When you have a deep love for the novel Dracula by Bram Stroker the obvious thing to do is to make a trilogy of films (started over thirty years ago) dedicated to a modern retelling of the tale. That’s exactly what writer and director Bryan Enk has done, starting with his first two titles from when he was still in college, 1993’s Dracula and 1994’s Dracula Returns. Of course both of these were made on a budget thinner than any thread known to humanity and shot on VHS using camcorders. When you have a love for storytelling, it doesn’t matter.
That brings us to this year and the film we are here to talk about, Blood Daughter, in a way a legacy sequel to Enk’s own films from the 90’s. The movie takes a few minutes to get going but once it does we learn that there is a cult that has been routinely recruiting people to be sent to the tower and become food for Dracula and the titular Blood Daughter (played by Alexandria Johnson). That’s just one of the many plots and subplots the film introduces us to, slowly bringing them all together at the end.
I Am All In A Sea Of Wonders
The film takes ideas and themes directly from Bram Stoker’s Dracula in order to inform the narrative of the piece, often taking lines directly off the page. At times the film had a very campy feel for everything that was happening until it hit me what I was watching. If you just let go and allow things to unfold (while reserving judgment) the movie is very much a stage-play. Sure, it’s filmed and the camera moves inform what it is that we are to be paying attention to but at the heart of Blood Daughter, it’s very much a play. An over the top one that didn’t take itself too seriously at times, but a play none the less. In a way, that’s what ended up making it fun for me.
The cast is extensive (all friends or favors that were called in by Enk) and included almost everyone that was involved in the original VHS epics from the 90’s. Returning for the conclusion of the tale were; Aaron Sinclair (Harker), John Klump (Renfield), Chuck Johnson (Van Helsing), and David Jarrell (Lord Henry). Whether you enjoyed the varying levels of acting talent from those involved or not, the one thing that you cannot argue with is, they were having a blast. It was like watching one of the home movies that we all made when we were younger but made by adults who haven’t yet forgotten how to have fun. We should all make at least one of these films if we truly love cinema.
Conclusion
Blood Daughter won’t win any awards, and it certainly won’t change the landscape of Hollywood for better or for worse, but that’s kind of the point. Enk rounded up the people he wanted to work with and went out and made the film that he wanted to make. It was a pure passion project by everyone involved and when you have art like that it doesn’t deserve to be ignored or ran into the ground, it should be seen and enjoyed for what it is. Someone’s hard work, finished and put on screen. It takes a lot to see something through from start to finish so for that alone it’s worth a view.
I will say that despite the fact that I wasn’t completely on board with the acting or the camera moves (or lack of camera moves) or the sound design and effects, the movie did exactly what it set out to do. It made a campy little conclusion to the films Enk made in college and even expanded on the lore a little. It had a definite beginning, middle, and end, and it was entertaining.
I do like stumbling upon movies like this, they’re like little secrets that only a handful of people are in on. In this case I think if you have just under two hours to kill, you should seek Blood Daughter out and give it a watch. Supporting Indie filmmakers is always important and this film can use the word of mouth. They all put in their time, you can give them a little of yours.
Wonderfully Weird & Horrifying 