#the only thing he wouldn't find amusing was himself being cast as another prettyboy bodice ripper

[see-arcane]

You can answer this privately if you prefer, but was there another trailer for The Invitation that I missed? I only saw the first one that basically gives away the whole plot and name-dropped the Harkers at the end. Basically I'm wondering if I missed something that put the Harkers in a bad light. (I was excited for the premise, since it seemed like a subversion of the romantic vampire trope in favor of visceral horror and a story about entrapment.)

I've only seen the one trailer (probably the one you're thinking of) and it's given me as much hope as it has reasons to be Wary+.

On the one hand, ooh! Gothic horror! Entrapment! Bluebeard vibes plus a weird vampire cult!

On the other hand, yet another Dracula at Maximum Seductive 'I Just Need A(nother) Lady to Sate Me!' Ken Doll.

On the other other hand, Dracula being a manipulative masterminding prick luring a victim to his abode under false pretenses for sinister purposes!

On the other other other hand, what the fuck have they done to the Harkers? Making them into Dracula's elderly servants? Who go out of their way to help entrap the fresh bride-victim? The F U C K ??? And I thought Francis gave them a raw deal.

All wrapped up in a dual eagerness/wariness when it comes to injecting menace into vampire conversion as a matter of threat/horror, without turning the dread into something lukewarm and 'ooh, corruption of the innocent! temptation!'...and avoiding the danger of forcing the protagonist into a static Strong Female Character mold, script-wise.

I really want it to be good. But I'm only at 2/3 excitement because, rather than its own original cast/foundation, it is yet another movie slapping famous names onto characters who simply Are Not That Character.

All told, if the reviews don't graze the 60% mark, I might not even bother flipping a coin on whether to see it or not. Renfield is at least going to be a purposefully ludicrous spinoff and Last Voyage of the Demeter is aiming solidly for Horror (tm) (with the The Autopsy of Jane Doe director at the helm! Promising!). The Invitation looks like it's taking the Brides' unexplored lore and running with it, regardless of what collateral damage is done to the central characters of the novel.

For the movie's sake, I hope it has a decent payoff. Otherwise it's going to be just another vampire genre flick trying to tack on Dracula's cast members for extra pomp rather than to build off the actual story. Sigh.