BACK in 1922, the German director F W Mernau helmed one of cinema's most eeire films, Nosferatu.

He took the actor Max Shreck and inspired him to create a truely disturbing character - Dracula.

Even Bela Lugosi, in his great 1931 role as the Transylvanian vampire, didn't rival Shreck for portraying sheer evil.

Since then, a conservative count puts the naumber of Dracula films at around 20 - everything from the comedy Love at First Bite to the horror cheapie Dracula's Dog.

Now there's another one to join the line-up - Dracula 2001.

This one owes nothing to the frightening Nosferatu, or even to the novel twist in Dracula's Dog, come to that.

This is bloodless horror in which Count Dracula (Gerard Butler) has been sealed in a vault for more than 100 years, watched over by his captor, ageing vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing (Christopher Plummer in a return to familiar horror territory).

The legendary bloodsucker is unleashed upon the modern world by a group of ill-prepared thieves, led by Marcus (Omar Epps) and sultry vixen Solina (Jennifer Esposito), who break into the vault.

Free to wander the Earth, Dracula heads for New Orleans to hunt down virginal beauty Mary Heller (Justine Waddell), with whom he shares a mysterious bond.

Thankfully, Van Helsing is wise to the count's plans and gives chase, enlisting the services of trusted friend Simon Sheppard (Jonny Lee Miller) to kill the vampire hordes.

Forces of good and evil collide beneath the bright lights of the carnival, where Mary struggles with her attraction to Simon and Dracula, and a series of terrifying premonitions.

With a few well-placed gags, Dracula 2001 could have been one of the year's most uproarious comedies - but there's little for an audience to sink its teeth into here.