Short Film: The Curse of Dracular (2024)

• Directed by Jack Paterson
• Written by Jack Paterson
• Stars Claymation animation
• Run Time: 7:16
• Watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjd6jETfd5c

What Happens

We watch as claymation versions of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee do a very abbreviated version of the Hammer-style Dracula movies. The dialog is awkward and basically atrocious, but it was written by a nine-year-old. 

Dracula attacks Cushing’s daughter but is driven off. The townspeople gang up on Dracula, and he’s eventually killed by a five-year-old who throws a stake at him. 

Commentary

The creator explains that this student film was based on a short story his father wrote when he was a child, and the young child spelled Dracula wrong in the title, so that is where the name comes from. He used the dialog and script 100% accurate to the original story his father wrote, which is why this one is so odd. 

The Claymation is really very well done. It’s gory and brutal but in a childish way. If I were a nine-year-old writing a horror story, this is about what I’d have done as well. 

Those old Hammer films don’t get much air time anymore, but things like this demonstrate just how influential those old films were on the psyche of that generation.