Movie Review // Cracula (2025)
As a preface of sorts to this review, I feel it is important to note that this movie was co-written and directed by Brad Twigg, who is largely responsible for a lot of the movies which I see, buy physically and review right now. Back when "Cocaine Bear" came out I saw it and really enjoyed it. Fast forward to seeing a movie on Tubi named "Crackoon", which I then not only watched and enjoyed but felt like lead me down the path which I am on now. If only through the power of Jessa Jupiter Flux, "Crackoon" launched me into films by A&P, which then branched out into Ellie Church, Kansas Bowling and just everything that I've been into lately.
"Cracula" is the story of a guy named Reese who stumbles upon the tomb of Dracula and unleashes him onto the world. However, Dracula drinks the blood of someone who is on crack and as you can probably guess, Dracula builds up a desire for that crack blood. The way this film goes about getting drug addicts into Dracula's lair and also women into there as well, who he turns to vampires, is quite fun. In the beginning this film starts out somewhat serious, as Dracula first speaks with subtitles, but by the end everyone is so far gone on drugs that it's just off the rails absurdity and I love it.
This movie is a sort of who's who of people that I know from other films but don't fully recognize. Tim Hale not only co-wrote this film, but he plays the titular character and was also in "Crackoon". Chris Rhydings plays Rick, who is a descendent of Van Helsing and it becomes his mission to stop all of the vampires because his parents recently died and they left him clues on how to do it. He was not only in "Crackoon" previously but also "Onlyfangs". Michelle Bowser, who also co-wrote this, plays one of the two detectives going around trying to solve all of these crimes because bodies keep showing up in the morgue. She also has credits for "Crackoon".
Seemingly as much as these types of movies seem to feel more like a close-knit family than a cast and crew, as many of the names appear crossed over, it must also be noted that there are several different pieces going on within this film- the cops, Van Helsing Jr, the vampire hunters who eventually come in, the main drug dealer Stinky G and even the strip club- which all sort of come together by the end, for the third act, as that strip club owner, the detectives and the vampire hunters all have to team up with Rick and his girlfriend Becky to stop Cracula.
If you're going to watch a movie called "Cracula" then I'm willing to bet that this movie has what you're looking for in it. From the nudity to the blood and guts, it's just a lot of over the top special effects that are one of the big reasons why I keep coming back to watch films such as this. Even when Cracula turns into a bat and flies around, there is some humor to that. But at the same time, the amount of gross-ness coming from between the legs of many of these characters combined with the projectile vomiting of blood just makes this the type of movie that I'll watch again and again.
Two of the actors that I really think shine the most in this film are Kristina Santiago who plays the first stripper that Cracula finds in the club and he turns her into a vampire later on. Without going into too much detail let me just say that she is part of one of the crudest vampire scenes I think I have ever seen in film and that's saying a lot. Wherever Kristina Santiago goes, whatever film she does next, I will be there watching.
I also really enjoyed the performance of Melissa Sapienza who played "Kori / Peaches" and was essentially the strip club owner and as some would say the pimp for the ladies who all started being turned into vampires. With a goatee on and male-centered attitude, I love that this was the role of a male character being portrayed by a woman. We need more of this in film because it is acting after all.
While I'm not sure how to go about watching this film, I would expect it to eventually be on Tubi and released physically as well. I saw a post on Instagram where writer/director Brad Twigg had said he had extra copies of the Blu-Ray from the pledge campaign, so I sent him some money and he sent me this signed Blu-Ray and thank you note. My best advice is to find the appropriate channels (such as Brad Twigg's Instagram) to follow and when the movie is out in a way which you can watch it, then definitely take the time to watch it.
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