaos of a Turkish attack. Before fully pursuing their journey to Poenari fortress, they seek refuge at a veterinary research facility, where Adrian pleads with Lensey to turn over the necklace for its rightful return to Vlad’s grave, but she refuses, fully aware of its historical weight and the connection it has to her family.

The plot thickens when Lensey and Jeff are lured into an intoxicating encounter, with the visage of Vlad appearing amidst their intimacy, only to manifest with greater malevolence soon after. With the knowledge imparted by a holy man named Ilie [Guy Siner], who elaborates on the tragic history of Vlad’s brutality and his cursed existence, they learn that the necklace holds the key to Vlad’s release from his torment. Ilie divulges that immersing the necklace in a specific stream before returning it to Vlad’s tomb is essential for his peace. However, with a ruthless desperation, Vlad desires not merely the necklace but Ilona, leading to a series of horrifying events where he brutally dispatches anyone who stands in his way.

Adrian’s attempts to serve as a guide for Vlad lead to dire consequences, and Mircea reveals his allegiance to the Order Draculeus, hoping to resurrect Vlad’s authority in present-day Romania. Meanwhile, a cascade of violence unfolds that sees Jeff, Lensey, Ilona, and Justin endeavoring to find Vlad’s tomb to restore peace, culminating in a breathless race against time. The group experiences a harrowing conflict with Vlad, who darkly seizes control over Alexa during a frantic showdown.

Eventually, Lensey confronts the essence of the curse tied to the necklace, leading to a climactic moment where she must choose between the pendants of the past and the precariousness of the present. In a web of sacrifices and defiance, Lensey manages to immerse the necklace in the sacred stream, finally placing it back in Vlad’s tomb, which results in their dark adversaries dissipating into oblivion. Yet, ambivalently, an alternative fate proposes Alexa’s lingering link to Vlad through her return to normalcy, leaving viewers with a haunting reminder of the past’s grip.

Epilogue: As Ilona finds herself returned to her original time in the 15th century, coincidences stir fate once more when she encounters Justin, who rides by on horseback, leading her away into the unknown, suggesting an eternal connection across time.