Vesper Glen – review

Author: Coryn Noble

First Published: 2025

Contains spoilers

The Blurb: Charlie Pike, a detective with the Boston Police Department, gets a call from his hometown in Vermont, asking if he wants to be their new police chief. It’s an appealing offer, but it would mean telling his wife Abbie, and eventually their kids Natalie and Marcus, about the “V’s” – the hundred or so residents of Vesper Glen with symbionts that make them live for centuries, heal rapidly from wounds, avoid sunlight and garlic, and regularly need to consume blood.

Even after Abbie overcomes her initial skepticism, and Charlie takes the job, she’s still apprehensive about her new neighbors, including leading citizen John Saxon, town doctor Meara Desmond, and night-shift Sergeant Ray Dante. Still, the family settles into small town life, sharing the ancestral Pike house with Charlie’s elderly dad.

Then a run-in with a biker gang gets the attention of an FBI agent, a hostile Army officer, a marauding band of V’s whose leader holds a grudge against John, and a secret society of fanatical vampire hunters. All of this will test the ingenuity and determination of the entire community…

The review: I think the first thing to note about Vesper Glen is the source of the vampirism. As the blurb mentions, the vampires are in a symbiotic relationship with a lifeform that has taken residence within their veins, living off the iron in blood and forcing the need to drink blood to feed the symbiote. In return it heals them and slows aging. A subterranean lifeform, it is highly sensitive to UV light. As such, these are living vampires and, as the novel progresses, they are split into factions – those in Vesper Glen believe in living side by side with humans, the most extreme believe that humans are foodstuff only and they are superior.

The book sees cop Charlie Pike take on role of police chief, already knowing about the Vs as he grew up in Vesper Glen (and kids are told the truth of some of the townsfolk at 15). Charlie’s wife and kids, however, are in the dark and he has to convince Abbie that living next door to vampires is not a dangerous thing. The reader soon discovers it is dangerous, however, not due to their vampires but down to general bad guys (in the form of a biker gang), a band of vampires from the extreme faction and the Hawthorn Cross – a shadowy secret vampire killing society.

The writing in this was crisp and perhaps veered over towards the utilitarian in places, but as this is told from Charlie’s point of view that felt right, given his cop pedigree. The book lies more towards police procedural than urban fantasy – though that element still sits there. We do get to hear quite a lot about the vampires’ society, including their own language, but there is much more than could and should be explored in future volumes. A neat little read, with some interesting takes on the genre. 7 out of 10.

In Paperback @ Amazon US

In Paperback @ Amazon UK

Carmilla – review

Director: Jay Lind

Release date: 1998

Contains spoilers

After watching Jay Lind’s Valerie I was much more upbeat about watching this low-to-no budget adaptation of Carmilla. Unfortunately this just didn’t capture me in the same way – though I will say that the selected soundtrack for this worked a lot better than the Valerie soundtrack did. There is a nasty crackle over the sound but I think that is going to be the best version that a distributor will find.

crucifix

It starts in the second half of the 19th Century and Carmilla (Maria Pechukas, Spookies) is being forced to marry and so she killed her husband and then slit her wrists with a crucifix. She returned as a vampire, of course, and the women of the family started to die due to a strange anaemia. Maddie (also Maria Pechukas) had a dream of a strange woman in her room as a child – it started when her mother (Heather War) died.

Maria Pechukas as Carmilla

The film has quite a disjointed narrative, with an attempt to draw a psychosexual drama in much the way Valerie did, but this isn’t as well put together. Angela (Colleen Van Ryn) is being called by a voice (haunted as she is by Carmilla) and Maddie’s dad goes to stay with her uncle as Angela is her aunt and is ill. Maddie is beginning to experience phenomena too and later we hear that her dad had an affair with Carmilla whilst her mom died.

vampiric imagery

The film does create a dreamlike aspect to the narrative. I was more taken with the performance of Carmilla than that of Maddie and there is, of course, much in the way of vampiric imagery. If you like your movies to be a fever dream (with low-to-no budget) then you’ll get something out of this but I’d direct you to the much stronger Valerie. 3 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

Short Film: Queen Dracula Sucks Again

Directed by Curtis Everitt, released in 2024, and coming in at just over 46 minutes, this is ostensibly a sequel to Everitt’s Queen Dracula although, as Queen Dracula (Mel Heflin, Katherine) makes clear at the head it is for those in to “cheesy B horror sequels, where none of the original people come back and the continuity from the original does not matter.”

Now, this looks a lot nicer, in a photography sort of way, to the previous film and Queen Dracula is right in her description. However, it is also interminably long for a short, in a world where pacing is something that happens to other people’s films.

feeding

It follows Claude (Curtis Everitt), a recently divorced man with joint custody of his son – though because he lives out of the way he rarely sees him. It starts with him relaying how down he is and that seeing home videos of his son helps – which is then followed by said video of son on play equipment that just goes on. We then watch him at a (deliberately) excruciating speed dating.

QD and Claude

He gets a house flyer through the post and goes to see it. This has the film then follow him around the house, unaware of Queen Dracula who appears in the background watching. Eventually she makes herself known and shows him round the same rooms we just watched him go through until revealing her true nature and attacking him. Fin. The whole thing could have been cut down to a 5-minute sequence and lost nothing but gained pace.

The imdb page is here.

Valerie – review

Director: Jay Lind

Release date: 2002

Contains spoilers

Not to be confused with the director’s 1992 film of the same name, this was a straight to video, zero budget flick that has received Blu-ray treatment in a collection of five of his films, released by SRS video.

When I got the set, I was conflicted, after all I didn’t particularly think the films would be masterpieces but there were at least two vampire features (this and Carmilla). I watched this first and was pleasantly surprised. Yes, it is low budget and has plenty wrong with it, but it was also a very watchable psychosexual drama.

bite

It starts with Nosferatu on TV and then cuts to a graveyard and, in a crypt, led on top of the tomb is Valerie (Maggi Horseman). She rises and does a slow amble through the graveyard – a note that the night lighting is well done but the shots seem out of focus, probably deliberately so to give a dreamlike feel. A couple are in the car and the lady (I think Crissy Madarang) hears something, she sends the guy out. He is killed by Valerie, who gets in the car with the, now topless, girl and feeds from her.

Maggi Horseman as Valerie

Valerie’s mom (Kelley Rouse) wakes her, with Valerie complaining that she is an adult (she’s 18). Her mom notices that she has had a nosebleed in her sleep and her face is smeared with blood. She goes to her therapist and talks about her dream and how excited it has left her. She works at a boutique, then takes lunch on a boardwalk and finally goes to dance class. She disassociates whilst in class, reliving memories of a violent sexual assault that leaves her screaming and comforted by her friend Lori (Mellani Love).

pick up

So, we discover that she was assaulted, immediately after believing she had been followed home. She cannot remember the assailant and refers to him as a vampire. Her step-father doesn’t believe it was an assault, rather she invited it and essentially victim blames. She is also self-harming. She regularly dreams of being a vampire, with Lori and the girl from the first dream (who is a person she has seen in real life) taking victim and vampire roles in the dreams. There is some evidence that she has killed someone she picked up, but that could be a dream also (and a serial killer called the moonlight maniac is mentioned occasionally to obfuscate the truth further).

Lori with fangs

As the film progresses, she meets an older artist, Jack (Jay Lind), who she falls for and who falls for her. Lori is less than pleased but it seems that she has sapphic feelings for her friend (these are unreciprocated in real life, but the fact that she and the other woman feature in her vampire dreams suggests that subconsciously Valerie entertains the notion). The whole film moves towards the realisation of who the attacker was.

projecting the vampire

The dialogue is sometimes off – I couldn’t believe that two 18-year-olds would be that coy around sexual language. However, aspects like Valerie’s ofttimes bluntness, worked well with the character and the performance suited that. There was no shying from nudity and some of the themes were very dark (rape, self-harm and attempted suicide). One poor aspect was the chosen soundtrack, which I felt was too bombastic. The film is more belief in vampires and acting like a vampire, though the projection of a vampire persona (the only male vampire) on her attacker kind of makes for a vampire and Valerie is an untrustworthy witness to her own narrative. However, surprisingly entertaining and worth watching 5.5 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

Blood Hunters: Once More Into The Darkness – review

Author: Various

Artist: Various

Release date: 2024 (tpb)

Contains spoilers

The Blurb: Collects Blood Hunters (2024) #1-4 and Hallows' Eve: The Big Night.

Your favorite Marvel heroes vs. vampires! Discover how the shattering events of BLOOD HUNT cover the breadth of the Marvel Universe! Hawkeye is on the run, but does he have enough trick arrows in his quiver to avoid both the long arm of the law and vampires out for his blood?! And the same question applies to Kate Bishop! Man-Wolf and J. Jonah Jameson do a little father-son bonding - while also fighting for their lives against a horde of bloodsuckers! But what happens when a group of vamps get a taste of the Hulk's gamma-irradiated plasma? Plus: The vengeance of Doctor Doom! The cosmic power of the Silver Surfer! The fury of Hellcow! And with Cloak missing in action, Dagger strikes out in search of new and surprising allies. Witness the genesis of Marvel's wildest team yet: the Blood Hunters!

The review: The third of the Blood Hunt crossover event that I have read, this was the most diverse. Starting with a Hawkeye story – hunted by law enforcement, disguising himself by growing a moustache, he is caught just as sundeath occurs and then he, and the cops, have more important things to deal with. However the graphic novel jumps in and out of stories and there is a wide variety of content and Marvel characters including Man-Wolf, Elsa Bloodstone, Dagger, Hulk and Dr Doom. A standout moment was the blessing of a rooftop water tower and then exploding the contents down onto the vampire filled street below.

However, for me the reason to get this volume (beyond the whole event) is because Marvel bring back Hellcow… indeed not just Hellcow, but her calf too. The concept of a vampire cow might seem silly, but I love it and they manage to give this strip a gravitas despite the subject. Again, the multitude of characters might be confusing for casual Marvel readers, but the book contains many separate tales, which work in that self-contained way amongst the larger event and are, for the most part, street level. 7 out of 10.

In Paperback @ Amazon US

In Paperback @ Amazon UK

Short Film: The Vampyress

Released in 2021 and coming in at just under 11 minutes, the Vampyress was directed by James Worthington. It starts with a girl, Willow (Emily Uritz) breathing hard whilst by a sink, the tap running, she is blood spattered.

dinner

She seems to awaken and her father (Karl Barbee) has come in her room, she is on the floor. He wants her to come down for dinner but she is due to go out with friends. He insists. Downstairs there are Halloween decorations up and he hands her a plat of fried spinach. She takes one fork of it.

blood spattered

He doesn’t know where her mother is, if she cared she’d be there he says. He asks about school and confronts her with her absence, wanting to know what is going on. She gets a text and says she’ll have to go but when he tries to stop her she smashes her plate over his head and punches him out. She is panicking when there is a knock at the door – she assumes her friends. It is a stranger named Jenni (Ali Basalyga), she has just moved in down the street and asks to be let in…

And it is a neat little short, playing with turning and memory. The imdb page is here.

Horror stories – review

Director: Lukas DiSparrow

Release date: 2024

Contains spoilers

This is a portmanteau film where it seems like the segments were made for the feature where the surround is a group going to the Host (Lukas DiSparrow) who has a book that, when they touch it, they enter the story. The actual stories themselves are of varying quality but, overall, the film is certainly watchable.

The vampire segment is called Dracula but, to be fair, it is not one of the stronger segments though the black and white London-scape looks rather nice.

prostitute

It starts with the “reader” (Andrea Kularatne) in the city and narrating. She is looking for a hunter that she will hunt. She meets a man on the street, offers him a ‘good time’ and goes down an alley with him where sex is had but when she asks for money he walks away – though not before ramming her hard into a wall and knocking her out. Honestly, the prostitute element made little sense.

rising

We see a hand emerge from a coffin and Dracula (Mario Bob) rises. I liked the decayed, monstrous make-up. The reader comes round and walks the streets. She is watched by the vampire, his shadow follows her and her narration suggests she knows. He appears near her and speaks to her – she does not react to his look. She stakes him, that’s it… To be fair this was one story where the character the reader takes is successful and survives – she is rather elated when out of the story.

Mario Bob as Dracula

However, the segment does very little. It is style over substance. As I mentioned at the head, the anthology, as a whole, was worth a watch but this segment did so very little that only its stylistic elements (rather well done for a low budget) drag it up to 3.5 out of 10 and as regular readers will know, with anthology/portmanteau films I only score the vampire segment.

The imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon UK

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest: Season 1 – review

Director: Kinji Yoshimoto

First Aired: 2019

Contains spoilers

Arifureta is an iseka anima (one in which a central protagonist is transported to another world, ordinary in theirs, they become powerful in the new world). The protagonist in this case is Hajime (Toshinari Fukamachi/Matt Shipman) who was one of a group of schoolkids (and their teacher Aiko (Ai Kakuma/Emily Fajardo)) transported to a world by that world’s Pope, to fight as heroes in the war between monsters, demons and humans. The world is a fantasy type world.

Hajime as we meet him

At the beginning we see Hajime thrown from a bridge during a battle with monsters in a deep level of a dungeon. The class were transported deeper into the dungeon than they should have gone and, in flashbacks, we eventually discover that Hajime – who had a low-level transformation magic and no warrior skills – was targeted by a classmate, Hiyama (Minoru Shiraishi/Orion Pitts), who was jealous of the attention he got from Kaori (Saori Ônishi/Skyler McIntosh). It is assumed that it was an accident and Hajome is dead.

growing stronger

Indeed, he should have been killed – but he managed to use his wits to survive at the low levels of the dungeon (though, before he emerges he loses an arm and an eye). Part of his survival is down to feeding on monsters, which brought Delicious in Dungeon to mind though this was – for the first few episodes definitely – a lot darker. As he eats the different monsters, they transform his DNA and bestow powers on him. This causes his hair to turn white but also improves his odds of survival.

Yue trapped

Eventually he finds a young woman, Yue (Yûki Kuwahara/Tia Lynn Ballard) trapped in a contraption. He is going to leave her trapped but eventually releases her – in flashback Hajime is a pleasant young man but after his experiences he becomes abrasive and cynical, which was a nice direction of character to be honest. Yue is the last vampire (and a vampire princess) and becomes his companion, feeding from him and fighting by his side. They do fall in love but, as powerful as Hajime becomes, he is still 17 and both shy and clumsy in this regard. Eventually they discover that the dungeons are tests, left by a group called the Liberators. The god of the world is not a force for good and manipulates the war eternally for his amusement. Hajime resolves to solve the dungeons and gain their powers, not to fight the god but to get back to Japan.

worthless rabbit

The tone of the series turns mid-season when they introduce Shea (Minami Takahashi/AmaLee), a beastman from a tribe of bunny people (she looks human but has bunny ears and a tail). The series then takes on some comedy and chibi elements and also becomes a harem series, with Hajime collecting several female companions in love/lust with him as well as a young meregirl who refers to him as Papa and who he becomes paternal to. However, the Hajime character remains cynical and, frankly, a tad unhinged after all he has been through.

Yue's magic

The animation in this worked well and, to be honest, I enjoyed the ride. There was quite a bit of action, Hajime was ruthless and happily kills those who gets in his way and the comedy/chibi/harem elements stopped it from becoming too dark throughout. Yue, makes it a vampire series and is in every episode from number 2 onwards. The UK Blu-Ray also contains two very short OVAs (and also keeps the catch-up episode mid-season). 7 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

On Blu-Ray @ Amazon US

On Blu-Ray @ Amazon UK

Classic Literature: The Vampire: Novel from Bulgaria

The fact that Hans Wachenhusen published this in 1878 has led me to posting this under the “Classic Literature” label rather than the “honourable mention” it should be. Though titled The Vampire there is little in the way of vampires in the book until the final chapter – so it is more a fleeting visitation. The 2023 translation was by Rade Kolbas.

The first chapter reads like a travelogue and indeed that is what it is – Wachenhusen was known in Germany as a travel writer. But the yarn then spins into a tale of Government corruption (on the part of the Ottoman Mudessarif) and politics, dashing heroes and love. The first almost reference to vampires was in calling the Ottoman Pasha a bloodsucker – but this was in relation to him siphoning off wealth.

The next mention is about actual vampires and a suggestion that they are associated with a particular place in the mountains. They are described as holding nightly meetings there, where they were able to “suck new life from the moonlight”.

As I mentioned, the final chapter is concerned with a vampire describing a certain character, thought killed by the hero, returning and attacking a bride on her wedding night. Whether he is, in reality, a vampire or is just assumed to be by the locals, as he was left for dead and unburied in the mountains, is really left to reader interpretation but it does appear he was going to bite her neck before being stopped and killed (again?), after which the good local folk stake him through the heart to prevent any further visitations. A big thanks to Sarah who got me this for my birthday.

In Hardback @ Amazon US

In Hardback @ Amazon UK

Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt – review

Authors: Various

Artists: Various

Release date: 2024 (tpb)

The Blurb: Collects Amazing Spider-Man: Blood Hunt #1-3, Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #49 And Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2023) #21-22.

Marvel's Spider-Men swing into the BLOOD HUNT! Vampires are running rampant through New York City - and while the Avengers are caught in the middle, someone has to take care of the citizens of the Big Apple. That person? Peter Parker, the spectacular Spider-Man! But if only things were that simple. They never are, and that means Spidey has a massive role to play in the nightmarish saga - one that involves Morbius, the Living Vampire! But will Morbius be fanged foe or friend this time? And will Peter need to take him out or save him?! Meanwhile, the world's greatest vampire slayer, Blade, has a plan - and his only hope for victory rests with the young Spider-Man, Miles Morales! But Blade's mission comes with a massive cost Miles may be unwilling to pay!

The review: The second tpb to be released in the Blood Hunt event – this one concentrates on spider-men, with a Peter Parker story and a Miles Morales story. It starts with Parker, fighting vampires and rather enjoying himself fighting monsters, when he gets a text from a criminal, Kareem, asking Parker to get Spider-Man to help him. When he gets to him he discovers that Kareem's partner in crime, Rabbit, has been turned and he needs the hero's help. They find the vampire who bit Rabbit – he has chained himself, ashamed of what he has become and begs Spider-Man to kill him. Suddenly he realises that the vampires are not just monsters, but Kareem stakes the vampire anyway and Rabbit (and Kareem who was turning, having been bitten by Rabbit) are cured. With the shine taken off vampire hunting, Spider-Man is suddenly confronted by Lizard (who is somewhat rough about getting his attention). Lizard and Misty Knight are trying to track down Michael Morbius who has been kidnapped and this leads to a vampire corporation. The Morales story stands aside from the Amazing Spider-Man story, shows us Blade turning him and then a team up with Hightail, and later Blade’s daughter Brielle Brooks, to defeat energy vampire R'ym'r.

Tonally lighter, for the Amazing Spider-Man part of the TPB at least, this was still a welcome foray into the Blood Hunt event – with a much more street level focus. Whilst both stories featured vampires (the Morales one, being energy ones of course) the action occurred with the main Blood Hunt as a wider event and these stories occurring separately – albeit sundeath offering a starting point. 7 out of 10.

In Paperback @ Amazon US

In Paperback @ Amazon UK

Bogieville – review

Director: Sean Cronin

Release date: 2024

Contains spoilers

This review was based on a provided screener. Director Sean Cronin has created two vampire films in very close proximity, this Southern USA set film and co-directing UK set Drained and he created very different types of vampires in each. The vampires in Bogieville, whilst maintaining an underlying cunning, are much more feral creatures and that sort of vampire is, of course, welcome in a sea of more Gothic, suave presentations. 

I see you

The film starts with a woman pulling up at a gas station and realising that she has started her period. She goes into the rest room and sits in a cubicle but then there are footsteps, a pounding on the cubical door, and a face full of fangs peering in from the top of the door as he hisses... a door which is then pulled forcefully off its hinges. We hear her scream throughout the encounter and see him aim at her crotch as he goes after her… it is an opening that lets us know exactly what sort of vampire we are getting and these vampires can not only smell blood but, we discover later, they log the scent of anyone who crosses their path.

Ham and Jody

The film proper starts with a garage and the owner goes through to mechanic Ham (Arifin Putra, Rumah Dara) and sacks him as business is slow. Less than impressed, Ham heads to the local bar where his girlfriend Jody (Eloise Lovell Anderson) works. His friend Nick (Ryan Livingstone) is working his charm with a pair of young ladies, Jody intercepts Ham but when another buck moseys in on the gals, Nick squares off with him and Ham intervenes. Ham is punched, left with a bloodied nose and the bar owner blames him and threatens to dock Jody’s pay – which leads her to quit (and crack a bottle over the bar owner's head). With no money for rent Jody and Ham skip town.

Poppie Jae Hughes as Lily

The young buck from the bar pulls up at the garage for gas, with the gals riding in his truck. The owner is filling it when the lights go off in the store and he leaves the car to investigate. The gals have gone to the rest room. Outside, a vampire appears at the truck window, and inside, the owner sees a little girl, Lily (Poppie Jae Hughes), who turns around and hisses, showing him her bloodied, monstrous face. It’s a great shot (though, being critical, it could have done with having a little more light) but also deliberately seems to throw back to many a little-girl-monster-shot; notably in Dawn of the Dead (2004) and 30 Days of Night. This starts a spree of vampire attacks in the town that, at first, are attributed to Ham and Jody by the sheriff (Daniel P Lewis) – even though the Doctor (Angela Dixon, Drained) quickly theorises vampires.

threatened by Madison

Ham and Jody, meanwhile, are going down a backroad when something runs out and Ham crashes. Coming round in the morning, he finds blood in his grille and a scrap of material (though no body). They notice the Madison Farm trailer park near-by and go to see if anyone was injured. It looks abandoned but they meet caretaker Crawford (Jonathan Hansler, Vampire Virus), who is wary and armed. He eventually, however, offers them a job though there are rules (primarily; never leave especially at night, in fact never go out at night). He is the brother of the site’s owner, Madison (Sean Cronin, also Drained and Wrath of Dracula). Madison and his wife (Sarina Taylor) are vampires, Lily is Crawford’s daughter and all the trailer park residents are vampires too.

after a moment in the sun

So, the reason they are offered a job is partly to save their lives – Crawford knows the vampires would have their scent and would track them down – but also because he is succession planning. The vampires are standard when it comes to apotropaic/killing methods, including sunlight, aversion to crosses, aversion to/killed by garlic etc. There are aspects that buckle a tad when placed under scrutiny – the primary one being why they are attacking the town all of a sudden (they have been there 20 years). Indeed, whilst keeping the attacks on the town in, I would have cut the 'Ham being a suspect' aspect.

impressive immolation

The film looks perfectly well and I was impressed by the effects. Though the immolations were cgi, they worked really well and the vicious maws looked really good. The plot was simple but that worked for the type of vampires (and is another reason I would have dropped the scenes framing Ham, as the plotline was a complication but was under-explored/exploited). I do have to mention that a lot of the cast were not from the US and, whilst the cast did what was necessary with their performances, the Southern accents sounded a little off to my ear and I am sure an American, from the South especially, might well struggle accepting the accents. Nevertheless, I was rather taken with this and offer a solid 6.5 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK

The National Mummy – review

Director: José Ramón Larraz

Release date: 1981

Contains spoilers

With bundles of sexploitation, psychosexual themes and a weird style, Vampyres by José Ramón Larraz is a definite favourite of mine within the megatext. That Larraz directed this, therefore, is a bit of a shock. Filmed in a transitional period in Spanish history this is a heady mix of monster mash, political satire (I think) and sexual comedy of the basest kind.

Saturnino and Felipe

So it is a comedy, with an opening soundtrack theme to make it sound like a children’s film (it really isn’t). A visitor arrives ay a country estate. It is Prof Felipe (Quique Camoiras) with his daughter, Ana-Mari (Azucena Hernández, The Night of the Werewolf) and he has a large crate with him containing the mummy of the daughter of Akhenaten (who was Tutankhamun’s father). There is, of course, a curse. They are visiting Saturnino (Francisco Algora) and within minutes we get the “gags” of Ana-Mari complaining that Saturnino is staring at her breasts and her accidentally hitting in in the nuts with a handbag.

the wolfman

Not long after arriving the matriarch of the house, Doña Perpetua (Lili Muráti), is brought a birthday cake and promptly collapses and dies face first in it. Saturnino blames the curse. She later resuscitates (no thanks to anyone else) and becomes somewhat homicidal. Unfortunately, proximity to the mummy has had an effect on Felipe and he becomes a werewolf. We also see the mummy come to life, later we see that the desiccation of her face is not mirrored on the rest of her body,

Carlos Lucena as The vampire

Having survived the night with a werewolf, Saturnino takes his friend to a local asylum, which is run by Dr. Vilaseca AKA Dr. Cabezas (Carlos Lucena), who is clearly modelled on the Kinski version of Orlok/Dracula. Felipe goes there peacefully but then escapes and finds women in coffin in the basement – yes vampire brides. It turns out Dr. Vilaseca sends these to a brothel where they suck… blood. The vampire ends up wanting the mummy, Saturnino and Felipe end up infiltrating the brothel (and getting distracted from their mission) and eventually hunting the vampires down. The mummy herself seems to have a couple of thousand-years-old itch to scratch.

the mummy

I mentioned the political side, and this was filmed after the 1981 attempted coup d'état in Spain – it’s referenced – and in the transitional period post Franco. Many politicians are mentioned that mean nothing to me and the political jokes went over my head. I have read a description of nudity in Spanish films, in the transitional period, being an expression of freedom from censorship post Franco and part of a Spanish cinema movement of cheap end films known as destape. However, to me, the sex jokes were misogynistic and certainly out of date now (probably then also) – Ana-Mari fainting and so Saturnino having to bare her boobs and suckle her nipples is simply sexual assault rather than having a laugh. It took the Seaside Postcard and innuendo of Carry On (which, of course, had ended by then) and pushed it steps beyond. The closing scene is a Benny Hill style chase.

staking

The political aspect went into the vampire lore also, and I really don’t quite know what to make of it either. Dr. Vilaseca is faced with a cross and so, to counter it, he crosses a red hammer and sickle, in response Saturnino’s diminutive butler Agapito (José Jaime Espinosa) holds up a red swastika and this kills the vampire, who disintegrates. What they were trying to say with this was way over my head but felt pro-fascist. Beyond that, a stake through the heart will do (Agapito telling Saturnino to aim above the left breast of a vampire woman, as he initially looked to stake the pubic area) and the vampires have green blood and no reflection.

Azucena Hernández as Ana-Mari

This is bizarre, no doubt about it. It would probably have worked better if I understood the political context and people mentioned. I still think the sexual side probably went too far as comedy – though some may disagree. The film threw in the kitchen sink, merging more Victorian aesthetics (including costumes and carriages) with mentions of the coup and motorbikes (in the final scene). Strange and probably only worth 3 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

Short Film: The Dark Gift - The Kevin Derrick Gentry Story

According to the Amazon page a 2023 film, directed by Ashei Khan and coming in at 34 minutes long, this is a bit of a mixed bag. Sometimes a tad experimental, sometimes with over-powered vampires, self-contradictory in places with a mixed bag of acting. But there is definitely a kernel here to work with.

After some level of voiceover with Vlad Ţepeş imagery (and bats) the film starts proper. Regarding a vampire called Kevin Derrick Gentry (himself), who we see very little of to be honest, the story begins with women waking naked on a bed unsure how they got there but we can see the bite marks on their necks and they all have a vague memory of being with Gentry. A woman, Sasha (Mushirah Hollins), comes in and explains that she is there to help with their transition.

Mushirah Hollins as Sasha

There is some protesting at that, one has a husband and another a fiancé but Sasha warns them to stay away from family and that a hunger is going to come over them. She takes them out (it is day but snowy – we don’t get a definitive on the daylight rule) and shows them how easy it is to mesmerise a person and make him (or her) their slave – she has a guy give her a watch, his wallet and then go with her to feed her. They are taken to a bar to practice.

bloodied

We get an aspect of the husband and fiancé meeting each other as they search for their vanished partners and a discovery that Gentry has (what sounds like) a motivational website that actually reveals his nature. I said there were contradictions and Sasha indicates that they (her and Gentry) are original vampires and he suggests he is 1000 years old but then we see a scene (albeit not well explained in a narrative sense) that seems to show Gentry being turned in 1819. I was particularly taken by the use of spoken word and music in the soundscape built for the film.

At the time of writing there was no IMDb page.

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