How good is Alex Proyas? He made I, Robot a pretty good movie in spite of massive interference from Will Smith who wanted to turn it into a robotic version of Men in Black. But even if he hadn’t managed that, he’s still the guy who directed The Crow and one of the best science fiction films ever made, period, in Dark City. He’s a bona fide genre master, and I’d happily follow him to Shell Beach or just about anywhere else he wants to go.

So, the next Alex Proyas masterpiece will be... an un-needed Dracula prequel??? Oh screw me. It seems where he wants to go is into the world of the blood-sucking undead. Variety says Proyas will direct Dracula Year Zero for Universal Pictures. The movie is not another guy turns into a bat and sucks on your neck flick, instead it’s rumored to be about the Romanian royalty who inspired Bram Stoker’s classic Dracula novel in the first place.

Proyas’s movie is about the vampire head honcho when he’s at the height of his power as Vlad the Impaler. This isn’t the withered old man we’re now used to. The last thing we need is another Dracula movie, and definitely not another damn prequel which seeks to demystify some iconic and deeply creepy cinematic villain. We’ve had just about enough of that lately. But Proyas has earned some respect, and it’s worth giving him a chance.