Tales of Dracula (Review)

Director – Joe DeMuro
Starring – Stan Babola (The Last Man), Courtney Bennett, and Laura Brink
Release Date – 2015
Rating – 3/5

Tagline – “Unsurpassed horror as monsters walk the Earth once more!”

The horror community is like one big family and just like any family, this family is often divided.  Horror fans can be placed into groups just like any other cluster of people.  Most people are slashers fans and believe the heyday of horror was during the 80s when slashers ran supreme.

Others are pop horror fans and flock to theaters to checkout the big budget horror flicks while neglecting the seedy, underground horror scene.  Other are obsessed with indie horror and underground flicks and refuse to check out any other horror flicks.  We then get the group of horror fans that believe horror has almost faded out and believe the classic horror flicks from Universal and Hammer’s heyday was the highlight of horror history.

Slashers have always been my favorite horror flicks but I grew up on the Universal horror flicks and catch myself revisiting these films when I want a horror film with depth and atmosphere.  I recently came across the Facebook page for the film Tales of Dracula.  The film was shot in black and white and looked like a love letter to Universal’s prime.  I reached out to them and they were kind enough to send a review copy my way.  Thanks for letting me check it out!

**Spoiler Alert**The film begins with a man walking through the countryside when he comes across another gentleman and asks for directions to Castle Frankenstein.  He gives the man direction and tells him to keep an eye out for his daughter who is walking the same path as him.  The man agrees and goes on his journey but soon finds himself lost.  Meanwhile, the gentleman is worried about his daughter and goes down the same path where he finds his daughter bleeding from a wound on her neck.  He takes her to an old inn nearby and soon the man arrives explaining how he was lost.

The two decide to take the bloody young girl to Castle Frankenstein so Frankenstein’s daughter, a medical doctor, can help her.  When they arrive the doctor is unable to save her but sees she is going to change into a vampire.  After seeing a rare opportunity in front of her, she nabs some of the vampire’s blood.  When the grieving father leaves the other man requests that she help him due to his affliction.

He reveals to her that every full moon he transforms into a bloodthirsty wolf.  She scoffs at the thought exclaiming they are not real.  When the gentleman leaves she returns to her lab with the vampire blood to inject her brother, Frankenstein’s monster.  This greatly upsets Dracula. king of the vampires, who believes her blood is his blood and heads to Castle Frankenstein to get what is his.  It is Frankenstein’s Monster vs. Dracula with a little wolfman thrown in for good measure.**Spoiler Alert**

The Universal monster movies from the 30s, 40s, and 50s are iconic for their imagery and creatures.  Every shot in these films is a work of art from the sets to the wardrobe and, of course, the monsters.  That is why very few modern horror films can hold a candle to the visionary experience that has lasted for decades.  Tales from Dracula is a film that tries like hell to capture that Universal look and feel and succeeds for the most part.

The acting in this one is solid by the entire cast.  Universal monster films usually had characters that were crash with way more detail given to the beasts.  These crash characters usually just went through the motions by just saying their dialogue while not really trying to act at all. ToD mixes this up a bit and actually gives all the characters some depth and the cast does a great job at bringing these to life.

With that being said, a few performances were a little lackluster.  Courtney Bennett shows she has some real acting chops but her performance really feels like she did not dedicate herself fully to her role.  She lacks real emotion and her character does feel a little flat.  Tom Delillo performance is amazing for the most part but he is not that consistent. He does a great job at making you feel sorry for him and his curse but in some scenes this conviction is not there.

The story for this one is a straight up homage to the classic Universal films and works well as a plot device to get all the creatures together.  There was several films during this time that brought the monsters together but very few were able to incorporate all the monsters into the story evenly.  ToD is able to do that.  With that being said, the story did have some areas that were awkward to watch which did affect the way the story unfolded.  Most of these scenes took place at the inn.  These could have been edited a little better which would have helped the story move along a little better.  The story also has several characters that were slightly unnecessary.  They did not help the story out at all.  They were fun characters but really did nothing for the film.

Finally, the film is not covered in bloodshed and gore like many of us horror fans love.  Instead, it uses great imagery and atmosphere, along with some great monsters to get the point across.  Though the film did lack gore, it has some great practical effects and some not so great visual effects.  The film’s creatures look great.  The wolfman looks great and rivals anything released from Universal.  The monster looks great as well but has went through an update that sites very well with the film.  Sadly, there is some CGI in the film and it does not look that great.  The second I saw it in the film I had to roll my eyes.  The film could have easily worked just as well without these scenes.

Overall, Tales of Dracula is the throwback you are all looking for.  Those of you bitching about horror films not being as good as they used to be needs to see this one.  Do yourself a favor and check it out!