Drac is Back! Russell Crowe as Dracula; New Starz Series; Dario Argento Flick

The ebb and flow of the vampire/zombie battle for our entertainment-monster market share has taken a push back toward the land of fangs as Deadline recently reported that Russell Crowe will be playing the ultimate master of the neck-suck finisher, Dracula, in Eli Roth’s (Hostel) upcoming film Harker.

It’s not the only case of the penultimate vampire invading out pop-culture palate in the near future, as Starz just announced it’s developing a series titled Vlad Dracula, in which we’ll see the neck-ual deviant go from a 15th century a**hole to a 15th century a**hole with long teeth and a penchant for life-liquid.

The series may even hold promise for those who aren’t habitual swooners of the sexy, sickly type. Writer/Producer J. Michael Straczynski (Changling, Babylon 5) is manning the Vlad vessel on the network, which bodes well for all; he’s one of the biz’s best writers working today (and someone, please, turn his Midnight Nation comic book series into a TV project already!).

But if all this isn’t enough to whet your appetite for all things blood-sucky, then peep the trailer for ’70s Italian-horror legend Dario Argento’s latest, aptly titled Dracula. I mean, you’re going to need a heavy appetite if you want to ingest the latest debacle from this former trail-blazing director. Hey, Argento, the 1970s called. They want you to stop making movies.

[WatchTrailer2]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0Pro2iuHr8[/WatchTrailer2]