$28 Million Vampire Hit Proves What Dracula Movies Must Do Next After Annoying Recent Trend

Warning: Major spoilers for Abigail below!

The success of horror-comedy Abigail proves vampire movies are alive and well, but it continues an irritating recent trend of how Dracula is depicted onscreen. Arguably the most iconic monster in all of popular culture, Dracula has been played by everyone from Bela Lugosi to Gerard Butler, or Gary Oldman to Adam Sandler. There is a near-infinite number of films, TV shows, video games, novels and so forth that have explored the myth of the titular bloodsucker, with some depicting him as a tragic hero while others (in fact, most) depict him as the ultimate evil.

Most actors who take on the vampire only play the role once, with the Christopher Lee Hammer Dracula movies being a rare example of The Count fronting a franchise. In recent years, filmmakers have had a tough time trying to reinvent Dracula for modern viewers. Dracula Untold was a failed franchise starter from 2017, and the Dark Universe bombed so thoroughly that Universal never got to potential casting for that take on the character.

Abigail Is The Latest Vampire Movie To Sideline Dracula

“Abigail’s Father” is Count Dracula in all but name

Overexposure may have rendered audiences incapable of being truly scared by Dracula, especially if recent movies are anything to go by. 2024’s Abigail is a riff on 1936’s Dracula’s Daughter, where a group of kidnappers snatches a seemingly innocent young girl, only to learn the hard way she’s a vampire. Abigail’s ending scenes introduce Matthew Goode as “Abigail’s Father,” a tall, terrifying figure who has “gone by many names” over the decades.

In short, Matthew Goode’s vampire is Dracula, yet the film is too coy to say this aloud. Perhaps this was a wise call, since blurting out the name Dracula may have been distracting at best – or resulted in audiences rolling their eyes at the worst. Still, it continues an irritating trend of movies that sideline Dracula. Movies from the 2020s like The Last Voyage of Demeter or The Invitation include versions of the monster, though in cases like Abigail, they’re almost embarrassed to be using him at all.

Even something like Renfield gave Nicolas Cage a splashy part as Dracula, but still only used him in a supporting role. The film also made no attempts to make him frightening and instead allowed Cage to indulge his hammiest instincts. That’s not a bad thing, since Cage was the highlight of Renfield, but all of the above films speak to the same core issue: horror movies use the lore of Dracula but are afraid to make The Count himself a main character.

Why Modern Horror Movies Shy Away From Dracula As The Star

Dracula’s leading man days may have passed

The best and worst thing that can happen to a movie monster is overexposure. Alien’s Xenomorph or A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger were horrifying in their original incarnations, but various sequels, spinoffs and plush toys gradually diluted their power. This is particularly true with Dracula, who, in addition to being the most famous monster, is also one of the most parodied.

The stereotypical image of Dracula with blood-soaked fangs and a black cape is widely mocked, and it’s difficult to rebuild that image into something terrifying again after some many decades. Dracula Untold was the last true attempt at building a new franchise around the vampire, and instead of making him scary, it turned Luke Evans’ version into a hero damned by his own good intentions. However, making Dracula the good guy is an inherently flawed idea for a continuing story, since he is fundamentally a monster who feeds off the living to survive.

So there is the dual problem of audiences not finding Dracula scary, while attempts to soften the character make him feel kind of lame. What’s interesting to note is that Goode is actually pretty scary in Abigail, despite his limited screentime. This shows that Dracula can still be a terrifying figure with the right approach.

The Best Modern Update Of Dracula Was Found In Netflix’s Castlevania

Dracula gets some respect on the small screen

Castlevania

Based on the video game franchise, Castlevania is a Netflix original animated action series that follows the never-ending battle of the monster-slaying Belmont clan as they continue to face off against the hordes of the night. When Count Dracula’s human wife is murdered, his grief leads him to doom the world to eternal darkness. To stop him, it’ll take a team of three unlikely heroes banding together: the last remaining Belmont, Trevor, a magic-wielding seeker named Sypha Belnades, and the tortured half-human, half-vampire son of the count himself, Alucard.

Cast

Lance Reddick , Jaime Murray , Emily Swallow , Adetokumboh M’Cormack , Bill Nighy , Graham McTavish , Tony Amendola , Jason Isaacs , Jessica Brown Findlay , Matt Frewer , Toru Uchikado , Richard Armitage , Rila Fukushima , Alejandra Reynoso , Theo James , Ivana Miličević , Peter Stormare , James Callis

Release Date

July 7, 2017

Seasons

4

Showrunner

Warren Ellis

Recent Dracula horror movies haven’t done Bram Stoker’s creature much justice, but a great example of a fresh take comes from Netflix’s Castlevania. Graham McTavish voiced the role, with Dracula being the central villain of the first two seasons. He was by turns tragic, sympathetic and utterly ruthless, with his vendetta against mankind sparked by his human wife being burned alive by the Church. Castlevaina’s anti-heroic approach to Dracula made him feel like a more complex figure, and even if his rationale was relatable, it didn’t stop him from feeling like a monster either.

Related

Why Dracula Isn’t In Castlevania: Nocturne Season 1 (Will He Appear In Season 2?)

Despite being a fixture of the video game-turned-TV-series, Dracula isn’t in Castlevania: Nocturne season 1, but he might have a future Nocturne role.

Claes Bang also played the lead in the BBC Dracula miniseries from 2020, which adapted Stoker’s novel but took it in unexpected directions. The show received mixed reviews, but Bang’s charismatic, creepy portrayal made up for some of its faults. BBC’s Dracula and Castlevania underline it’s possible to take horror icons everybody knows and still do something interesting and inventive with them.

Horror Movies Need To Embrace Dracula As A Star Once Again

A new Dracula needs to strip the concept to its very core

Abigail being a hit might see more vampire movies being greenlit, so one of them must embrace The Count as a leading man again. Abigail and The Last Voyage of the Demeter cherry-picked elements from the myth, but nearly a decade on from Dracula Untold, Dracula is overdue for another big screen reinvention. Director Leigh Whannell gave audiences a great new spin on The Invisible Man in 2020, and while spitballing in an interview with Bloody Disgusting, offered thoughts on how to reinvent Dracula.

How would I present that character today if I was Bram Stoker in 2020 and I just thought of it? How would it be presented? You know it wouldn’t be presented the same way. I don’t know that I would do a castle in Transylvania. I think I would try to get at the essence of what makes Dracula scary, which is, to me, what makes Dracula scary is his lack of mercy. The fact that he might pretend. Like, he’s not a romantic. He needs to drink blood. What parallels in life can you think of that equate to someone without mercy. It’s a psychopath, right? A psychopath.

Whannell’s notion is that a potential Dracula reboot must strip away the elements bolted onto the myth after the book was published, and get to the core of what makes him scary. Easier said than done, but if viewers find all the accompanying lore surrounding the vampire cheesy or outdated, it’s better to start fresh. That said, it was announced in 2023 that Hammer Horror was being revived (via The Guardian), so a new take on Christopher Lee’s old franchise could be imminent.

An Upcoming Dracula Movie Could Be The Big Screen Reinvention He Needs

Robert Pattinson has been linked to Zhao’s “sci-fi Western” Dracula

In 2021, it was confirmed via THR that Chloe Zhao had signed to write and direct a new take on Dracula for Universal. Plot details were scarce, though the story was described as a futuristic, sci-fi Western that made the title character something of an outsider. In 2023, unconfirmed reports also linked Robert Pattinson (The Batman) to the lead, though the project has gone quiet since then.

A sci-fi Western take on Dracula might be the kind of bold, unexpected direction needed to present Drac in a new light for audiences. Zhao and Pattinson are a unique pairing, and assuming he does accept the role, the latter will undoubtedly bring something different to a well-trodden character. On paper, the idea doesn’t sound very frightening, but if nothing else, it could be the big screen makeover the vampire desperately needs.

Source: Bloody Disgusting, The Guardian, THR

Abigail (2024)

Abigail is a 2024 horror thriller directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett. The plot follows a group of people who kidnap the daughter of a dangerous crime lord only to discover that the little girl is actually a vicious vampire out for blood. Alisha Weir stars as the titular character alongside Kathryn Newton, Melissa Barrera, and Dan Stevens.

Director

Matt Bettinelli-Olpin , Tyler Gillett

Release Date

April 19, 2024

Distributor(s)

Universal Pictures

Writers

Guy Busick , Stephen Shields

Cast

Kathryn Newton , Dan Stevens , Giancarlo Esposito , Kevin Durand , Melissa Barrera , Alisha Weir , Angus Cloud , William Catlett