Dracula: The Impaler

Director - Derek Hockenbrough (Hemingway)
Starring - Diana Angelson (The Second Coming of Christ), Christian Gehring (NCIS), Christina Collard (Cult of the Vampire)
Release Date - 2013
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "500 years of terror unleashed from Hell"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     The story of Dracula has mesmerized movie goers for going on a hundred years.  So many films feature Dracula in one form or the other.  The first Dracula film appeared in 1922 with Nosferatu.  Though the film was not able to use the character of Dracula it was still Dracula in essence.  Since then we have saw Dracula save the world, pimp out prostitutes, invade space, but very few films try to tackle the inspiration behind Bram Stoker's tale.  I was recently sent a review copy of the film Dracula: The Impaler.  Horror fans have long since believed that Vlad the Impaler was the inspiration behind Dracula. To say I was excited to see this flick was an understatement.  As soon as I got a second to check it out I threw it in!
     The film follows a group of twenty-somethings as they make a trip out to Dracula's Castle as an adventure before they all graduate and go their separate ways.  Once they arrive they meet the female caretaker who tells them all the story of Dracula and how he made a deal with the devil in order to save his wife from the Ottoman Turks.  However, his pact with the devil does not work and the Turks still kill his wife and he unleashes hell on them.  Now, the group is in his castle as things go bump in the night.  They try to party it up but strange things begin to happen and their friends start to go missing.  They soon learn that the female caretaker is behind the disappearances and one of their friends may be linked to Dracula.  They then try to flee only to be thrusted into a nightmare.
     I love a good vampire film.  There is something appealing about a beast that can transform into a bat and roam the night in search of blood.  When you think about vampires people often immediately think about Dracula because he is the most bad ass of all the vampires.  However, I have only seen a handful of films actually attack the Dracula story from a historical stand point.  That film had my interest with that but once the film started rolling I saw the Full Moon logo and immediately knew it would not follow that story long.  Instead, it gave us a small period piece only to follow it up with a modern teens in peril flick with vampires.  Nothing new nor original.  The acting in this film was fun.  Some of the characters were funny while others were unintentionally funny.  That really impressed me.  Most of the time when I review a Brain Damage/Midnight Releasing film I usually say the acting is bad but this is far from the case.  The cast made some really memorable characters that is saying something.  The story for this one could have been one hell of an epic story.  The film started out on the right foot and then went the typical cliched horror route.  This ruined the film and gave the viewer nothing of value or originality.  Finally, the film does have a few on screen kills but they are nothing we haven't seen before.  Though the kills are bloody and the special effects are fun they are still limited and very few.  Overall, Dracula: The Impaler is a lackluster film that uses the Dracula name to only pull in views.  The film is a disappointment especially when you consider the lack of blood for a vampire film.  If you want to watch a Dracula film then I highly recommend checking out the Hammer Dracula series.