Film Name: Dracula: Rise of the Vampire
Director: Dean Meadows
Writer: Dean Meadows
Starring: Peter Jakeson, Dean Meadows, Eileen Daly, Emma Fletcher, Ailsa Roanne, Pauline Peart
When a cult hellbent on raising Count Dracula commits a bloodthirsty massacre in a church, former disgraced detective, Gabriel Lee, must return to the field to battle the undead and prevent a vampire apocalypse.
In a new exclusive interview on Blazing Minds, I got a chance to ask Writer-Director Dean Meadows a few questions about his film ‘Dracula: Rise of the Vampire‘, which has been selected to play at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday, 17th January at 10:00hrs.
Q. Your film Dracula: Rise of the Vampire has been selected to play at the Horror-on-Sea Film Festival. Can you tell us what we can expect?
A. Horror, Martial Arts, Action, Comedy, and a little bit of Drama thrown in for good measure! The film is heavily influenced by the Hammer Horror Dracula movies specifically the final two, Dracula AD 1972 (1972) and The Satanic Rites Of Dracula (1973) but with a modern twist. Hopefully, it will appeal to both fans of those classic films and the horror audience of today, it has also been compared to Shaun Of The Dead (2004), so we really are coming from all angles with this one.
Q. What were your inspirations when writing the script?
A. Again, first and foremost it goes back to those final two Hammer movies, I wondered what would happen if they had been able to continue the story beyond those times, and if Dracula had been brought back for a third time in a modern-day setting, so here we are with a movie set fifty years after the final Christopher Lee outing. There are endless nods and references throughout the script to those films even though Dracula: Rise Of The Vampire is a vastly different take to what they did back then. The cult element of the story was inspired by the TV show, The Following as was the dialogue and relationship between the characters Gabriel and Elizabeth in the film, somewhat reminiscent of the interplay between the characters Ryan Hardy and Joe Carroll, I loved that show!
Q. What were some of your influences for the look and style of the film?
A. Well I had the honour of having Jason Impey on board as cinematographer/director of photography and he knew exactly the look and style I was going for. Jason and I are heavily influenced by a lot of the same films in many different genres, so it was very easy to put across what I wanted to him, again he was going for that classic British horror look too but he also threw in some great lighting effects reminiscent of Dario Argento and other giallo films. I can’t thank Jason enough for the work he did on this movie.
Q. Did you make any changes from the original script during filming?
A. Nothing major that I remember as I have been working on another two films since then. There are several fight scenes in the script, and I left those open, so that my good friend and stunt coordinator, Dean Williams could work his usual magic during choreography sessions and filming. Other than that, a few additional improvised lines were thrown in here and there, again mostly during the fight scenes. I can’t really remember any other specific changes.
Q. What were some of your favourite moments during filming?
A. I loved the fight scenes, they were the most fun things to do even though they were a little dangerous at times, it took my ribs a good six weeks to heal after the last fight we shot. It was also wonderful to be able to collaborate with Ailsa Roanne again who is such an amazing actress, and my close friends Dean Williams, Tayah Kansik, and Eileen Daly. Eileen has become such a wonderful friend and confidant over the last few years. I wrote the character of Elizabeth specifically for Eileen, and I knew she would play it perfectly. Finally, being able to work with the enigmatic Pauline Peart who of course appeared in Christopher Lee’s final Dracula movie, was an honour and privilege and she was such a lovely person to have on set, truly kind and concerned, especially about my aching ribs.
Q. Did you experience any issues during filming?
A. Daylight! I chose to film a vampire movie at the height of British summertime, I mean really, what was I thinking! So, we had to use a lot of tricks, Jason during filming and myself when editing the film. However, Jason commented at the premiere that he couldn’t believe how great the night shots looked especially considering they were filmed in very bright daylight.
Q. What makes Dracula: Rise of the Vampire stand out as something different in the horror genre?
A. I think although it is somewhat of a homage to the classic Hammer films, it has a wealth of legacy characters combined with new original characters, alongside elements of Action, Martial Arts and Comedy that make it completely different to any other indie horror or Dracula movie out there.
Q. What do you hope people take away after watching the film?
A. Well, although it’s a little bloody at times, ultimately this is a fun movie, so whether they are screaming or laughing I just hope they are entertained and have a good time, both watching the movie and at the festival in general, that’s all that matters really isn’t it.
Q. Do you have any other projects which you are currently working on?
A. Yes, there are a whole host of things in the pipeline and definitely more horror to come, in fact I’m currently working on three films, one is shooting as we speak, the other starts filming in a few weeks, and the third is in pre-production so watch this space!
Q. If someone was looking to write and direct their own film what advice would you give them?
A. My advice to a writer would be different to what I would tell a Director, but looking at this holistically, if you are going to be doing both then it is likely you have a clear vision for your film and know exactly what you want, so be true to your vision and don’t let other people who think they know better sway your judgement during the creative process. Most importantly, just do it, in a world where AI is taking over, cinema needs more independent original filmmakers.
Dracula: Rise of the Vampire will be playing at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 17th January at 10:00am.
You can find out more about Horror-on-Sea and purchase tickets for Dracula: Rise of the Vampire here
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
