- Directed by Maximilian Elfeldt
- Written by Michael Varrati
- Stars Jake Herber, Christine Prouty, India Lillie Davies
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 26 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibml9EstOIQ
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
A modernized retelling of the Dracula story with a confusing mish-mash of anachronisms, poor script, excellent visuals, cool special effects, and very mixed-bag of acting. It’s an interesting watch, both very entertaining and not good at the same time.
Commentary
Plot-wise, it’s a fun, modernized retelling of the story with a bunch of familiar characters in new roles. I say modernized, but it’s never quite clear what year this takes place. There seem to be a lot of anachronisms that aren’t even hard to spot. There are carriages and candles, but also modern wristwatches, WWII-era pistols, and openly-coupled lesbians.
There’s a lot of exposition and explanation and speeches, which makes sense early on, but it continues throughout the film. I was initially tempted to blame the acting, but it soon becomes clear that it’s a script issue; there’s just too much telling, not enough showing. The lighting, cinematography, and CGI settings look really sharp and clean.
Michael Ironside, as Dr. Seward, is the only recognizable name in the cast. He’s here, but it’s not one of his best performances. This is the first major role for most of the other actors, and for the most part, they do pretty well here with the script they’ve got, with one very notable exception. It was all going really well until Dracula showed up. He is completely miscast; in his more human form, he immediately made me think of a cosplayer or renaissance-fair actor, while later in the film, Kevin says that Dracula reminded him of both Meat Loaf in that I Would Do Anything For Love music video or the Frankenstein character from the Penny Dreadful series. He’s far too young-looking and has no on-screen presence at all; exceptionally bland.
And this is where Kevin jumps in to further clarify. Kevin thought he was very good for the role, blending in as a low-key, non-threatening human until the gloves came off.
Overall, quality-wise, this is either a really well-made indie film or a really poorly done mainstream film. That’s really it– a weird conflation of some really good aspects and horrible directing.
Spoilery Synopsis
A woman meets up with a man in a cape, and they have sex. He has really long black fingernails. Suddenly, she screams.
Amelia Van Helsing arrives on the scene in the morning, called in by Captain Renfield of the police. The wound matches what they’ve seen before. Dr. Seward does an autopsy. The dead girl wasn’t killed by a blade, it’s almost like a bite. There was a case a hundred years ago just like it; all the blood has been drained out of the body. She takes a blood sample to Harker; he’ll look for anything unusual. He pulls a book off his bookshelf, “Nosferatu.”
Meanwhile, Captain Renfield gets a visit from the long-haired man he calls “Master.”
Amelia then heads home to Mina. Mina’s got a new account– some foreign dignitary is looking for some property locally. The dignitary is here, in their house for dinner. They talk about the strange murder case that’s in all the newspapers. Harker rushes in to say that the blood sample indicates that vampires are afoot! Amelia chews him out for his silly theories.
There’s another murder, and Amelia, Harker, and Seward investigate. Red hair, trauma to the neck, and all the same signs of the same killer, but this time the room was locked from the inside. Harker says it proves his theory.
When Amelia returns home, there’s someone in the house who runs off. They didn’t get any visitors other than Dracula earlier tonight. She goes back home and she and Mina talk over their problems and have sex afterwards.
Harker comes to see Mina, and Dracula is there too. Mina says Dracula is looking at buying old Carfax Abbey; they’re going over there tonight to look at the property. Dracula and Harker talk about folklore and myths. Harker notices Dracula’s lack of reflection in the mirror and follows them.
Seward talks to Renfield about everything he’s figured out. Renfield then stabs Seward. He lives long enough to tell Amelia that it was Renfield. She confronts Renfield and shoots him. She thinks he was the killer, but Harker comes to the conclusion he was only finding victims for someone else. Meanwhile, Dracula kidnaps Mina.
Harker and Amelia head over to Dracula’s house. Inside, they find Renfield and a couple of the female victims-now-vampires. The duo kill all the vampires except for Dracula, who is across town finishing off Dr. Seward. Dracula arrives and defeats them both.
Dracula explains to Mina that she’s the reincarnation of his dead fiancé, and he plans to restore her. She disagrees,
Amelia and Harker go home and load up all their weapons in an “lock-and-load montage.” They can’t stand up to Drac, and Mina has to intervene to save them. Suddenly, it’s time for “grrl power,” and they fry Dracula with sunshine.
Afterwards, we see that Amelia has become a vampire.