Netflix's Castlevania series gets blood-spattered, animated trailer

Castlevania, the classic video game first released in the 1980s, lives again in animated form. Netflix debuted the first trailer and premiere date for its upcoming series based on the property, highlighting the franchise’s transition from old-school Nintendo console to the world of anime.

“There is a darkness upon the land. A savior is needed,” a voice declares over an eerie image of Dracula’s castle. The footage, though less than a minute long, offers enough to tantalize longtime fans with shots of a skeleton graveyard, flames raining from the sky, bloody sword fights, sorcery, and “the man who’ll kill Dracula.”

Netflix subscribers will also recognize 8-bit versions of Kevin Spacey’s Frank Underwood from House of Cards and Taylor Schilling’s Piper Chapman from Orange Is the New Black in the opening, reminding us of the streaming giant’s success stories. The trailer ends with the announcement of a July 7 premiere date for its latest original offering.

According to the official description, Castlevania marks “a dark medieval fantasy following the last surviving member of the disgraced Belmont clan, trying to save Eastern Europe from extinction at the hand of Vlad Dracula Tepe himself.” Warren Ellis, who penned the series, executive produces with Kevin Kolde, Fred Seibert, and Adi Shankar.

Shankar offered a bit more information to IGN when the series was announced in February, including that it will be based on the Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse video game. “[The series is] going to be R-rated as f–,” he promised.

Netflix continues to tickle your nostalgia epicenter with Castlevania, which follows an animated series for Voltron, revivals of Gilmore Girls and Full House, a Wet Hot American Summer movie-to-TV adaptation, and Stranger Things, laced with ’80s references.

Castlevania season 1 will consist of four half-hour episodes. Watch the trailer above.