Movies - Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story – A Dark Reimagining of Vampire Legacy

By Mulder, 10 june 2025

Scheduled for release on July 11, 2025, Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story is a haunting new take on the world of vampires, one that deliberately avoids the expected tropes in favor of something far more intimate, psychological, and generationally disturbing. Adapted from Joe Hill’s 2004 short story featured in his collection 20th Century Ghosts, the film picks up years after the events of Bram Stoker’s Dracula and re-centers the narrative not on Count Dracula, but on the enigmatic, traumatized figure of Abraham Van Helsing, now living in reclusive exile in rural America. What sets this film apart is its focus on Van Helsing’s two sons, Max and Rudy, who grow up under the shadow of their father’s increasingly erratic and paranoid behavior. Directed and written by Natasha Kermani, known for her psychologically driven horror work in Lucky and Imitation Girl, the film strips away the bombastic flair typical of vampire movies and instead explores how fear and legend can warp a family from within. This is not a film of loud terror but of quiet dread—a horror tale told through the disintegration of trust between a father and his children.

The production is backed by Tea Shop Productions and Illium Pictures, with RLJE Films and Shudder securing distribution rights following the movie’s world premiere at the 2025 Overlook Film Festival. It runs approximately 89 minutes, a tight and intentionally controlled runtime that reinforces its claustrophobic atmosphere. The tone of Abraham’s Boys evokes a unique blend of gothic horror and frontier desolation. Rather than castles and fog, we’re in the open, sun-baked isolation of the American West around 1914. The setting becomes a character in itself—distant from civilization, devoid of support systems, and eerily still, as the boys begin to question the dark family history their father desperately tries to keep hidden. Titus Welliver takes on the role of Abraham Van Helsing, bringing a quiet menace and complexity to a character often portrayed as a righteous warrior. In this version, Van Helsing may still believe in monsters—but the film leaves open the question of whether they’re real or simply manifestations of trauma. Brady Hepner and Judah Mackey portray the sons, gradually awakening to the mystery around them, while Jocelin Donahue plays their mother Mina, whose own absence and secrets add to the air of suspicion and buried grief. Aurora Perrineau appears as a newcomer named Elsie, whose arrival pushes the fragile family dynamic to its breaking point.

The film’s trailer, released on June 10, hints at a chilling narrative that is more concerned with psychological unease than bloodletting. There are echoes of horror classics like The Others or The Witch, with an emphasis on uncertainty, restraint, and the slow unraveling of sanity. The visuals are muted, the soundscape minimalist, and the horror deeply internal. Rather than rely on visual spectacle, Natasha Kermani crafts a story where the line between protective love and dangerous obsession is increasingly blurred. Early reports from festival attendees describe the film as a meditation on fear passed down through generations, with Van Helsing depicted as both a hero and a potentially unhinged relic of a war his sons never fought. This tension is what drives the heart of the story—can the sons trust their father’s version of the past? And if monsters are real, is it worse to deny them or believe in them too much?

Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story stands out not just because it subverts vampire expectations, but because it refuses to make them the focus. It tells a story about family, fear, and what happens when myth becomes part of your inheritance. With strong performances, a unique setting, and a deeply character-driven approach, it offers something rare in modern horror: a narrative that doesn’t seek to shock with volume, but to haunt with questions. Its July release places it perfectly for mid-summer viewers looking for chilling drama and eerie emotional resonance rather than flashy spectacle. And with Joe Hill’s pedigree—combined with clear stylistic fingerprints from Natasha Kermani—this film is poised to become a standout example of how horror can be just as powerful when it whispers instead of screams.

Synopsis :
Abraham van Helsing moves his two sons to the United States in an attempt to escape their past.

Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story
Written and directed by Natasha Kermani
Produced by Tim Wu, James Howard Herron, James Harris, Leonora Darby
From the Joe Hill’s original short story
Starring Titus Welliver, Brady Hepner, Judah Mackey, Jocelin Donahue , Aurora Perrineau 
Music by
Cinematography : Julia Swain
Edited by : Gabriel de Urioste
Production companies : Illium Pictures / Tea Shop Productions
Distributed by RLJE Films, Shudder (United States)
Release date : July 12, 2025 (United States)
Running time : 89 minutes