Wrath of Dracula

Anyone remember the "Tales of the Unexpected" series? Well this reminded me from start to rather feeble finish of one of those episodes. It's a pretty straight rehash of the established story that sees "Mina" (Hannaj Bang Bendz) turn up at the remarkably accessible Castle Dracula to try and find her missing husband "Jonathan" (Dean Marshall). Luckily, en route she's allied with "Prof. Van Helsing" (Mark Topping) so when they are admitted to this den of evil blood-suckers, they are armed with four silver bullets - enough for the Count and his three blonde wives who look like they've just finished devouring a rather messy cheeseburger. There's almost nothing here of interest. There are no special effects to appreciate or decry, the photography and writing are the stuff of a decently funded college project and the denouement offers a sense of relief for all concerned - indeed I'm not quite sure why the overly hammy Sean Cronin didn't volunteer for his predictably grisly fate half an hour earlier in this procedural and dull interpretation of a normally dark and menacing story. Not ninety minutes you will ever get back, so I wouldn't bother, sorry.

Another indie horror flick from Steve Lawson, who seems to have cornered the market in such fare. He has a ready business model: shoot a film on an enclosed set with a couple of actors, release it on Prime and follow that with fake 10/10 reviews to make a bit of cash. Sadly, the end product is inevitably useless, as is the case here. The story is very loosely adapted from the Stoker novel, reducing the character list to Mina and Jonathan Harker, Dracula, Van Helsing and a few brides. Mina learns kung fu at one point, which reveals how silly this all is, and the skinhead Dracula doesn't help much either.

Mark Topping plays a hesitantly spoken chauvinistic Van Helsing, and Hannaj Bang Bendz is a resilient, modern-looking Mina Harker in this wordy adaption of Bram Stoker's most famous story. The project is helmed by prolific writer/director Steve Lawson, the man behind the equally dialogue-driven 'Jekyll and Hyde', 'Ripper Untold' and 'Mummy Resurrection' among others, all released over the last few years. He specialises in modestly budgeted productions, alongside Creativ Studios who maintain that the limited number of sets and locations look good.

Films like this are an acquired taste. Some reviewers seem offended by the static style of such productions, but they are obviously successful enough to continue. I rather like them - they are invariably well-acted and the stories are interestingly told. This is an adaption that creates an even bigger enemy than Sean Cronin's bullet-headed Count - sexism against women. Mina, always glamorous and confident, interrupts her vampire hunting, where she's hoping to rescue Dean Marshall's wet hubby Harker, to explain how able women generally are, and how the world seems designed to undermine them, often with a raised eyebrow; Van Helsing can only bow his head in quiet agreement.

Some of the action sequences don't work, but other than that, this is up to the usual standard of Steve Lawson's productions. It won't appeal to everyone. But what it does, it does well. The performances are very good (there's a real sense of menace and power from Cronin's Dracula) and the adaption is thoughtfully told. Interestingly, a series of out-takes play under the end credits. My score is 7 out of 10.

Many fans of Gothic horror will welcome this low budget adaptation of Bram Stoker's tale. The film's strengths lie in atmospheric cinematography and strong acting performances by the main protagonists, especially that of Hannaj Bang Bendz as Mina, who almost succeed in overcoming an overly wordy script which weakens the otherwise prevailing sense of menace. The director attempts the Shakespearean ploy of introducing scenes of light relief through visual gags during action scenes but these largely misfire in my humble opinion. Dracula's brides are beautiful and chilling in equal measure with Ayvianna Snow's Maria a stand out performance. More, please!

I was liking this as soon as i saw Hannaj Bang Bendz in the opening credits, i think she really adds to any role.

Ok, this time Mina travels to Castle Dracula to find Jonathan. Upon arrival she runs into Van Helsing and from there, well you know the rest. Most of the acting was good.

The film is very pleasing, the set design, the lighting, it just looks good. The story drags on too slow, as though its an episode of a series.

There is a real PG13 feel of this, a very soft approach, total lack of gore and an odd interjection of camp in one of the few fight scenes. I sort of got the feel they were trying different things during the course of production. To me there was a real lack of consistancy.

Overall its not bad and after watching it, my impression was that it had the look of a pilot movie for a tv series. The ending even supported this. So much that it reminded me of the Dracula tv series from 2013 that was cancelled mid first season.

You dont see much of Dracula in this movie at all. That really leaves me wondering about the title. He is sctually portrayed as a wimp.

Its worth watching, it has entertainment value.

However they had a decent cast and could have made it much more lively.