• Release year: 2026
• Director: Chris Schwab.
• Producers: Marlene Mc’Cohen, Chris Schwab, and Metin Yigit.
• Screenplay by: Chris Schwab.
• Cinematography by: Chris Schwab.
• Music by: Joel Martin, TJ Nordaker, and Geoffrey Prather.

Shotgun Commentary: Dracula, but make it LA.

Review

Dracula: The Night Around Us is a retelling of Stoker’s Gothic horror novel Dracula, but taken into an LA backdrop. With limited budget, the film actually manages to do a very decent job at presenting the classic with a modern twist. This film has had its premiere in London at FrightFest among other fantastic indie horror features.

The story follows a psychiatrist who is treating a severely disturbed individual in a mental hospital. In his private life, he finds his neighbour’s young daughter, Lucy (Raelan Mackiewicz), in the garage and brings her back to her apartment, striking up a friendship with Lucy and her mother, Mina (Marlene Mc’Cohen). When Lucy becomes ill and disappears, it is up to the doctor to save her.

Great choices

For those of you who have read the novel or watched any of the faithful adaptations, the protagonist, Dr John Seward (Eric Toms), is indeed a combination of Jonathan Harker, Dr Van Helsing, and Dr John Seward. This clever merger works in favour of both budget and story. In fact, it is hard to remember why those three characters were separate in the first place until you remember Harker’s experience in Dracula’s castle. A segment of the original tale that is not featured in this movie.

Toms does a wonderful job carrying the story almost like a narrator. After a violent, albeit satisfying opening, we meet his character as he interacts with his patient, coworkers, and neighbours, becoming almost the sole voice of the story. Dr Seward is put under a lot of stress constantly, and the supernatural threat only worsens it. Toms conveys this emotional rollercoaster without much fuss or excessive dramatics, which is appreciated.

STFU

This contained approach contrasts greatly with other dramatic moments that seem to come out of nowhere and have no particular destination. I am, of course, referring to “the yelling close-ups”. Anyone who has read this blog for a while now has read my constant complaints about sound design in horror. More particularly, how embarrassingly lame and lazy it usually is.

Now, while this film is not particularly bad in that regard at all, it does repeat a formula that makes my eye twitch with hatred every single time. Said formula is the aforementioned yelling close-ups, which consist of victims or distraught characters dramatically wailing as loud as possible…and that’s it. There is no big reveal. It is not even part of a jump scare. You know it is coming, and you cannot do anything about it. You just have to sit through it and pray that your eardrums won’t burst.

Other than that minor detail which stirs up wrath as fast as it is forgotten, the feature is quite on point in all aspects. The mother-daughter relationship between Lucy and Mina is a fantastic update that definitely brings more depth into the story and the way Mina experiences loss. And the ending is absolutely superb. Without getting into spoilers, it is the type of ending that feels more made for audiences to enjoy than for the sake of the story. It is what all readers and audiences think about while reading Dracula and watching most of its cinematic versions.

All in all Dracula: The Night Around Us is not the most out-there version of the Gothic classic, but it is certainly not a bad one by any means. With a modern LA context and a satisfying ending, it is certainly worth your attention.

Advice to take from this movie:

• Drinking is not the answer to solving a mystery.
• Do not go into strange abandoned tunnels in the middle of the night.
• Hitchhiking is not a good idea. Ever.

What’s your take? Have you watched Dracula: The Night Around Us? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message on my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀