‘Dracula’ Sequel ‘Abraham’s Boys’, Based On The Short Story By Joe Hill, Being Adapted Into A Feature Film
It seems like every other day we get news about a new Stephen King project, so how about a project from Stephen King’s son to change things up?Abraham’s Boys, a short story that serves as a kind of sequel toDracula, is a story that appeared inJoe Hill’s excellent collection20th Century Ghosts, and now it’s becoming a movie. Tea Shop Productions, who are responsible for the shark-tastic47 Meters Downmovies, has brought on writer-directorNatasha Kermani(Lucky) to adapt Hill’s story into a feature film.
Deadline has theAbraham’s Boysscoop. In Joe Hill’s story, we meet Max and Rudy Van Helsing, sons of the famous vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing. WhileDraculapresented Van Helsing as a noble fighter against evil,Abraham’s Boyspresents him as a violent, angry, downright abusive man who may or may not be completely crazy. As a result, his sons doubt his stories about vampires. What if thereareno vampires, and Van Helsing is just crazy? If that plot sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because it’sverysimilar to the wonderful, underratedFrailty, directed by and starring the late, great Bill Paxton. In that film, Paxton plays a man who insists he’s been chosen by God to kill demons, and he drags his young sons into his traumatizing quest. Hill himself has admitted thatFrailtyis what inspired him to writeAbraham’s Boys.
A Few Plot Adjustments…
As I mentioned above, in the story, Van Helsing’s kids are aware of his vampire hunting days. But the synopsis Deadline has suggests that’s being changed for the movie:
The action-horror story is a follow-up of sorts toBram Stoker’s Dracula, testing the relationships Stoker formed in his original novel. The plot follows Max and Rudy Van Helsing, who know nothing of their father Abraham’s past and cannot understand his overprotective attitude and strange behavior. To make matters worse, Abraham is becoming increasingly more unhinged, paranoid, and violent.
I think the Van Helsing kids being aware of Van Helsing’s past is a better angle, but that might just be because I’ve read the short story and am having a hard time picturing it unfolding a different way. But I’ll let writer-director Natasha Kermani worry about that. “I’ve always loved Bram Stoker’sDraculaand was immediately drawn to Joe Hill’s unique and personal take on the legend of Van Helsing,” Kermani said. “Abraham’s Boysis an exciting opportunity to look at a familiar story through a new lens, and to explore classic characters and themes in a contemporary way.”
TeaShop’s James Harris added: “I have always loved Joe’s short story, it has such an amazing tone and feel, so when we met Natasha we were blown away by how she wanted to approach it. Natasha is an exciting new filmmaker we are delighted to collaborate with”
