Abraham’s Boys: Titus Welliver as Abraham Van Helsing

In the vintage Universal Monster movies, Dracula definitely had a daughter (Gloria Holden), but it is rather ambiguous whether Count Alucard (Lon Chaney, Jr.) in Son of Dracula was truly his son, or in fact, Dracula himself. Regardless, Joe Hill’s short story makes it clear his longtime nemesis had two sons. Unfortunately, they are both rather disappointingly not chips off the old block in Natasha Kermani’s Abraham’s Boys: A Dracula Story, which opens today in theaters.

After the “troubles” in London, Abraham Van Helsing relocated to California’s rural Central Valley, with his new wife, Mina, whom he saved from vampires. That is a bit of shocker, right? Imagine Lily-Rose Depp marrying Willem Dafoe in Nosferatu. Yet, for years, they made it work. Of course, Van Helsing never really gave up his undead-hunting ways. Perhaps that is a good thing, because they can both sense vampire activity in the Valley, which she would be particularly susceptible to, as a survivor of vampiric blood-sucking.

On the other hand, it will be hard to explain to their sons, Max and Rudy. It sounds crazy, perhaps even psychotically murderous. Van Helsing needs his sons’ trust, but his cold demeanor and secretive ways always kept his sons at arm’s length. Instead, most of their love was saved for their suddenly ailing mother.

Although subtitled “A Dracula Story,” the Count is only present in memory and perhaps by suggestion. Consequently, anyone hoping for a traditional vampire movie will be disappointed. Kermani intentionally capitalizes on the ambiguity of Hill’s story to create a psychological thriller rather than an undead horror movie. That approach works for a while (probably even the entire first and second acts), but there comes a time to fish or cut bait. Yet, Kermani continues to play is-he-or-isn’t-he games, well past that point.

Nevertheless, the early scenes are impressively evocative and suggestive, thanks in part to the constrained aspect ratio (more-or-less Academy Ratio) and Julia Swain’s dusty, sun-dappled cinematography, which gives the film a vibe akin to Jan Kroell’s pioneer films and Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns.

The Last Stop in Yuma County, on BluRay

If you grew up in the 1970s, you might remember a time when gas stations ran out of gas. With all the talk about reviving various price controls, we might just bring those bad old days back. For one “last chance” gas station, that reality is already here. Their re-supply track is running late, unnerving several dodgy characters who need to get out of town fast in Francis Galluppi’s The Last Stop in Yuma County, which releases today on BluRay.

This is a thriller in the tradition of The Petrified Forest, but the characters probably feel like they are stuck in Sartre play. Vernon’s filling station is out of gas, so his potential customers must wait for the truck to arrive in Charlotte’s diner, where the air-conditioning is on the fritz. The nebbish traveling salesman hawking knock-off Ginsu knives recognizes Travis and Beau match the description of wanted bank-robbers, which is no coincidence.

Essentially, the two fugitives hold them hostage, but they all try to act normal for all the other customers coming into the diner, including Deputy Gavin. Charlotte tries to send a warning through him to the Sheriff, her husband Charlie, but poor Gavin is an exceedingly dim bulb.

Yuma County is a reasonably successful desert noir, mainly due to its colorful characters and the experienced ensemble of genre-friendly thesps portraying them. On the other hand, the execution and pacing are somewhat uneven. After fifty-some-minutes of ever-so deliberately slow-building, Galluppi seems to say the heck with it and unleashes total bedlam.

Regardless, Richard Brake is appropriately sinister as Beau, the brains of the two-armed robber-operation. Sometimes, Jim Cummings takes over-the-top a bit too far, but he finds the right level of twitchiness for the knife salesman. The great Barbara Crampton also gets a lot of laughs in her slightly larger-than-cameo appearances as the Sheriff’s receptionist, Virginia.

The Frontier: In the Noir Tradition

Business is slower at Luanne’s greasy spoon than at the diner in Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks. Like the eatery in Petrified Forest, it seems to attract more criminals than customers. Laine is one of the former, but at least there are extenuating circumstances surrounding her crime. The rest of the bunch are just back-stabbing thieves, but they keep things interesting in Oren Shai’s The Frontier (trailer here), which releases today on digital VOD, from Kino Lorber.

Laine is clearly on the run, but the motel-diner called The Frontier might look like a good place to hide out. Frankly, she is not inclined to stay put for very long, until she hears two guests talking about a delivery of laundered money. Hmm, maybe that could be the proceeds of the big heist that went down a few towns over. That gives her an incentive to accept Luanne’s job offer. Of course, there is also the recent murder of a local political bigwig’s son. Everything is definitely connected, so do not trust anyone.

Although she is definitely an ambiguous anti-heroine, Laine will be the closest thing we have to a rooting interest. Her boss Luanne (at least for a day or two), is a former Hollywood starlet who never made it, but still drifts along in a haze like Norma Desmond. Flynn, the Michael York-esque guest is a lot more fun to have around than Gloria, his mentally unstable arm-candy. However, Lee, the closest thing to the boss of the gang, is just mean as a snake. Throw them all into the same room and there is bound to be trouble.

Frontier is gritty neo-noir thriller that wears its Jim Thompson and James Cain influences on its sleeve. It has an unplaceable period feel, but cinematographer Jay Keitel’s pulpy, Hopper-ish look could fit anytime from the early sixties through the late seventies.

Jocelin Donahue probably continues to be best known for House of the Devil, despite working steadily since then. However, this could be the film that breaks her out. She is terrific as the squirrely Laine. She covers tremendous ground, acting the vulnerable babe-in-the-woods one minute and a scheming femme fatale the next. Jamie Harris is just a boozy trip as the roguish Flynn. Jim Beaver makes a seriously evil cuss as bad old Lee. Somehow, even in a film like this, Kelly Lynch seems to overplay Luanne’s Blanche DuBois act. However, AJ Bowen adds some destabilizing arsenic as the erratic Officer Gault.

Seeing the relatively unheralded Frontier might give those of us who were too young to have been there an idea what is was like when the Coen Brothers’ Blood Simple just sprang up, seemingly out of nowhere. Shai had the benefit of an experienced, indie-centric ensemble, but it is still likely to catch most folks by surprise. It looks great and clearly enjoys its twisty ways. Highly recommended for noir fans, The Frontier launches today on digital VOD platforms, including iTunes, with a DVD release scheduled for December 6^th.