Fright Night (2011) Horror Vampire

Fright Night (2011) - My Netflix queue is a long road with many twist and turns. When Fright Night 2 (2013) showed up at my house I felt the only rational thing to do was to revisit the remake Fright Night (2011) which I barely remembered seeing a couple years back. Since so many films are being remade these days it seems inappropriate to go any further without mentioning what started it all. I remember really liking the original when it came out in 1985. Over the years revisiting it and realizing what campy fun it really is. Written by Tom Holland a wonderful actor, writer and director who also wrote Child's Play (1988) and Thinner (1996) it is a genre staple with a unique personality. The original with capture more of my youth with it's Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall), a face I knew so well. Not from the first role I saw him in as Galen in Planet of the Apes (1968) and a couple later films in that series but from a film I loved as a kid, The Legend Of Hell House (1973), but you have to understand this guy was showing up on our little black and white screen all through my life. Appearing in probably every popular TV show for fifty years. His appearance in Fright Night (1985) was almost nostalgic. Not only that but he was so good as the washed up horror a host who reluctantly finds the courage to help a kid with a vampire living next door. In recent viewing that film was a bit too tame for my liking, I think my exploration of the Italian Giallo and other more hard core gore filled genres has broken me a bit when it comes to this campy, fun style of horror. Still this film holds a place in my heart. When the remake came out I really had no interest in it. I stuck it on my 300 movie long Netflix queue and forgot about it. It was a re-imagining and intended to scare more than to be heart warming. I was luke warm in my desire to see the film but was surprised at the quality of it.
 . The film changes some of the setting and wisely does not try to reproduce the Peter Vincent character. Instead of a washed up horror host Peter Vincent (David Tennant) is a hot magician doing a vampire themed act in Vegas. An expert on vampires according to his website leading to Charlie (Anton Yelchin) recruiting him when the Vampire Jerry (Colin Farrell) moves in next door. Screenwriter Marti Noxon does a good job in transplanting he story to Las Vegas, one a large city with unrestrained growth into the surrounding dessert, capturing a time when the house bubble has exploded leaving neighborhoods mostly empty and easily preyed upon by the vampire. In the early scenes we see Charlie at school and the teachers in his classes doing roll calls each day there are more missing students from the classes.  At home his isolated community has a stretch of desert between it and Las Vegas. Charlie's Mom (Toni Collette) is a real estate agent on hard times, with more people moving away than in. Her husband has abandoned the family and she conveys a woman trying to hold it together she is not a quitter. Charlie is still a former dorky tween and now a senior in high school who is leaving his childhood friends behind as he pursues a different social circle. He is hanging with popular kids group and dating Amy the pretty girl who likes him. Amy was well played with a very attractive confidence by Imogen Poots. What's great about her character is she has real agency, she wants to date  Charlie because he is different. Even when shit hits the fan she is a capable persona ready to take action and make her own decisions. The character development is well thought out and written in a way that makes sense, Noxon is a professional and has lots of references and side comments that fully round out the characters and how they came to be. Charlie's left behind friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) was so hurt being left behind, that he was quite justified as Evil Ed as trying to get some payback. I liked that the character stuff that enveloped  Charlie was realized and resolved including the abandonment issues. I loved Ferrell getting to play alpha male in his interactions with Charlie and challenging Charlie's new found coolness and manhood. The weak parts of this film and there are only a few things that bothered me in a really good script are horror tropes that show up everywhere in the genre. Firsst being the coincidence that Jerry was the same vampire that killed Vincent's parents. Then after Charlie figures out what Jerry is, he has an opportunity to tell both his Mother and Amy while the day is young. Instead he researches in the library before trying to recruit Vincent. I was frustrated at the risk he put the other characters in. It creates a night encounter with Jerry that almost cost them all their lives. In this encounter there is another of those decisions where as they escape instead of heading into the city they head further out into the desert. Both decisions are designed to get to really good set pieces. Not telling the girls creates the fight for survival that night and heading into the desert allows a serious "fight the vampire' scene. They are just a bit obvious in getting there. The special effects are more numerous and enjoyable in this remake and the cameo from Chris Sarandon was great.
  There is a bit of a long action filled third act for this movie that was enjoyable even if you know what ultimately is going to happen. This is a recommend from this blog because although a different beast from the original this is a really fun film with scares, effects, story and character that will leave the viewer very satisfied. So if you have not seen it yet rent it and enjoy.

The Hunger (1983) Horror Vampire

The Hunger (1983) - When I realized I did not remember this movie from the year after I graduated high school it was a fine reason to revisit it. I know I have seen it but where? Sometime in the mid to late eighties I started watching a lot of VHS and with that most of the horror movies I had missed the decades before. So probably this is the time period. This film stylishly executed by Tony Scott is an example of a film with a rich design but with just something missing either in the script or the execution that keeps it from being a great movie. It certainly had star power with the lovely Catherine Deneuve playing the lead Miriam Blaylock. A beautiful and wonderful actress she pulls off a complicated role in the film as the Maker vampire with a compulsion to not be alone. She is known for her roles in Repulsion (1965), Dancer in the Dark (2000) and 8 Women (2002). David Bowie as her companion John is pivotal as the made companion who sees his time coming to an end. Susan Sarandon as blood doctor focusing on anti aging,  Sarah Roberts who may hold out a bit of hope for John and Miriam. Director Tony Scott was at the beginning of a long and successful career that is still going strong today. This is the film before his first giant hit Top Gun (1986) and he certainly shows in this film he has some chops. Later he would have many more hits, Beverley Hills Cop 2 (1987), True Romance (1993), Crimson Tide (1995) Man on Fire (2004) and Deja Vu (2006). Maybe not giant hits but worthy films. I like Denzel Washington so several of his films fell into that ball park. It was also funny to see a young Willem Dafoe in a bit part at the beginning of his career before he killed it in Streets of Fire (1984).
  The story is a bit of a sad one, Miriam is a vampire from ancient Egypt who has survive the years of loneliness by creating companions through blood exchange. The problem is that after a couple hundred years the companions suddenly and rapidly age until they are husks of themselves. Still alive but not able to interact with the world they are confined to an eternity in coffins Miriam keeps in her house. Unable to bring herself to destroy the companions she loves she really makes them suffer a fate worse than death. She really is a sick character, not only does she never relinquish her hold on her rotting lovers but she grooms the next knowing that the aging is coming. In this film there is a fourteen year old girl Alice (Beth Ehlers) who she and John teach classical violin to. It seems like a way for the couple to interact with the world around them until you realize that Miriam has that girl targeted as her next companion. The creepiness factor of the film goes way up with that realization.  
  John knowing that his rapid aging is beginning seeks out Dr. Sarah Roberts who is working in the field of aging but is unable to get much help from her before he too is so decrepit that he is boxed in the attic of the lush apartment. This is after he makes one last ditch effort to save himself by feeding on young Alice killing her in the process. A nice subtext is going on in this scene where he knows his fate. He has seen the boxes in the attic. He also knows that Alice is his replacement so to kill her also is a stab at Miriam who had promised him they would be together forever. Taking out his replacement is a wonderful passive aggressive expression of the anguish he must be feeling about being replaced.
  Sarah comes into the story after John has been boxed, having been unable to help him she wants to check up on him. Unfortunately for her Miriam is now looking for a new companion, it speaks to the vampires character that the thought of even a day without a loving companion is more than she can tolerate. She seduces and does blood exchange with Sarah in a love scene that is all style. Primarily this turn in the film gives the film a way to end. Sarah after the afternoon tryst begins transforming and in the process is examined by her doctor friends. This leads to the idea that the vampire blood in her system is fighting her own for control of her body. The inverse would also be true if enough human blood was introduced into the vampires system.  So when the final confrontation between Sarah and Miriam happens the dreamlike scene that occurs can make sense.
  There is a final scene with Sarah appearing to be the main vampire in another city, the haunting sounds of Miriam moaning in a box in the apartment does not make a lot of sense. So I did a bit of research (thanks wikipedia) and read that the scene was added later to make the possibility of a sequel more viable.  In the end this is a bit of a slow burn film full of mood,  odd angled shots and a dreamlike quality that could have used more of the outside world to break up the monotony of the sad lives of the characters. I can recommend it as there is some really well shot sequences that are worth seeing. If though you are easily bored this may not be the picture for you.

Dracula 3D (2012) Horror Vampire

Dario Argento's Dracula 3D (2012) - This film is taking a lot of heat as it makes its round being reviewed by various horror podcasts and websites. It certainly does have its issues, the CGI is under developed making it look very cartoonish. Its a shame since there are many shots filling a good amount of the film. Most of the new tropes for the many forms of Dracula are primarily shown through CGI, the fly transformation, the giant pray a mantis, a wolf transformation and all are less developed than they should have been before releasing the film. Then there are script issues that add to the mixed reception of the film. Writers Dario Argento, Enrique Cerezo, Stefano Piani and Antonio Tentori decided to without major plot points until the final scene and by doing so created an incoherent collection of scenes missing a primary motivation. Now who is to say, who wrote what in this script, or how many revisions it went through but understanding what was done can only happen after seeing the entire film. The central character Dracula (Thomas Kretschmann), as well as Lucy (Asia Argento) had motivations that were left unexplained until the final conflict.
  Then the knowledge that Mina (Marta Gastini), like in the 1992 Francis Ford Coppola version, is a look alike for Dracula's dead wife is also withheld. It is his primary reason for hiring Jonathan Harker (Unax Ugalde) and thus luring his wife to the area but we the audience don't learn about it until the end of the film. So in that last scene there is so much exposition that it muddles everything that comes before it. I am sure the writers were seeing it a a big reveal but because of other issues in the film it just leaves the plot rudderless. More foreshadowing of the reveals would have helped. Then there is the strange weirdness to the dialog, not quite shooting for any region or time period, but sort of existing in its own world. The players have odd phrasing making the dialog ring false throughout the film. Add to it what I think were a incredibly moody performance by Thomas Kretschmann as Dracula. He goes all over the place presenting Dracula sometimes as a sad and depressed creature bored with his existence. Then at other time flashes into the monster with a violent streak that make an abusive drunk seem stable. Then at other times he is a driven man who knows what he wants and is determined to get it.It makes for a very convoluted image of the character that is not easy to connect with.
 Now I will move a bit into some *** SPOILERS!*** in the writing so you have been warned. I know that you are thinking this is Dracula there just can't be spoilers but there are. The writing team changed the story and character arcs enough that it is possible to actually have spoilers. Lets start with the simplest of the changes that did not make sense. Renfield (Giovanni Franzoni) is not a want to be vampire eating bugs and doing the bidding of the vampire well at least at first. He is a neighbor in the opening scene where Tanja (Miriam Giovanelli) is attacked by Dracula, he knows she is having an affair with is married neighbor but does nothing about it. When she is killed, bitten and put in a grave he arrives in time to stop the locals from driving a stake through her heart. In the bloody exchange he is overpowered after killing another local. Although under the power of Dracula this character is a bit more sane than Renfield's who have appeared in other films. He is an improvement over past versions of the character, primarily obsessed with the lovely Tanja vampire he is a servant with size and power. She Tanja is herself a more active bride of Dracula. Like in other films she is a showcase of the seductress vampire but not one Dracula is interested in loving. Unfortunately this bride is young and petulant a child who can not handle the power that comes from being undead. Its a bit confusing whether Dracula wants her to be a vampire, we see that the locals are doing his bidding but when Tanja is bitten they bury her in a shallow grave with the intent to stake her before she can drink some of Dracula's blood to become a full vampire. Well so was it Dracula who sent them to do this? Then why in the very next scene is he giving her a drink of his blood. It's very confusing. The major characters are another story with the greatest change coming in the form of Lucy.

In other versions of the story Lucy is a victim; a close friend to Mina who is used as the example of the power of the vampire. He seduces and feeds and she grows weaker and weaker before dying. In this film all of that is shortened and at the end a major revelation is revealed about Lucy that changes all her motivation. She is seen to die after one feeding by Dracula which at the time seemed odd. Then we learn in the exposition in the end of the movie that she was working for Dracula. She had traded her friends for the gift of immortality, yes that's right after Dracula saw the photo of  Mina and Jonathan in Lucy's home and realized Mina was the spitting image of his long dead wife he made a deal with Lucy. So instead of being an innocent victim she is an evil co-conspirator. It explains her reaction to hearing Mina was not with Jonathan, she seems scared and worries that something has happened to her friend. You think it is worry for the girl but really she fears Dracula will be angry. So is the town for that matter, most of the locals are working for Dracula, so it changes the basic premise of past films. Instead of a village terrified by the old castle on the hill everyone seems to be working against the Harkers.

  Of all the characters in the film poor Jonathan gets the worst deal. Hired to catalog the Count's library he is very quickly just a food source. Locked up and drained when he turns and is killed by Van Helsing (Rutger Hauer) it is a truly tragic ending for him. He really has no other purpose in the story so other than setting up Mina's arrival. So he is used to give us the story of Dracula when he reads the books in the library. After seeing the film the second viewing makes so much more sense. When Dracula is talking about Mina's arrival he says "A wife's place is with her husband." Knowing he envisions her as his long lost bride we can see the double meaning of the line.
  Dracula feels a psychic connection to Mina and she to him, symbolized as a warning her her dream, she is running through the woods and comes across her own body laying on the ground, a wolf is feeding on her insides. Foreshadowing of the wolf threat she feels while riding to the castle. This connection is furthered in the later scenes as Dracula seems able to impose his will on her whenever they are together. The film sets up triangles in relationships, Mina - Jonathan - Dracula, Mina - Dracula - Tanja couples or desired couplings countered with established relationships. Again I can see what Argento is trying to do here the duality of the structure is useful but we are too distracted by the surrounding effects to really pay attention to the story.
  It is Mina who calls Van Helsing and hires him to deal with what she thinks is a vampire. This is very much a change from the original. Also Van Helsing has a history with Dracula, as shown through a flashback. Dracula sends one minion after another to try to kill him unsuccessfully. Not the most well put together part of the story. Van Helsing does not show up until the third act and then he is all business. He puts an end to one minion after another and has a ridiculous preparing for battle montage before the final scene. In the end van Helsing is a bit old and frail for the job and it is Mina that strikes the vital blow to Dracula. Very underdeveloped as a character it is a real weakness instead of the amazing enhancement having Rutger Hauer could have been.
 Considering that the bells and whistles of the film, from story to score to costumes to performances is all about the emotion the film itself somehow comes across without emotional impact. People also have been really critical of the lighting calling it too bright to create mood, but I believe a lot of that has to do with the 3D effects, comparing the 2D and 3D versions you can see that with the gray glasses used for the effects the colors are dulled enough to get good lighting and a decent mood. In the 2D version though it is a bright colorful film lacking a hint of the necessary creepy mood. Recommend a setup with recognized 3D for viewing this one. The effects needed to be better and this Dracula seems to have a shape shifter ability, he can be or maybe control most animals. We see him as an owl, a wolf, a collection of flies, a giant prey mantis, then there seems to be bug spies, rat spies all letting Dracula know what is happening in the town. Then there was that time where he just appeared in Lucy's room after a bolt of lightening. All this added stuff needing special effects to make it work does not work. It confuses the myth of Dracula and because of the less than stellar effects is a real distraction from the story. So too are the incredible number of 3D shots which are well done in the film. Watching in the format is a very cool experience because so many of the scenes were designed and shot for the effect. The problem ends up being too much of a good thing and when you add to it the effects on lighting it works against a story that is trying to be a new telling of an old tale.
  With all of this working against the film it still manages to try to tell this well worn tales in a slightly new way. Think about how hard the task was for Argento. One one hand he is trying to tell a story we can recite by heart without effort while at the same time trying to find a way to make it compelling. If he had stuck to the story and character changes he thought of and did not bother with all the transformations and special 3D effect this could probably have been a very enjoyable version of the story. Unfortunately that is not the case. So no recommendation on this film but unlike a lot off the review I have seen and heard I think there is something here of value its just that the whole package does not work. I have included some screen shots of many of the effect here for your amusement.

Aswang (1994) Horror Pregnancy Vampire

Aswang (1994) - This is a story centered around a Filipino vampire myth called the Aswang a vampire with a long tongue that feeds on the fetus of a pregnant woman. The baby is either still born or may survive to become another creature, well at least that is the definition in this film. In the opening credits the myth is shown in shadow puppets with the appropriate horror oriented music by Ken Brahmstedt. It sets the stage for what is a pretty enjoyable little horror movie. I like when I get to see a common genre like a vampire film with a slant I did not know about. This one delivers with a slow building start and a chaotic and satisfying finish. There are a couple more movies out there with this title so pay attention to what you are buying so you see this one. The pacing works mostly because the film is a bit short in running time at 82 minutes. At a budget of $70,000 dollars the film makers Wrye Martin and Barry Poltermann certainly get their money's worth. Filmed in the midwest United States with mostly local actors you would worry that the film would suffer but the quality is most certainly passable.
  Katrina (Tina Ona Paukstelis) is a pregnant young lady looking to solve her problem through an arrangement with a wealthy man. He is Peter Null (Norman Moses) a rich single man looking for a heir to his fortune, an heir that Katrina can supply. In return she will come to the mansion for the birth and be well compensated for all her efforts. She arrives married in name to Peter in her seventh month of pregnancy. At the mansion we meet the sickly Mother Olive Null (Flora Coker) played with a simmering evil she is the matriarch of the vampire family. They all look human mind you it is only at feeding time do we see the cloudy eyes and hose like tongues. Also in the house is caretaker Cupid (Mildred Nierras) a Filipino nurse and protector for Olive. Katrina also learns that there is woman described as a touched sister Claire Null living in the small house out back and is warned never to go out there.
  I liked how subtly the script pushes at Katrina to warn her that things are not quite right with this family. At dinner in the house they are pushing an intoxicating cider on her without care for the fetus inside her. This leads to the disturbing scene where the Katrina passed out on the bed has her baby tasted by Peter. So uncomfortable a scene that the directors shot it first so figuring that if the actors could handle that they would get through the entire process. The scene plays so well because it is obvious there is no sexual connection between Peter and Katrina. She has a boyfriend and is selling their child to this family, it is strictly a business arrangement. So after drinking too much of the cider to see he writhing on the bed as Peter buries his head in her crotch it is very disturbing. Even creepier the next day when he reports to his mother that the baby is almost ripe, and it is a girl.
  When a trespasser on the land needs to be dealt with so we see how the Aswang can create a mucus sack around the victim and save the person for consumption later. This of course is never really explained in the legend. Do these creature eat live people as well as infants? Anyway the story really picks up pace in the second half as Katrina goes from feeling a bit uncomfortable with the group to waking up during a feeding time. The chain reaction from that propels the third act into its final crazy leaps that includes  an aswang hanging by its tongue, captivity in the crazy woman's house, a severed hand, fire, blood, birth and death It really is a great act and although Moses as Peter is a bit too over the top in his delivery it does not spoil the fun. So definitely a recommend from me on Aswang even with its flaws it is a very cool take on vampirism.

Odds and Ends

- Seemed like there was an ode to The Evil Dead (1981) in the film where we see the low to the ground camera shot as it travels out of the wood to the door of the small house which has a remarkable resemblance to the house in the Evil Dead movie. I figured it had to be on purpose but did not find anything online to confirm it.

- The epilogue scene that occurs 5 years later was probably unnecessary because it was pretty clear from Cupid's reactions in the final battle what was going to happen. Still the cloudy eyed Aswang child was creepy.

- Also known as "The Unearthing" I viewed the Aswang titled disc put out by Mondo Macabro

Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary (1975) Horror Vampire

Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary (1975) - Christina Ferrare probably known as a Max Factor spokesperson a former fashion model she has worked in TV and fashion. Later she might be seen for her working as a frequent guest on the Oprah cable TV network cooking and sharing recipes.In this early work which she has many credits on IMDB; she stars as Mary a vampire traveling through Mexico struggling to find love and success while still meeting her need for blood. It is a strange tale where she has managed for many years to survive on her own as a painter of some notoriety while at the same time leaving a trail of bodies drained of blood. The turning point for Mary is when she meets Ben (David Young) a charming hitchhiker who is easy to fall for. Now she must balance the desire for blood with the counter desire to not eat her lover. After the first scene of there meeting the film gives us the goods on Mary, we see her turning her flirting charms on a man she has picked up in a bar.  She drugs the victim with a dose of something she keeps in a locket around her neck. She stealth-fully slips it into his drink and waits for it to takes effect. Then with a pin knife she keeps her hair up with she deftly punctures his jugular and drinks her fill.
  Director Juan Lopez Moctezuma does some interesting stuff with a story by Don Henderson, Malcolm Marmorstein and Don Rico even though there is not a lot in it. The story is pretty basic, we join the main character after she has established her life as some what successful artist, who uses already has a method of killing and drinking that has worked for her. There could be another story here that would also be interesting enough for a movie. I thought of the film "Let the Right One In", where the vampire creature was an 11 year old looking creature. She had to deal with the logistics her underdeveloped body created for her. I kept thinking that the more interesting time of Mary's life must have been her tween to teen years for Mary when her father had first left. Did she always need to drink blood and if so did her Father supply her? How did she cope when he was gone? When her Dad realized he could not stay was it because she was still not infected with this form of vampirism and his desire to drink was too great to stay around his still normal daughter? What was it like to develop the need? How did she survive in those early years before becoming a beautiful woman? Unfortunately this is not that story but instead the story of when she was almost found out.
  More though and this was indeed interesting it is a look into a time in Mary's life when she chose to love knowing that the cost would put her at risk. When she meets Ben and they become lovers the "seduce and kill" method she had been using to feed becomes much more difficult. Its just hard to explain to your partner that you need to leave alone for several hours every week or so. Also it changed her mobility and she was more stationary in the time of the film, shrinking the hunting grounds and making the similar deaths of the victims more noticeable to the police. So this could be the story of how love doomed Mary, but it is even more than that. At around this time Mary is stalked by a masked man in a green Mustang who kills and feeds in a similar was. This only makes the trail for the police more obvious and creates a climax that can be guessed. Ferrare does a very good job capturing the internal struggle as her life pattern sort of falls apart. She is in anguish over the desire to feed but not wanting to lose her love to that need. Young is a bit cardboard as the man in her life but has his own issues as they stay together.
  The police on Inspector Cosgrove (Arthur Hansel) of the FBI on loan to the Mexican Lieutenant Pons (Enrique Lucero) are smart enough to see that Ben has been around the locations of most of the murders. In an act of amazing sexism they never connect Mary in the same way but focus on the American drifter as their main suspect. He was on the beach when a fisherman died. He was in the town where the female hitchhiker was killed and where someone killed the morgue worker. He was at an art exhibit of Mary's work when Greta (Helena Rojo) was killed and drained of blood. Still Mary is not the focus but instead her boyfriend. Speaking of Greta, it was such a heartfelt death in this film porttrayed with excellent warmth by the two actresses. She for years longed for love with Mary and sent Ben out from the party to buy tequila in order to get Mary alone. Mary upset that Ben vanished thought he might have abandoned her and in her dismay is comforted by Greta. As Greta expresses her love for Mary with a kiss Mary for the first time gives into desire and feeds from someone she knows. It really is so well done by Ferrare and Rojo and a crucial turning point in the film.
 This connection is something even the dumbest of police can't miss, but unfortunately for Ben they are blind to the idea a woman could be the killer.  When the police decide to tail Ben the third act unfolds rather quickly. Mary also under that surveillance needs to feed but is hard pressed to find a time when she can. She is oh so tempted as Ben sleeps next to her but instead attempts to sneak out. All kinds of crazy happens from here on out as Ben chases after Mary and masked killer is hot on her heels, with that the cops are also chasing. Up into the hills of Mexico where the masked killer is revealed and some of the story behind Mary's condition is heard. In the end though this can not truly be anything but a tragedy. I won't spoil it since it is a more rare vampire story and many of you might want to see it. It is not the greatest of films but I say worth recommending for its unque take on the genre.
Odds and ends
 - Mary's art was painted by Rosa Rosenberg
 - The director went on after this film to make a couple other films I know, the incredibly screamy and strange "Alucarda" and "The Mansion of Madness"
 - One of the victims actress Susana Kamini plays a main character in Alucarda.
 - The masked killer ends up being one of the greatest character actors in history John Carridine, he really is a bit player in that we only see his face in the last sequence and thus I suspect he was hired for his name.
  - The copy I have of the film comes with both a 3D and normal version of the film. Neither of the versions are widescreen and the 3D version was too dark to enjoy.
 - Although in the scenes where she connects with other actors, Ferrare's portrayal is solid there are other times where she has to be the cold killer. In some ways this makes sense. She is a predator when she needs to feed but still wants to have another connected life when the desire is not so great. Still in the last act the way she seems almost helpless as she is chased by the masked killer seems really out of place.

Desert of Blood (2008) Horror Vampire

Desert of Blood (2008) - When a metal detecting tourist uncovers a grave in Tacate Mexico he mistakenly releases a vampire trapped in it thirty five years earlier. Luis Diego (Justin Quinn) the vampire trapped in that grave was not too happy when he got out and with a hunger that needed feeding. He seeks out those who were left behind when he was trapped by the local priest and his girlfriends father. Unfortunately for him so many years have past that her is hard pressed to find anyone who is still alive. He wants revenge but those who placed the silver cross on his coffin have long since died. So instead he seeks out his former love, Sarita (Yvonne Rawn).
  There is an interesting conflict for Luis, on one hand he loves Sarita, or at least the seventeen year old version of her. Yet he knows she stood by and let him be buried alive. To be fair though her Father told him they had destroyed Luis, it was only the pleading of then novice priest Hernandez (Flint Esquerra) that convinced the two to spare Luis in  the grave. Sarita now in her fifties and caring for orphan kids on her ranch can't be the woman Luis once loved. He tells her he wants revenge but is blunted in it because of circumstances. Soon though the time when he can get some satisfaction will arrive.
  Sarita in an unrelated but convenient for plot device has a stroke and is bed ridden unable to move or talk. This prompts her college age niece Maricela (Brenda Romero) to travel to the ranch to care for Sarita and her kids. Accompanying her are her two friends Heather (Natalie J. Horton) and Samantha (Tori White) who see it as a chance to take a bit of down time in the sun. This is the primary storyline as Luis sees Maricela as a way to hurt Sarita. Getting close and then wanting to turn her seems like the plan but honestly the film is not really clear it wants Luis to be the bad guy. In fact for most of the film he seem a bit ambivalent to revenge on Sarita. It could be the poor acting by Quinn but I think the character has a complex relationship to navigate. On one hand he was cruelly locked in a box starving for 35 years but on the other hand the people who did it are dead and the love of his once life claims she did not know what happened to him.
  Still he tries to get to know Maricela and even takes the time out of his non busy schedule to meet her at a cantina in town for a night of drinking and feeding and dancing and feeding. It is a strange scene where he not wanting to seem out of touch with the modern party scene bring with him his first female victim Amy (Annika Svedman), who he has turned into a vampire.

   She is there to make him seem not too interested in Maricela so to attract her more. Also accompanying him is human henchman Carlos (Mike Dusi) a small time thug who is his daylight "watcher". He has a deal with the guy that he will make him rich beyond his dreams. Frankly the only time we see any of these characters is when they are interacting with Sarita or Maricela . No one seems to do much of anything beside sleep and talk to each other. What I guess I am really saying is the character development stops at the plot the story can move forward. These shell characters are just a way to move things along. They have varying degrees of success, Carlos scoring with Samantha, Amy frustrated but eventually feeding off a patron and Luis connecting with Maricela even with cock blocker Cris (Naim Thomas) around. Cris an old friend from the very first time you see him you know he is going to be Maricela's love interest and as it turns out hero too. He figures out who or what Luis is and goes to deal with him Man to Vampire.

  In the end though the personal stuff is not going to be the focus of the film. Luis looses more and more of his humanity as time goes on and becomes solely focused on revenge. His really is the extent of the motivation so with his bad acting the story does not carry the impact it could.  Cris and Maricela figure out that he is a vampire out to do harm and know they have to deal with him and his group of henchmen. The two girl friends come along to make the Scooby gang complete in the final showdown. Did I mention both the other girls played by White and Horton were in the Candy Stipers film reviewed a year or two ago on this blog. I mention it because it is one of the most viewed pieces I have on the blog with over 4000 views, mostly because people looking up info on the striper bass have the review show up in the search results.

  You can probably guess what happens in this film as really there is no other place for it to go. It is the biggest flaw, that it is very one dimensional. A lot of the acting is tough to watch and the plot for what it is only makes sense to a point. There is this aspect of the luis character where as the oldest vampire he is the wisest. The back story though does not match up to that reality. In the past when he was banished to the ground he was young and not even sure what was happening to him. Now years later after living in a box the entire time he is suddenly the experienced expert. Everything down to the ending could easily be predicted by the most novice movie fan so it is a bit disappointing. I got this movie because in the soundtrack are included a couple songs from Ana Sidel, the LA based singer with the great cd "A Solas..." but unfortunately the movie does not do it justice.
Rating (2.9) 5.0 and up are recommended, some more recommended than others.

Strigoi (2009) Horrorish Vampire Quick Hit

Strigoi (2009)- Quick Hit ( Not a full review but at least something in passing) This is a quirky little film that really isn't a horror movie, but although there are some comedic elements is not a comedy either, not even a dark comedy. What is it? A drama murder mystery that uses the traditional pre-hollywood ideas of vampires as a center piece to move the story forward.
In a Romanian village a conspiracy is carried out against the wealthiest land owner and his wife. Constantin Tirescu (Constantin Barbulescu) and his wife Lleana (Roxana Guttman) are killed by the villagers and there property taken. They are accused of a crime that is not specified but this could just be an excuse. He is the largest land owner and richest member of the village having even built the church. The villagers are tired of one guy having so much though and they take it all away through murder. The problem is these two corpses won't stay buried.
The story from there centers on Vlad Cozma (Catalin Paraschiv) an underachiever in a family of doctors who dropped out of medical school in Italy and has returned to the village to get his bearings. He is staying with his cute little old grandfather Nicolae (Rudi Rosenfeld) and helping the old man while he avoids the rest of his family. After leaving his house in the morning in search of cigarettes Vlad comes across his neighbor Mara (Camelia Maxim) passed out in her doorway and gets her up and in the house. She feeds him and talks about having to prepare food for the funeral of another villager who has passed away named Florine. Vlad makes his way to Florine's to find the mayor Stephan (Zane Jarcu) and some other villagers sitting around the body talking. It is a tradition to sit with the newly dead for three days and nights to make sure the dead does not come back as a vampire. They sit and tell stories and talk to the body then after the time period the funeral will take place. Vlad notices that Florine is wearing a very nice watch. Much to expensive for a peasant he questions the group about it. He is a sharp guy and notices other things too, fancy shoes on on man etc. strange he thinks.
As he talks to people in the village he senses something is amiss, were those bruises he saw on Florine's neck? In speaking with the village priest and his friend growing up he learns that Florine's death was ruled an accident and a paper was filed that he supposedly signed as the one who examined the body. Although everyone wants him to drop it he is going to investigate this. The next day he contacts his police officer friend and then visits the home of the Tirescu's. to the audiences surprise they are there. Lleana facially a bit bloated with blood and very disheveled leads him to her husband. We learn a bit about this form of vampirism from the appearnce of characters. The Tirescu's are bloated dead bodys that leave their graves to wander back into the familiar places of their lives. They can communicate and function but the sound affects of the bubbling gases they contain and the flush of there faces give away that something is not right. Vlad though does not know they have been killed and talks to them as he normally would. He is subject to a bit of history about Romania of hoe the Constantin gathered up his land holding by first working with the Russian invaders and then using the money he had accumulated from them to buy up the village lands since it was all confiscated in communism but was now available.
Mara at this time has her own problems as the undead Lleana arrives at her house and proceeds to eat everything that was prepared for Florine's funeral. The undead are insatiable and poor Mara is nervous and frightened and franically starts making more food to appease Lleana. She will get to play this storyline out as she runs out of food the undead Lleana will have only her to eat.
Vlad with some slow meandering will solve the mystery of the town. In doing so the viewer gets to be surprised to learn who is undead and who is alive in the town. Not wanting to spoil this film lets leave it as a solid mystery with Vlad being the protagonist and the villagers who are in the plot the antagonists. There are some very good scenes between Vlad and Nicolae where the old man relays what life in Romania has been like since WWII. First the Germans invaded he says and they were forced to fight a war they wanted no part of. When the Germans lost he had to walk all the way back from Russia alone. Then the Russian came and were far worse. The Communists took the land that had been in his family for generations, said it was no longer his but he had to work it as he always had and give his bounty to the government. Then when the Russians left men like Constantin used their corrupt money to try to buy the land from him. These scenes were very touching and well acted and so improved the story. Overall the film is a bit off center but in a compelling enough way. The acting is solid and the mystery compelling. So this quick hit is a success, it is available On Demand in FOIS but not yet available on Netflix.
Rating (5.5) 5.0 and up are recommended

Devils of Darkness (1965) Horror Vampire Cult

Devils of Darkness (1965) - This was a strange film that throws every possible genre trope at the audience and then disappoints by failing to resolve the conflict of the film in a compelling way. It starts with a graveyard scene where a red caped man carries a black candle to a grave. The sculpted bat on the grave is the symbol we will all see again. Some supernatural weather event just happens and the crypt breaks open.
Tania (Carole Gray) a gypsy girl dances for her future husband Bruno (Walter Brown). It is a happy day, their wedding day and the village is thrilled and in celebration. Unfortunately nearby from the broken grave, a large bat flies into the sky. When the gypsy villagers see it there is screaming and terror and mumbling about curses, poor Tania falls dead at the sight of it. Immediately we go into a scene of the mourning of Tania as the funeral procession moves through the forest to her burial sight. A supernatural force effects the weather and kills the priest sending the villagers scattering. Sinistre (Hubert Noel) the evil vampire opens the coffin and raises Tania from the dead to be his bride for eternity.
This is the setup that does not really begin to get into the complicated story to follow. It sets up Tania and Sinistre as the "bad guys" and then jumps to 1964 and starts in on the main plot. Our main body of characters are visiting Brittany in France. A couple guys are going spelunking and there relatives are staying at the local estate. The men in the cave scenes are cut with the relatives and local villagers doing a "All Souls Day" celebration. We are not sure if the celebration is the reason that Sinistre and Tania are suddenly on the scene, but unfortunately for the spelunkers come across the coffins in the caves. One empty and the other with Tania in it. A flash behind one caver like magic and hands grab him from behind. They are dead and the officials are saying it was an accident. Paul (William Sylvester) and one of the spelunker's sister Anne (Rona Anderson) are distraught and can not believe it even after a gypsy in the forest told them they are under the sign of the "Black Death" and the "evil eye". This was a foreshadowing that was way too much right before Keith's dead body was pulled from the cave. They really did not hold back on the tropes we have seen before.
Sinistre and Tania are suddenly in the picture at the estate. It is confusing at this point but makes a bit more sense later on. He targets Anne and takes her from the estate. When she goes missing this starts Paul on a journey trying to understand the mystery the events of those days. He hears her scream does not find her, but does find a small bat medallion where she was taken. It is not a straight line in this film though. Anne's body is found and the Inspector of the small village says it is suicide. Paul can not accept this and wants the bodies shipped back to England for a second opinion. When the bodies vanish in transport Paul suspects that there is a serious mystery. We also know that Sinistre and Tania are looking for a way to get the powerful talisman back, they suspect Paul has it but can't seem to find or get it back.
Paul tries to figure out the meaning of the bat medallion and everything else but there is a sinister cult behind it and it is not so easy to crack. He visits his friend Madeleine (Diana Decker) but she seems suspicious, not to him but certainly to the viewer. She seems to be trying to distract him at every turn. At her party he meets the lovely Karen (Tracy Reed) who suddenly becomes a focal point for Sinistre also. In fact the vampire who raises the dead is totally infatuated with her and there is the possibly that the equally lovely Tania may be on her way out as his main squeeze.
The story twists and turns its way through finding out who the cult members are and Sinistre's desires and plans. It spends the time to identify everyone even though the story when it climaxes does show in a very anticlimactic way. In fact the second half of the movie is totally off the rails from what the set up is. Paul eventually has to try to save Karen but does so without actually doing anything. In fact the final outcome for the villain is so ridiculously flawed that the viewer is left disappointed. It all makes sense but the resolutions could have been more exciting. It was like there was never really anything at stake for Paul. Here is this guy who loses some of his best friends early in the film but never really seems to deal with the grief that came with it. So he just moves on without any emotion and the plot swings him into the hide the bat medallion section. He never really finds out about what is going on other than to do some research into the occult origins of the piece. There is no feeling so the transition is hollow. Then when Karen becomes the focus it really does not carry force because really he does not know her too well but behaves like he has known her for years. I guess I was just disappointed with it in the end I think the problem is the characters were never quite developed enough to create empathy.
Rating (3.9) 5.0 and up are recommended.

Priest (2011) Action Horror Vampire

Priest (2011) - Based very loosely on a Korean comic book created by Hyung Min-woo, Priest is a straight up action film with little depth but lots of CGI and fighting. The introduction done with comic art and voice over tells the tale of a long war between humans and vampires. Unlike the classical vampire these creatures are more like the creatures in the movie Alien. They are hive creatures with a community centered around a queen with many drones, monstrous and vicious and eyeless. They are stronger and faster than humans and it is unclear how we really won the war against them. It is true humans had the advantage of the sun, and then there are the Priests. The church, a future or alternate version of the Roman Catholic Church, recruited and trained a crack group of Vampire fighters called Priests. (or Priestesses for females). They seem to have their own set of superhuman powers. We see them jumping from great heights, moving really fact and fighting exceptionally well. It is unclear to this writer why they had these powers but maybe I missed the line of voice over that explains it away. It is the case that if you are not paying very close attention during the early part of the film some things could be unclear to you. The film is talky at the beginning to get everyone in the rules of the world but after that it is event driven. The plot points explaining the world are underdeveloped and it is a bit irritating. Why did the Church put the aliens, oops Vampires on reservations instead of killing them? I really don't understand; is there some reason these monsters were spared? I know they have some sort of hierarchy are they more intelligent than shown in the film? Why would they then allow themselves to become captures of their food source? The church after the truce disbands the priests and they have outcast lives in society. Why would you do that when your protectors are the only ones successful against the monsters? They played up the idea that because of winning the war and camping all the remaining vamps that the threat was gone. Since the priests are the heroes the church leadership felt threatened by their success and thus disbanded them. Since they had contained the vamps there was no threat there anymore. This is awful thin and I questioned it while watching the film. Also if the people knew the priest were the ones who saved them then why would they shun the priests after the war. The film makes a point to say society was not a place the priest could fit in and so they took the lowest of jobs. Is this a metaphor for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan? Oops, forgot this is an action movie there is probably no metaphor at all in it. So some years go by and the church is in control of society, in a direct rip off of the film 1984 the imagery of the a society control by a central power, in this case the church. I kept feeling that the leaders of the church were a bit odd in there approach to the priests. Here they have this controlled society all doing there confessions and prayers. Sure the priest were maybe a threat as the saviors of the wars with the vampires but there is never any detail given to what actions they took to be a threat. Just a given that they somehow could upset the order of things. We as an audience though have to see the priests as a bigger threat than the vampires. Even after reports of vampire attacks come into the church they refuse to accept that the vampires are again a threat and thus refuse to gather up their priest forces. This struck this writer as ridiculous. If the greatest threat to the society was the vampire I would think that those in charge could recognized it. They after all just a couple years earlier came close to losing it all. How could they in the face of another vampire war not see that as the greater risk. I was expecting more meet to this conflict also. It was given really short thrift and never we never fully see the motivations of the different factions. This is often a problem with action movies, they are lean with just enough information to move to the next action sequence. Not that there is no complexity to the plot, it is just that everything is very bare. In the opening we see the Priest raiding a vampire hive and the culmination of the set piece is that our main character Priest (Paul Bettany) is holding the wrist of his fellow priest but can not hold on as the vamps drag him into the dark. A trope or a cliche? I lean on the side of the cliche and expect to see the pulled away priest again. Later when the farm family is attacked and the girl Lucy (Lily Collins) is taken alive by the vampires, and the father is mortally wounded, you can bet they have some connection to our main character. We learn that the man is Priest's brother and the girl his niece, so now it is a personal story as he goes to rescue Lucy. Joining Priest in tracking the vampires is the boyfriend Hicks (Cam Gigandet) a local sheriff. Since the church does not want Priest taking this action they counter his move by sending four other priest after the men to stop them. Again to me a weak point in the script, they can't reinstate Priest but can do it for the four to stop him. If reinstating priests is such a risky thing then why was it so easy when it suited them? Priestess (Maggie Q) comes out after the Priest but instead of hunting him comes to help. Again in a one line of dialog her whole story is told and we know she loves Priest. It continues to go this way in the film, a line or two to explain something and then another action sequence. I don't want to go too much into the story which seemed poor to me. The film did the thing I least like about action flicks, big explosions and then the character standing up after being in them and shaking off the effects. No one important is even harmed by the massive destruction. Sure they have wounds but nothing like they should have received. It is why I don't like many action movies.

So the film moves to the stage where we learn what is on the line and a secret about little captured Lucy. Then the turn of who the leader of the vampires is. When the final sequence finishes you will be so ready to leave the theater. Set up for a sequel one could only wish never takes place. No really, never.

Rating (4.5) 5.0 and above are recommended, in the Zombiegrrlz system I would Rent it!

Stake Land (2010) Horror Vampire

Stake Land (2010) - Opening on a country road in Pennsylvania the voice over from our lead character Martin (Connor Paolo) sets the tone immediately. "But lets begin at the beginning, I was like every other kid. I had a family. I went to school. I didn't believe in the bogeyman, but then the world woke up to a nightmare." Kicking off how Martin's family was killed by a vampire and just how he ended up in this car driving with this man only known as Mister (Nick Damici). The scene is well done and really relays everything we are going to need to be part of this world. Dad is frantically working on hi car, trying to get it running. On the radio reports of attacks by creatures are spreading across the country. People are being told to hunker down. Mom is holding the baby and fretting about whether running is the right decision. When Martin chases the dog out in the rain you think he will see a creature but instead the attack happens back in the barn. His Mother screams and his return inside is to see his bloody Mom on the ground. Mister shows up and with Martin kill the vampire that killed his Mom and then fed on the baby. His bloody gurgling father is finished off by the stranger. Traumatic for sure for Martin. He is just a teenager and if Mister had not shown up hunting this monstrous creature his incompetence would have been his downfall. We learn that you have to kill those who have been bitten or they change. Why else kill the father in the aftermath. That the vamps are animal in nature, the monster vampire instead of the romanticized version.
Now we know what we are in for in the world where a vampire plague has spread and people are few and far between. It is a solid start for a film that really is a road survival movie at its core. Martin journeys from the scared teen to capable vampire fighter trained by the experienced hunter as they travel looking for a place where they can settle down. This place New Eden is in Canada since the vampires, cold blooded do not like the weather. It is a goal and while Mister and Martin move towards it the film captures the need for connection among humans as well as the growing up that young Martin must do.
There are some more interesting ideas also, of course the expected militant groups of survivor running there self protected communities like military camps. Surprisingly though there are also more liberal places in the world where the people struggling to survive realize that protection can come without an iron fist if people work together. It is something rarely seen in these kind of films and was welcomed. Then there is the antagonist group, the Brethren. They are a group of fanatical religious zealots that believe the vampires are doing God's work driving new followers into the cult and when God's will is done they the vamps will be taken away by God leaving the Brethren to inherit the earth. Martin and Mister save a nun, Sister (Kelly McGillis) who has been raped by a couple of these thugs. Mister kills them running afoul of the group since one of the thugs was Brethren leader Jebedia Loven's (Michael Cerveris) son. This group is captures the writer's feelings about this group perfectly when in Martin's voice we get "In desperate times, false Gods abound. People put their faith in the loudest preacher and hope they are right." When captured by this group, Mister's punishment is to have his hands bound and left for a group of vampires. Sister and Martin are to be kept as new sheep in the flock. What is great about this film is that all along all the new decisions Martin has to make are training and he becomes more complete and likely to survive. I skip scenes in this review of Mister attacking vampires so Martin can practice killing them, at first not so well. When Mister is left to the vamps Martin runs from the group, now brave enough to make such a bold decision. He makes it back to the car to find Mister who also found a way to survive. Making it back to a safe town they pick up Belle (Danielle Harris), a young pregnant singer they see in the gathering place. She joins the group and it is something I like about this movie, people in it need connection to each other. It really is human nature and Mister is a vampire hunter but also a human looking out for those who need looking out for. Soon a fourth joins there party, Willie (Sean Nelson) an ex marine who is primarily there to fill some of the back story of how the government and military eventually broke down as the plague spread.
These four travel through Brethren country together, up the back roads to the colder mountains of New York State. Here Mister gets some sweet revenge on Jebedia when they come across him manning a checkpoint. Of course this can't be the end for the main bad guy we are only two thirds the way through the movie. Leaving him cut for the vamps though is a nice payback at the time. Finally reaching the border the group can relax. When they have to leave their weapons with the people running the town I knew that something really bad was going to happen. When Belle and Martin dance at the towns party, and Mister joined in I thought "Oh Oh this is not going to end well." Then when they see Sister and the group is complete I knew the bad was just around the corner.
The attack is awesome and I will not get into it here but it was surprising and really a cool thing to do. Our group gets out of it and heads for the hills going high to the cold country. When the car dies they are on foot, an older Sister, a pregnant Belle and the three guys. They seem safe from vampires but it is taking its toll on them. Even as they grow closer struggling together they are getting weaker and Belle is quite pregnant. Martin in the ever present V.O. says "Away from people I stopped thinking about the past and my family, I've found a new one." Since that was a bright and positive sentiment something bad has to happen. They come down from the hills because it is also too cold for them. They camp in this large traffic jam of abandoned cars that had been heading to the now really close Canadian border.
After another very good tense attack scene we have our survivors hold up in an old bus. Mister senses something amiss but can not put his finger on it. When another member of the group vanishes we get the big turn in the story. It is nicely done and although veteran horror film fans could figure it out I bet a fair number of people out there won't. Building to a climax as the last three remaining in the group get so close to safety only to have to fight yet another battle. When the final group of three are hold up at roadside diner, after the climax we see the journey's end for Martin as he is a proven survivor and vampire killer. The happy ending is well done and expected.
What I liked about this film is that it never lost track of whose story it was. At its heart it was always about Mister and Martin and it held true to the relationship. Although the voice over always in the voice of Martin showed that he was the main character from the beginning. Still the story of Mister played a very complementary role inter connecting with Martin but never drowning his story out. It was well done. I do wish though that more character development was done with interactive scenes instead of using the V.O. so much. Way too much we are told about the connections of characters instead of them showing us the connections they are developing. Some of the characters are less developed and thus obviously expendable. Overall this is a wonderful entry into the genre, instead of big loud and super action filled it is quiet scary, a study of people. A bit on the predictable in what must happen, with some characters obvious feed for vampires but also some surprises. The music was a real mood setter and I am not always sure it is the mood I wanted in the movie, some really melancholy tunes more appropriate for a dreamy summer road movie than a survival one. I think that they were going for a haunted mood but I wanted a bit more tension. The vampire presentation was just excellent and monstrous, the feel of the vampire attacks was closer to the 28 Days Later feel but less frantic, so positives there. Writer/Director Jim Mickle does a nice job with what he has and he with co-writer Damici have created a worthy film for lovers of horror that I think general audience could also enjoy.
Rating (6.7) 5.0 and up are recommended, in the Zombiegrrlz system Go and see it!