Dracula’s Bride of Horror – review

Director: Tim Lee

Release date: 2022

Contains spoilers

A few years ago, I reviewed Dracula Vampyre in Beijing a singular mess of a film that found a place in my Worst 100. This film is a sequel, with producer, star, director Tim Lee dropping his Tim Lies pseudonym. Now occasionally I’ll get a comment from a director on a review and, clearly, if I didn’t like it they can often be incredulous – I get it, your art, you think its good. But I do want to take a moment to answer the comment (or the parts directed at me) Mr Lee left on the previous review.

Tim Lee as Dracula

Firstly, addressing a positive commentator he said “To say the reviewer missed those points is an understatement.” The commentator had said that this “is the most credible and realistic Vampire I have seen in a very long time.” Just no, Mr Lee offered a singularly poor performance in that film and was not credible – as for realistic, it is a fantastical creature with no basis in reality. Mr Lee went on to say, “To the reviewer, I appreciate your time, but you lack insight, and were unkind to the actors and work overall. As Unknown knows, I will see you in Hell where I get even with negative reviewers. Lol.” Thank you, therefore, for appreciating the time took to watch and review. I don’t believe I lack insight, indeed I offered that the film was clearly a passion project. Your inability to communicate enough through cinema to offer a viewer any insight was the issue. I also pointed out that the film was in English and your actors were Chinese and that performing in a second language may have impacted performances – but they were poor. I will say that you have improved, to a degree, the communication of your concept and the performances are better in this film.

on the beach

So, in to the film. Which starts with a quote from Hamlet and then concentrates on a bottom – belonging to a woman (Rae Daniels) who is walking on a beach (presumably Venice Beach), carnival music plays, though it is interrupted by an ominous dong as the camera looks towards the underside of the pier. The woman finds a bejewelled skull in the surf and then walks under the pier, becoming more scared as she goes under the structure. We hear a growl and Dracula (Tim Lee, Dracula Vampyre in Beijing) attacks.

Mehra Park as Vivian

We the get a narration by Dracula, introducing himself and claiming the mantle Prince of Darkness. He speaks of a super-blood-moon and he returning to our realm, resurrecting his queens (named Dracula’s witches) and hunting down his latest bride, in whom he has instilled his presence since she was a child as a chosen one. He threatens, generally, witch burners and wolf killers. We then cut to a woman, Vivian Harker (Mehra Park), in a vehicle, tears filling her eyes – and later we discover that her husband Jack Harker (Kyle Colton) has been unfaithful and she has moved into a hotel. She gets out of the vehicle but gets a vision of being stabbed when close to the hotel and heads to the beach.

Rockula

The film follows her on the beach – she passes under the pier without being attacked, though she is watched by Dracula. We see her on the beach and having a swim and, eventually, leaving. She walks past a man, performing on a karaoke machine with tarot cards laid out before it. She lingers looking at the ocean and he approaches and calls himself Rockula (also Tim Lee). He suggests he produces horror movies and tries to engage her in that – she was an actress. Eventually, she makes her way back to the hotel, Rockula vanishing in a puff of smoke once she has gone.

Dracula and his witches

In the lift, Vivian clearly is apprehensive and she eventually gets to her room, which is number 1313. She again has visions of being stabbed. As the film goes on, these coalesce into a (poor looking) doll stabbing her. We discover that the room is known as a murder room. Dracula collects a further witch (Shannon Allen), taken from the street as she approaches him as a trick, and also a witch appears wearing a skull mask (Junie Hoang). We see them attack a couple of people (a preacher (Daxton Edwards) and a wolf hunter (Daniel Chidavaenzi)). We also discover that psychiatrist Jack is both sleeping with his secretary (also Junie Hoang) and Vivian’s sister, Mariam (Lacey Rae). Part way through Dracula tells Vivian the story of the previous film, during which we get black and white scenes from that film.

Dracula and Vivian

So, what’s going on? There are several readings. It could be that Dracula has appeared to make Vivian his bride. It could be that he is a delusion created as her mind breaks, through betrayal and depression, and she is attacked and killed in room 1313 (either by a toy doll or that the doll, equally, is also a delusion). The dialogue of a police detective (Brittany Wilson) suggests either homicide or suicide. The communication of narrative in this is better than the previous film but it is still not great, with Tim Lee clearly having a vision but that vision not being delivered well. In some respects, it reminds me of Jess Franco, the Venice Beach setting is reminiscent of Franco’s Spanish beach settings but, more so, Franco might be beloved by horror fans but many of his films struggled to offer a cohesive narrative, especially his later films. Comparatively Jean Rollin created his own visual language but he was adept at imparting that language and thus the narrative.

two witches

The acting in this is much better than the previous film but the fractured narrative was not actor friendly. The dialogue itself was sometimes too blunt (so the police detective just spilling to random person, claiming to be the victim’s sister, about the goriness of the scene and it being either homicide or suicide was too on the nose to be realistic). The weakest link, acting-wise, was Lee himself and that may have much to the difficulties both being star and director can offer, removing a more objective eye. This is not a great film, but it is certainly better, by an order of magnitude, than his previous vampire film. 2.5 out of 10. In the UK this is available to view on Plex.

The imdb page is here.

On DVD @ Amazon US

On DVD @ Amazon UK