|
Transylvania, land of dark forests, dread mountains and black, unfathomed lakes. Still the
home of magic and devilry as the nineteenth century draws to it's close. Count Dracula,
monarch of all vampires, is dead, but his disciples live on, to spread the cult and
corrupt the world.
Marianne Danielle, a young schoolteacher en route to take up a position in
Transylvania, is abandoned in a village by her coach driver. At the local inn,
she ignores the warnings of the locals and accepts the offer of Baroness Meinster to spend the night at her castle.
At the castle, she sees the Baroness's handsome son, whom she is told is
insane and kept confined (his leg is chained). When she sneaks to meet him, he
says his mother usurped his rightful lands and pleads for her to help. She
agrees, and steals the key to his chain from the Baroness' bedroom. Upon
discovery of this, the Baroness is horrified; yet when her son appears, she
obeys him and goes into the next room. Later, the servant Greta (who has taken
care of the Baron since he was a baby) goes into hysterics. She forces Marianne
to look at the Baroness' body, and the puncture marks in her throat. Marianne
flees into the night. She is found, exhausted, by Dr. Van Helsing. She doesn't
remember all that has happened, nor is she familiar when asked with the words
"undead" or "vampirism." He escorts her to the school where she's to be
employed.
When Van Helsing reaches the village inn, he finds there is a funeral in
progress. A young girl has been found dead in the woods with wounds upon her
throat. He contacts Father Stepnik, who turns out to have asked the expert on
vampirism to come here. Father Stepnik has suspicions about the castle and the
Baroness. That night, Baron Meinster's first victim rises from her grave, aided
by Greta, as witnessed by Van Helsing and the priest. Van Helsing goes to the
castle and discovers the Baroness has now risen as a vampire, full of self-loathing and guilt. After sunrise
the next morning, he "releases" her with a wooden stake.
The Baron, meanwhile, visits Marianne at the school and asks her to marry
him. She accepts, much to the good-natured envy of her roommate Gina. Once Gina
is alone, however, Baron Meinster appears and consumes Gina's blood. When Van
Helsing comes for a visit the next day, he finds the school in a small uproar
over Gina's death. Van Helsing gives instructions about the body — to be kept
away from the school and with people watching it until he returns. As it
happens, Marianne is alone with the coffin at sunset. The locks on the coffin
fall off (without unlocking), and Gina rises. She talks soothingly to a
terrified Marianne, asking forgivenss for "letting him love me," and asking to
kiss her. She also reveals the whereabouts of the Baron, who is hiding at the
old mill.
Van Helsing discovers the body of the stablekeeper, Severin, and enters the
stable just in time to see Gina escaping. Marianne doesn't want to believe the
Baron is a vampire, but she does tell Van Helsing what he needs to know. The vampire hunter goes to
the old mill and is confronted by both of Meinster's "Brides" as well as
Greta—who, as a human, isn't repelled by the cross. Greta is killed in a fall
but the cross falls into the well below the mill and is now out of Van Helsing's
reach as the Baron arrives, brandishing a length of chain. In the fight that
follows, the Baron bites Van Helsing and leaves him. When Van Helsing wakes, he
realizes what has happened. He heats a metal tool in a brazier until it is
red-hot, then cauterizes his throat wound and pours holy water on it to purify it;
the wounds immediately disappear.
Baron Meinster, meanwhile, goes to Marianne and forces her to come with him
to the old mill. He intends to bite
and turn her into a vampire in front of Van Helsing. Van Helsing throws holy
water into the Baron's face, which sears him like acid. Meinster kicks over the
brazier of hot coals, starting a fire. While the Baron flees outside, Van
Helsing takes Marianne up into the mill, then out via the huge sails, which he
moves to form the shadow a gigantic cross. The shadows falls on Baron Meinster, who is
killed by it, and Meinster's vampire brides die in the fire.
 Copyright(C) 2007
- 2020. All rights reserved.
|
|