Wrath of Dracula

Directed by Steve Lawson

2023

High Flier Films

The prolific Leicester director Steve Lawson releases another historic (and out of copyright) horror with his new film Wrath of Dracula where the filmmaker gets his teeth into an alternative take on Bram Stoker’s legendary villain.

We open with the cunning Mina Harker (an excellent Hannaj Bang Bendz) heading to Transylvania to find out what has happened to her missing husband Jonathan (Dean Marshall).

Arriving at Castle Dracula she crosses paths with infamous vampire hunter Van Helsing (Mark Topping). And despite her protestations, and antique pistol, Van Helsing warns her of the risks and encourages her to leave this dangerous mystery to a professional.

However, after observing her resourcefulness, he agrees to train her to improve both her physical strength and her vampire knowledge. Although the lore will be mostly known by viewers, this does help inform the audience which particular aspects Lawson has included in his incarnation.

And the musical training montage that follows was satisfyingly silly but a good homage to similar 80s sequences.

Right off the bat, Lawson has decided to vacate his faithful studio to shoot much more of his production on location  - which is a massive improvement over his previous set-based film style.

Stock footage and some quick-cutting helps set up the period locations and it’s far more creative than his previous efforts. Shot composition is better thought-out and the whole piece is leaps ahead of his last few features on similar subject-matter.

A few visual and verbal gags also added new lighter moments to the dark tale and the film mostly plays as a spirited Hammer horror-style historical fright flick.

It’s not without a few flaws. Exposition still plays quite a fair part in the film and characters recounting tales to each other sadly drag when a flashback would work just as well if not better. But overall it’s a marked improvement with a great use of an obviously low budget including some effective SFX.

As the tale moves forwards we get a spooky entrance to Dracula’s home (the malevolent Count being played by a suitably sinister Sean Cronin) and we meet Ayvianna Snow as Maria and Marta Svetek as Frida. These ladies act as Dracula’s sultry and animalistic “brides”, teasing and taunting their prisoner Jonathan along with their new unexpected guests.

Flashes of lightning and flickering candles help create an appropriate monstrous vibe and Dracula himself is hidden until much later in the tale, the director merely giving glimpses of ol’ “vlad”. And a few campy fights mix raunchiness with slapstick to amusing effect.

It also has a dash of Underworld and 2003’s Van Helsing, with nods to the Universal Monster films and a feisty female lead. (And a behind-the-scenes sequence during the end credits was a unique and very welcome addition).

Although Wrath of Dracula doesn’t quite keep the momentum of the first half during its middle act, it does conclude as Lawson’s best film despite its limited budget and resources. The dependable direction works with a much swifter pace than previous efforts, and it has some effective location work and a better balance of horror with some new, and welcome, kitsch elements.

★★★★

4 / 5

Michael Sales