Director: Matt Spease
Release date: 2019
Contains spoilers
This low to no budget offering is actually the third film in a sequence but, from what I can tell, it is the first with a vampire theme. There is one moment of back exposition that might lose a viewer coming in to this one unsighted on the other films (as I was) but mostly it stands alone – which is a positive of course. As I started watching this, I had a silent inward moan as I thought it was going to be a chore but, despite myself, found it a watchable experience.
It starts at night and a car pulling up to a house. The driver, Sophie (Caitlyn Bailey), gets out and knocks on the house door, subsequently letting herself in. She calls out – she is a private nurse – but no-one answers. Eventually, spooked, she decides to just go. Behind her a man appears – Vlad Ţepeş (Ryan Heumier), noting the name Dracula is not used – he tells her he has great plans for her and she seems mesmerised.
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| Vlad and Sophie |
I need to just go into this mesmerism. Vlad has that power but, we discover later, his immediate control of women is through a pheromone he exudes. He bites Sophie and then says she is his drudge – she repeats that – and then he is the master. She breaks out of control at that point and so he does mesmerise her, bites her again and makes her his familiar. He wants her to look through medical records to find a suitable bride from each of the 8 blood types (yes he’s greedy) and to drain ‘undesirables’ for him.
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| cops |
So we see a homeless man in the night and, using food as a lure, Sophie bashes him over the head with a hammer. The next day cops Damien Cruz (Kevin T. Oliver) and Freeman (Buddy Campbell) are at the scene. A moment about Cruz – with his rocker look he didn’t seem cop like (though he is the lead detective). His long, mullet hair seemed less business up front/party behind and more shindig at the front/full on hootenanny at the back. A woman appears, Tracy (Miracle Davis), and has words with Cruz – this is the moment where the dialogue contained previous film plot points that will lose an uninitiated viewer.
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| Nic and Tracy |
Tracy goes to see Nic (Hanleigh Baker), who is day drinking. We discover they were lovers – when Nic was male. Nic was killed and did a deal with the devil to return and get revenge but the cost was she was brought back as female and is now a forsaken immortal – doomed to live and walk the earth forever. Nic does suggest resuming their relationship but Tracy declines as she is heterosexual. Nic becomes Cruz’ suspect at first but becomes an invaluable ally in the finale.
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| vampire attack |
So the format becomes fairly repetitive for a while with Vlad taking his brides – two are married, that seems more of an issue for the vampire than it should have been (the only husband in the country is killed in short order). He also notices one is only 14; he does go to observe her and decides to take her but assumes the role of father/daughter (and slave) as opposed to making her a bride. One gives him some sass so he makes her a zombie instead. At first I thought that repetition would be damaging to the film but it wasn’t, the film moving quickly into things going wrong and injecting the good guys into the situation.
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| pencil staking |
The acting is B grade but could definitely have been worse. There was an attempt at some practical effects that were ok. After an accidental staking by pencil there is a couple of other pencil moments. We get a crap bat sequence and crosses burn. Some moments don’t stack logically. For instance, after working out, through a description, who Sophie is, Cruz tracks her to Vlad’s – but she wasn’t a resident there until enslaved and her subsequently making it her known address makes no sense. Ryan Heumier was taller than his female co-stars in shot but didn’t appear to be the 6 and a half foot he was described as. That was a minor thing and mentioned as it amused me when watching, however.
As I said at the head I was surprisingly entertained by the film. It is low budget but, perhaps because my expectations were set low, I did enjoy the viewing. Not the greatest film, without a doubt, but worth 4 out of 10 for me.
The imdb page is here.
On Demand @ Amazon US
On Demand @ Amazon UK
2 comments:
Saw a clip of this one on Youtube and sought it out under its then-title "Dark Night." I was a bit irritated when I read the back cover, as I had seen one too many "Vlad Tepes" rip-offs come down the pike (whatever the spelling). But, as is my wont, I thought I'd give it a try. This was almost a year ago. I thought about mentioning this one to you, but the chaotic nature of the plot line was hard to put into words. The film also seemed to bounce between semi-arthouse seriousness and Benny Hill-style double entendre. The poaching of "Fright Night" scenes was obvious, but neither unsurprising or distracting.
Overall, I thought it a good effort, but not having seen the (obvious) previous movies featuring some of the protagonists, alot of the scenes were confusing. Kudos, at least, to the cast who seemed to be enjoying their time in front of the cameras. Maybe I can ferret out the previous films and fill in some blanks.
Cheers, Billy
Hi Billy and thanks for the comment, your input is always appreciated.
I see what you mean re the bouncing between the seriousness and the double entendre and I think it is the inexperience of the filmmakers that meant that was not balanced well.
As you'll have read I pointed out the scene where, more than anywhere else, I was lost having not seen the previous films.
I didn't pick up on it under its previous title, admittedly, and it was only when it appeared on Prime that it hit my radar.
All the best.
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