The makers of 1922's Nosferatu ran into trouble with the estate of Bram Stoker for pilfering the plot of his career-defining novel 'Dracula'. Robert Eggers had no such worries with his recent remake of that silent classic, as Stoker's novel has long been in the public domain at this point, meaning anyone is free to adapt it or use its characters. We've seen scores of adaptations of Dracula, but few filmmakers have strip-mined the novel for its supporting characters, the Hugh Jackman headlined Van Helsing a notable exception.
Adapting a short story by Joe Hill, writer/director Natasha Kermani gives us another take on the character of Abraham Van Helsing with Abraham's Boys. As portrayed by Titus Welliver, this Van Helsing couldn't be further from the swashbuckling action hero played by Jackman in that disastrous 2004 movie. Set in 1915, 18 years after the Dutch doctor's encounter with Dracula, Abraham's Boys sees Van Helsing now living in an isolated home in rural California. In this version he married Mina Harker (Jocelin Donahue) and the couple have two sons: teenager Max (Brady Hepner) and his kid brother Rudy (Judah Mackey).
Van Helsing has put his vampire hunting days behind him and now lives in paranoid fear that Dracula's minions will one day track him down. He begins to sense that day is coming soon, and the movie opens with a young woman being attacked by an unseen assailant on a road near the Van Helsing home.
In a sly subversion of Stephen King's Salem's Lot (Hill is of course the son of King), Van Helsing's home is situated atop a hill, ominously overlooking the valley below, just like the house the vampire Barlow purchases in King's tale. This is a visual cue that suggests all may not be as it seems here. Abraham's Boys asks us to question if Van Helsing really is a vampire slayer or simply a homicidal maniac, or perhaps he genuinely believes the people he slays are vampires, like the protagonist of Richard Matheson's 'I am Legend'. That most of his victims are young women is a little sus, to say the least.
Abraham's Boys, which is subtitled "A Dracula Story," may be mining Stoker's IP but it has more in common with a more recent work of horror. Its plot is essentially a reworking of Bill Paxton's 2001 directorial debut Frailty. In that movie Paxton played a religious zealot who has convinced his sons that he is on a mission from God to kill demons disguised as regular people, but his boys begin to doubt his claims. That's pretty much what we get here, with Max and Rudy growing increasingly suspicious of their old man, especially when their mother falls mysteriously ill.
Paxton's film did a far better job of keeping us guessing than Kermani's version of this narrative. Abraham's Boys is crying out for a few more twists and turns in its plot before it reaches its predictable climax. We never really feel like Van Helsing poses a threat to his own boys. There is however a young woman, Elsie (Aurora Perrineau), who is part of a railroad surveying party camped nearby, and we suspect she will be targeted at some point by the villain, whether it be Van Helsing or an actual vampire. Elise should really be the character we're asked to fear for here, a final girl if you will, but she's sidelined for most of the movie until she's all too conveniently reintroduced for a final showdown.
It's a shame Kermani's script couldn't generate more tension and suspense, as she's crafted a visually impressive film on a low budget. Working with cinematographer Julia Swain and employing a 4:3 aspect ratio, Kermani gives her movie an elegant look that falls somewhere between the gothic dramas of late 20th century British TV and classic Hollywood westerns. The cast is well directed, with everyone convincing as products of the time period. Welliver is suitably creepy, a haunted deadness behind his blue eyes, while Donahue continues to be one of the most interesting actresses working in American indie horror.
Abraham's Boys is predictable and a little repetitive in its attempt to stretch a short story to feature length, but there's a classy sophistication to its intimate storytelling that makes for a welcome change from the usual histrionics of modern screen horror.
Directed by: Natasha Kermani
Starring: Titus Welliver, Jocelin Donahue, Aurora Perrineau, Judah Mackey, Brady Hepner
