Between Nosferatu, Renfield, and The Last Voyage of the Demeter, we’ve seen a lot of variations on the Dracula story recently. But despite all the ways that Hollywood has already tried to spin it, Abraham’s Boys has a juicy premise that differentiates it from the pack. Based on the short story of the same name from Joe Hill’s collection 20th Century Ghosts, Abraham’s Boys takes place shortly after Dracula’s death, as Abraham Van Helsing teaches his sons how to defend themselves from the unᴅᴇᴀᴅ. This next-gen revamp is like Young Frankenstein, but it’s played straight as a horror film.

тιтus Welliver is the standout of the cast, bringing plenty of grizzle and gravitas to his brooding turn as Abraham. Jocelin Donahue is also terrific as his wife, Mina, who grows increasingly paranoid that Dracula has followed them to their new home. But the focus of the story is, of course, on Abraham’s boys themselves. While I really liked Judah Mackey as the curious, inquisitive younger son, Rudy, I didn’t buy Brady Hepner as the angsty older son, Max. When he’s lashing out at his parents or bullying his brother, it’s just not convincing.

Abraham’s Boys Has A Really Creepy Score Deserving Of A Much Better Horror Movie

Brittany Allen’s Foreboding, Atmospheric Music Is The Best Part Of The Film

Brittany Allen’s foreboding, atmospheric score keeps you on the edge of your seat, waiting for a big scare. But, much like John Carpenter’s score for the Firestarter remake, it’s a score deserving of a much better movie. You’re on the edge of your seat, waiting for that scare, for what feels like an eternity. After the spooky cold open, there isn’t another big fright until the half-hour mark. Abraham doesn’t start training his sons in the art of vampire-slaying until the midpoint. The movie is only 89 minutes long, so it doesn’t have time for that much dilly-dally.

The 4:3 aspect ratio does a good job of recapturing that old-school Universal monster movie feel, but the compositions have a glossy digital sheen that detracts from those old-school vibes. A film-grain filter or an older-style lens would’ve gone a long way. Still, writer-director Natasha Kermani includes some really inventive sH๏τs: a vampire’s decapitated head, stuffed with garlic, sitting in focus in the foreground, while the Van Helsings, out of focus, dig a grave in the background; an ominous sH๏τ/reverse sH๏τ sequence of Max on horseback, looking up the trail, and creepy whispers coming from an unseen presence hiding around the bend.

The film’s sun-drenched setting of Central Valley, California, lends it a distinctive visual style separate from the bleak Transylvanian locales of traditional Dracula movies. Kermani made full use of her filming location, capturing a ton of gorgeous golden-hour sH๏τs of dusty hills and colorful fields. This setting gives the whole thing a delightful western aesthetic, like Little House on the Prairie with vampires.

Despite Its Premise, Abraham’s Boys Isn’t Very Scary

There’s An Occasional So-So Jump Scare

Horror movies, like comedies, are pretty easy to judge. If a comedy made you laugh, it succeeded, and if a horror movie scared you, it succeeded. Therein lies the fatal flaw with Abraham’s Boys: it’s not very scary. I could count on one hand the number of decent scares in this movie. The Dracula design, glimpsed in a couple of dream sequences, looks more like the live-action Grand Inquisitor than the Prince of Darkness. It’s a huge let-down after the unforgettable design of Bill Skarsgård’s Count Orlok just a few months ago.

All throughout the film, it seems to be building up to a big, bloody climax that never arrives. When the movie does finally reach an action-packed conclusion, it’s more laughable than thrilling. Abraham’s Boys wants to drive home a message about violent legacies and the never-ending cycle of generational trauma, but the payoff feels incongruous with the setup, the final kill feels unearned, and the B-movie execution makes it unintentionally funny.

Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story will begin streaming on Shudder on July 11.