I SAW WRATH OF DRACULA

Director/writer Steve (Jekyll and Hyde 2021) Lawson's Wrath of Dracula, a 2023, Higher Fliers Films production that's (re)surfaced in the wake of Nosferatu-mania, is, in fact, a reboot of Lawson's Bram Stoker's Van Helsing (a Lucy Westenra-leaning effort). Like Van Helsing, Wrath of Dracula experiments with various components of Stoker's novel, while keeping the mythological tropes intact (similar to Maximillian Elfelt/Michael Varrati's modernized Dracula: the Original, Living Vampire, though in Wrath's case, the doting brio comes with a rollicking aesthetic). 

Mark (Jekyll and Hyde 2021) Topping plays Van Helsing, as he did in Lawson's 2021, vampire-hunter epic, though in the later instance, he's teamed with Hannaj Bang Bendz's diary-driven Mina Harker. The two enter the Carpathian Mountains to rescue hubby, Jonathan, played with convincing anguish by Dean Marshall, as Sean Cronin assumes the role of the commanding Count Dracula and Ayvianna Snow, Marta Svetek and Jasmine Sumner perform as his siren-like Brides. 

Lawson's execution is Hammer-esque, with Van Helsing encouraging Mina to get into fighting shape, which references Hammer's Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter and its Run Shaw Shaw collaboration, The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires. Also, Topping's Van Helsing is cut straight from the Peter Cushing cloth, and he does a phenomenal job capturing the Hammer's star's erudite essence and determined glint. (It should go without saying that Topping achieves the same impressive level in Lawson's earlier, Dracula venture, even if it's displayed through a more conventional lens.)

To offset Van Helsing and the Buffy-ish Mina, Cronin makes an excellent Count, incensed, regal and slippery (rather like a fanged Ming the Merciless), though he's often relegated to the shadows and doesn't take centerstage until the tale's final phase. (For the record, Dracula was kept in the margins throughout Lawson's Van Helsing, being but a faceless insinuation and never a full-blown persona.) The Brides, however, are conspicuous and at that, beautiful to behold, adding believability to their lure and the parasitic danger they press upon Jonathan, Mina and the professor. 

Throughout it all, Wrath of Dracula never gets bogged down with selling a message, seeming content with serving no more than lurid escapism. On occasion, it even feels a bit like Marvel Comics' The Tomb of Dracula, albeit placed in a grounded, period setting. Lawson rolls it at a no-nonsense pace, but his writing also gives his fine cast the means to make the best of their characters, in particular Van Helsing and Nina, who by the mission's end form a steadfast, John Steed/Emma Peel bond. The culmination is, therefore, most satisfying, with a hint of a sequel (one featuring werewolves, no less), which I do trust comes about.