Abraham's Boys puts a bold new spin on the Dracula mythos, continuing the story through the eyes of Van Helsing (Titus Welliver) and his sons. Based on Joe Hill's 2007 haunting short story, the 2025 horror film follows Abraham Van Helsing as he moves his children and wife to the United States in an attempt to escape their dark past.
The Direct's David Thompson sat down for exclusive interviews with the cast and director of Abraham's Boys: A Dracula Story, a chilling new film that picks up in the aftermath of Bram Stoker's legendary tale. Based on the short story by Joe Hill, Abraham's Boys follows Van Helsing as he settles in the United States with his sons Max (Brady Hepner) and Rudy (Judah Mackey) and his wife, Mina (Jocelin Donahue). However, as dark forces begin to stir once more, it becomes clear that Dracula's legacy is far from over.
Welliver, best known for headlining the cast of Bosch: Legacy, described Van Helsing as a man haunted by his history: "It's Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He's seen too much, done too much, and now he's discovered that this malevolent evil has followed him."
That lingering evil weighs heavily not just on Abraham but also on Mina, still scarred from her own run-in with the vampire lord decades prior. "Mina's psychological state is pretty diminished when we meet her, and then it only declines from there," Donahue revealed. "She's been dealing with the trauma of the attack from Count Dracula 20 years ago."
Even Hill, who penned the original story, takes a more complex view of the famed vampire hunter. "I've always had a pretty skeptical view of Van Helsing," Hill said. "And look, would you hang out with a guy who spends every Friday night skulking around cemeteries, tearing open coffins, ramming stakes through the heart of someone lying at rest there, then chopping off her head and stuffing garlic into the mouth?"
Abraham's Boys: A Dracula Story, directed by Natasha Kermani, heads into theaters on Friday, July 11.
The Trauma of Dracula's Past
"Someone Who's Battled The Darkest Of Evil Forces..."
- The Direct: "Van Helsing is a pretty classic Dracula character. What makes this version unique?"
Titus Welliver: There have been a lot of different iterations of the Van Helsing character. So we find in this version, it's many years after Dracula, and he's now in a strange land...So there's a vulnerability...It's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, right? He's seen too much, done too much, and now he's discovered that this malevolent evil has followed him.
In Joe Hill's story, and certainly Natasha's adaptation of the story, in the script, that it was on the page, that he was a different guy...it wasn't leaning into a lot of the stuff of Stoker's book...I wanted him to be a physician first and foremost, but also someone who's battled the darkest of evil forces as an academic and a physician, that he would need to find some way to heal himself.
At the core of it, what was important in this interpretation was that, because we've not seen him before as a family man, that through that veneer of stoicism, that we see his genuine affection...It had to be very, very subtle and minuscule, because it otherwise, it wouldn't work. But also, without any display of that, then the audience just [thinks], 'He's gone off the f****** rails,' and that's just sort of the nature of the whole thing."
"She's Having A Hard Time Connecting..."
- The Direct: "Jocelin, watching the film, your character feels isolated and haunted. What was it like approaching that role each day, almost existing on your own emotional plane?"
Jocelin Donahue: Yeah, I think haunted is the word. Mina's psychological state is pretty diminished when we meet her, and then it only declines from there; she's been dealing with the trauma of the attack from Count Dracula 20 years ago.
She's on an isolated farmhouse with her overbearing husband and her kids that she loves and wants to protect, but she is dealing with not only PTSD, but she has a chronic blood infection, so she's weak. She's kind of trying to see through the fog of all these issues that she's going through.
She is kind of on her own in terms of, she's having a hard time connecting, but at the same time. I think as she's getting closer to death, she has some clarity and is trying to reach out, especially to Max.
Reinterpreting the Van Helsing Character
"Van Helsing Is A Disturbed Fanatic..."
- The Direct: "When it came to your initial idea for the short story, what element of the world of Dracula were you most excited about expanding upon?"
Joe Hill: My whole relationship with Dracula has been messed up since the beginning. I've always had the wrong take on the story, because when before I read Stoker's Dracula, when I was about 13, I read a book called 'The Dracula Tape' by Fred Saberhagen... [It] retold the story of Stoker's Dracula from the point of view of Count Dracula, and it turns out he's the hero, and that Van Helsing is a disturbed fanatic who doesn't really understand vampires and doesn't really understand science and a whole bunch of other stuff. And I loved that book. I mean, I was 13, I just loved it.
And then I read Stoker's Dracula, and I was totally baffled, because I'm like, 'No, this is all lies. Lies and propaganda. This isn't what happened.'
I've always had a pretty skeptical view of Van Helsing, and look, would you hang out with a guy who spends every Friday night skulking around cemeteries, tearing open coffins, ramming stakes through the heart of someone lying at rest there, then chopping off her head and stuffing garlic into the mouth?
Creating an Early 1900s Aesthetic in 2025
"We Felt It Was A Lot More Intimate Way..."
- The Direct: "The film's aspect ratio and style really match the era it's set in. What were some of the visual or editing choices you used to create that look and feel?"
Natasha Kermani: The original 'Dracula,' the 1930s 'Dracula' was filmed in California. So there's a nice little there's a nice little overlap there, actually, I think, very close to Simi Valley where we filmed...We really wanted to create something that felt a little bit different, so that the audience would be sort of transported to a very different [place].
The story is grounded, but the world should be heightened and fun and different. So the four-by-three aspect ratio was something we wanted to play with. From the beginning, we felt it was a lot more intimate way, just like really putting the characters front and center, and it had sort of this, this vertical nature to it that would really suit the house, and then when we're outside, feel quite oppressive.
We also used vintage lenses and spherical lenses, and all sorts of fun ways to make it feel a little bit older than it obviously.
The Eldest Van Helsing Son's Complexity
"He's Trying To Figure Out Who He Is As A Person..."
- The Direct: "Brady, as the oldest son, your character is pulled in different directions, but clearly has a good heart. What was it like navigating what might be the film’s most complex role?"
Brady Hepner: You really have to take them in steps and every day with the scenes that you're filming...You have Max, who's this like good soldier character who looks up to his father and is everything his father has told him he takes as law, and you have to navigate him finding out that what Abraham is really saying isn't true.
Now he's trying to figure out who he is as a person, and try to take his views on what's happening around him more personal, rather than letting somebody control him...When Abraham really starts cracking and really just starts becoming a psychopath, now he almost has to become this parental role to Rudy to make sure that his innocence is protected and doesn't turn into the monster that his father is.
The full video of the spoiler-free portion of the interviews can be viewed below:
Read more about a specific vampire rule in Abraham's Boys that was also explored in Ryan Coogler's Sinners.
