Honourable Mention: Freckled Max and the Spooks

Directed by Juraj Jakubisko, who would go on to make Bathory, and released in 1987, this is a kid orientated film that features a cornucopia of monsters and the youthful protagonist Freckled Max (Martin Hreben). The film seems to have been cut together from the series Frankenstein’s Aunt (which itself is based on the book of the same name) and explains why the film feels very episodic and slightly disjointed.

Max is an orphan, stuck with a circus and foster parents who are exploiting him. As they pass through a particular region known for vampires and water sprites (amongst other monsters) he manages to escape the caravan, aided by water sprite Alojz (Eddie Constantine). Nearby Henry Frankenstein (Bolek Polívka) is on the verge of copying his ancestor and creating a monster, Albert (Gerhard Karzel). Now the brain is brought by Count Drakula (Ferdy Mayne, the Fearless Vampire Killers, the Vampire Lovers & Frightmare), who flies it in, and is that of a genius professor. Unfortunately, rather than just let it cool, Igor (Jacques Herlin) freezes it, impairing it. Henry leaves (following a village mob’s assault on the castle) and his Aunt (Viveca Lindfors) returns to the castle.

Ferdy Mayne as Drakula

So, Drakula. Firstly it is great to see Ferdy Mayne as a vampire again and he makes a fine looking Dracula. The trouble with it is that he appears very occasionally in the film. There is one particular vampy moment, as he flies Albert’s love interest Klara (Barbara De Rossi) home from the castle and, fascinated by her neck, his fangs pop out but his instinct to feed is quickly interrupted. His cloak turns into leathery bat wings when he flies. At one point he dons a helmet from a suit or armour because the sun is still out but later has got used to flying in daylight. Beyond this he really is a bit of a background character and more a fleeting visitation than mainstay of the film.

The imdb page is here.

On Blu-Ray @ Amazon US

Salem’s Lot (2024) – review

Director: Gary Dauberman

Release Date: 2024

Contains spoilers

When I saw this reimagining of Salem’s Lot at the cinema I was somewhat disappointed, not in the film as a vampire horror as it does well in those stakes, but as a version of King’s book. It failed, to me, to capture the small town and its large cast of characters, who are the reason, to me, that the book is so effective.

I wrote my First Impression with a view to reviewing the film when it was released on physical media. In truth, having heard that the studio trimmed an hour off the theatrical release, I hoped it would be restored and we might get the characters reinstated. As it is, the film still hasn’t hit physical media (mostly) and so I recently picked up the Chinese release (I trust it is kosher), it isn’t restored but here is my review.

getting instruction

The film starts with Straker (Pilou Asbæk) instructing Hank Peters (Mike Kaz) to collect a large crate and deliver it to the Marsten House. It is here that we see the loss of characters. Hank is never named, nor is his helper Snowy (Timothy John Smith, Castle Rock). All we see of picking up the crate is them arriving at the Marsten House and carrying it in – no issues at pickup or transporting it – and the two characters play no further part. They get the crate in, dropping it at one point (the crate is meant to contain a dresser but dirt spills out). They leave, though Hank is nearly mesmerised, and then Barlow (Alexander Ward, American Horror Story: Hotel) emerges from the crate.

Lewis Pullman as Ben

Daylight, and Ben Mears (Lewis Pullman), looks at the distant Marsten House. Local sheriff Gillespie (William Sadler, From Dusk till Dawn: the series & Living Among Us) approaches him and Mears explains he is sight-seeing. He is an author, he was local until he was nine (when his parents were killed and he was moved to family) and he promises Gillespie that he won’t cause trouble. He goes into town and the real estate office owned by Larry Crockett (Michael Steven Costello). Working there is Susan Norton (Makenzie Leigh), who is reading one of Ben’s books – she finds him familiar, not realising that it is from his author’s picture on the fly sleeve until Crockett has taken over the conversation. She directs Ben to Eva Miller (Marilyn Busch) and her boarding house. Again, here, we lose Crockett from this point and Weasel (the town drunk and Eva’s former paramour) we see for the briefest moment, top of the head only with one line of dialogue.

"say Uncle"

At school new kid Mark Petrie (Jordan Preston Carter) is being tied up by the Glicks, Danny (Nicholas Crovetti) and Ralphy (Cade Woodward), for an escapology trick when school bully Richie Boddin (Declan Lemerande) pushes Mark. He retaliates and makes him call Uncle (though he doesn’t release) and teacher Matt Burke (Bill Camp) intervenes – telling Mark off for not releasing when Boddin cried Uncle as they keep their word in the Lot. What was strange here was making Mark the new kid. Mark may have been the weird kid in other versions, but he wasn’t an outsider but in this he is. The film makes mention of Ben also being an outsider – though he is more the Prodigal Son. Vampires are outsiders, of course, hence needing invites and the film doesn’t explore deep enough to explain why the primary two vampire hunters are also coded outsiders.

shadow puppets

Ben has been, unsubtly, invited to the drive in – the place the whole town goes to – and ends up sat on a roof with Susan. Meanwhile the Glick boys have been at Mark’s and head home. A side-bar to mention the fact that Mark has a poster for the great blaxploitation film Sugar Hill on his wall. As the Glicks walk, a car pulls close and slows; it is driven by Straker, who offers them a lift. In response Danny refuses and guides his brother into the woods to get away from the strange man. It is a strange design choice to make the ensuing scene unreal, trees and characters in silhouette against a mostly blue background. This is like shadow puppets. Straker grabs Ralphie and takes him back to the Marsten House and gifts him to Barlow as a sacrifice (to cement his presence in the town).

revoked invitation

This is the start of the death (or undeath) of the town and the film cuts forward a week, with the search for Ralphie still ongoing. We get the death of Danny and him returning to get Mark and gravedigger Mike Ryserson (Spencer Treat Clark) found ill by Matt Burke, dying and returning for the teacher. What I want to discuss is the confused invitation rule. Mike enters Matt’s house as a vampire and presumably is using the invitation he got when he was already bitten and ill (and so part vampire). Matt revokes his invitation and it drives him out. Equally Danny visits Mark and Mark opens a window and Danny floats in. But there was no invitation – true he’d been there before but before being bitten. Perhaps non-verbal invitation (opening the window) was enough? Equally Barlow enters the Petrie’s house and there appears to have been no invitation (though perhaps being invited to the town, along with the sacrifice, sufficed?)

Danny triggers the cross

The scenes mentioned above highlight another way lore seemed off. When Danny is in Mark’s room, and Mark is backing away, a cross on a diorama lights up as the vampire draws near, Mark grabs it and burns Danny. It is very much the presence of the vampire, near the cross, that causes the cross to glow. When Barlow comes to the Petrie House, a cross held by Father Callahan (John Benjamin Hickey) glows. However, it loses its glow as his faith wains – if faith is needed then the crosses would not be glowing simply because a vampire was near as the faith in the cross would, I imagine, need to be focused into it. Indeed two tongue depressors crossed, with conviction, don't work until taped and constructed to form a cross. Other lore involves vampires flying (they can’t stand on holy ground but can fly over it), a bite turns (pretty quickly in some cases, depending on what the film needs), staking or sunlight kills.

below the mortician's shroud

Beyond the inconsistent use of crosses/faith and invitation this is not a bad vampire film. It leans into horror and uses Gordon Lightfoot’s Sundown neatly in the soundtrack. What I cannot call this is a decent version of Salem’s Lot. I get things can be changed from source material (indeed sometimes changing source material improves the experience) but this seemed to utterly lose the point, the cornucopia of townsfolk, their stories, are at the centre of the point of the tale. I still hope to see a 3-hour cut, of course that won’t cover all characters from the novel but could restore the small-town focus. 6 out of 10 as a vampire horror, but when you watch it divorce the book from your mind.

The imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK

Bela Belara's A Vampire – review

Director: Juaquin Sebastian Rosales

Release date: 2025

Contains spoilers

This independently produced film has a huge amount going for it – though there was one issue I need to address – but it’s great to see filmmakers creating decent films, clearly on a budget, and doing it well. My thanks to Paul who alerted me to it being dropped by the production company onto YouTube.

Kayla and Charlie

The opening sees a couple walking at night, there is religious music and they speak and their speech might be indistinct purposefully... but it is here that I’ll briefly touch on my main issue – sound. Indistinct chatter may have been a choice here but in other scenes one actor's voice might drop compared to another as they face away from a mic. It is never so bad later that you can’t hear but you can hear the drop in volume and I’d look to tweak aspects of the sound in the future sequel (as this does lead to a ‘to be continued’).

bloodbath

The couple, Kayla (Cecilia Cuevas) and Charlie (Quinn Sbrega), reach his parents house. He is taking her to meet them and she is nervous – they are very religious. However, on getting in there both mum (Emily Candia) and dad (Robert Coe) seem cool and they sit down for a meal when the subject of work (Kayla works as a server at a diner at night) and church (she isn’t practicing) come up. Dad suggests she go to mass with them and she agrees, but for a moment she is distracted as blood-soaked hands are seen in the window, smearing blood on the porch woodwork. Grace is said but we cut to Kayla sat, covered in blood, as the family have been/are being slaughtered.

Bela's dream

Bela (Annie Jean Buckley) seems to wake in a field, in the middle of nowhere, a locket on a tree branch has blood on it. A voice (Daniel J Lee) suggests that there are things she cannot run from. Bolting awake in bed she puts her hand into a shaft of light, which does not burn. Where this sequence features chronologically is unclear as she has not come across the vampires yet. Be that as it may… we then see her in a car with her best friend Micah (Taylor McDonald) and Micah’s friend Aaron (Broc Stermer). He has taken them to, what appears to be, a frat party but warns that the guys are hardcore, he is their chaperone and will remain in 5-feet at all times and not to accept a drink as it might be spiked.

Juaquin Sebastian Rosales as Arthur

He heads in and Bela and Micah speak – Micah is nervous, she has awkward social skills, and tells Bela not to ditch her. Bela agrees and they get through the door when Bela is off and doing shots. Bela notices a guy for a moment, and asks about him and his whereabouts, showing pictures on her phone, which he looks like, that include Hotel Transylvania’s Dracula and Count Von Count. As a moment that seemed odd, no more was made of her having vampire related pics on her phone and more natural would have been to ask about the Goth looking guy. Nevertheless, she finds him and starts a conversation – he is called Arthur (Juaquin Sebastian Rosales).

aftermath of newborn hunger

This is where the film started to really gel for me, and it was within their conversation. A big shout for Annie Jean Buckley and Juaquin Sebastian Rosales’ performances, the naturalistic conversation and the chemistry they offered. She eventually gets out of there with him, back to hers. When Aaron hears that Bela has left, he leaves Micah and goes chasing after her. We get a great sequence of Bela and Arthur making out, interposed with Micah drunk and dancing. The make out session ends with fangs and him biting her. He bites his own wrist (they make this look difficult and painful) and drips blood into her mouth, leaves a note and leaves the house. Aaron arrives as he leaves and he sends the lad inside, knowing she will awaken vampire and uncontrollably hungry (later he says he did it to protect her little sister who is in the house). When an angry Micah gets there, Bela is blood encrusted and Aaron is dead.

bite

What we get then is Bela coming to terms with her new reality, Arthur being cryptic, the revelation that Micah is a witch and an overarch regarding the plans of master vampire Sânge Albescu, whose voice was in Bela’s dream, which are about death, destruction and worship of him. Other lore we get is that these vampires reflect (we see reflections), are burnt by the sun and the ‘disease’ is incurable. The film is an hour forty-four but never feels a chore, but it is only the opening of the story and needs to be continued. As mentioned, our two primary leads are great, I might have removed some minor aspects (vampire pics on Bela’s phone) and there are dialogue moments where the sound could have been strengthened but for an indie film you can watch for free (at time of writing) I was impressed. 7 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

Use of Tropes: Bat Zombies

I guess this 2023 feature, directed by Brian Orvik, couldn’t help but use tropes being a stitch together of several public domain films, with a slapdash of new footage, and a re-dub to aim towards something more comedic.

The films used include the Last Man on Earth, House on Haunted Hill, The Bat, White Zombie, The Devil Bat and Night of the Living Dead and so you can see, given the inclusion of Last Man, why tropes might be used.

Indeed, in this tale of zombie bats and infected humans, the reanimated dead are all called zombies but they can be repelled by mirrors (as opposed to not reflecting) and are killed by a stake to the heart – as per the Last Man on Earth. For that reason this deserved to get a brief honourable mention due to use of tropes. 

The imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK

DC vs. Vampires: World War V Vol. 2 – review

Writer: Matthew Rosenberg et al.

Artist: Otto Schmidt et al.

First published: 2025 (THB)

Contains spoilers

The Blurb: The epic sequel to DC Vs. Vampires barrels towards its earth-shattering conclusion! Matthew Rosenberg and Otto Schmidt have teamed up to conclude their story about the DC Vs. Vampires universe in its new Ice Age as the human resistance gathers their strength against vampire queen Barbara Gordon...and even greater threats that loom just out of sight!

The world is frozen over, infested with vampires, and now in the crosshairs of even greater threats!

The inevitable Darkseid has tightened his grip on the already ravaged planet, forcing a tenuous alliance to form between the humans and the vampires, lest they both find themselves snuffed out by the power of a terrifying New God. But is even the threat of extinction enough to keep these two sides from tearing each other apart?

Collects the epic conclusion of DC Vs. Vampires: World War V with issues #7-12.

The review: Followng DC vs. Vampires: World War V Vol. 1, this takes the DC Elseworlds event and brings it to a conclusion. Darkseid had appeared on Earth in the last volume and, from page 1 of this, he is conducting all out war against vampire and human alike. Part of the reason is to get to his prodigal adopted son Mister Miracle; thought dead by most but actually held in Atlantis by (the vampire) Aquaman as his baby may hold the key to the vampires’ destruction and the duplicitous King of the Oceans is holding that card close to his chest. The spirit of Constantine is stuck in the House of Mystery. Alfred, the new Green Lantern, has mastered his powers and is forced to work with the faux Batman in a plan that should reopen the House of Mystery to the mortal world. Vampire Damian Wayne is still single-mindedly focused on killing Vampire Queen Barbara Gordon.

One thing the series has been vague upon is the impact of vampirism on alien physiology. Although the series generally says it doesn’t turn aliens, this is not always the case (for example Superman turns early in the series and Mister Miracle is the Scott Free version, who was a New God). Knowing that Darkseid would come, the vampires had been working on a weapon that would use the vampiric infection as ammunition, not to turn but rather to kill aliens – the prototype was destroyed but a certain Haley Quinn was privy to its design. Finally the New Gods also arrive but can they be trusted?

This takes the DC Vs Vampires universe to a conclusion and was a satisfying, action packed read. 8 out of 10.

In Hardback @ Amazon US

In Hardback @ Amazon UK

Daydreamers – review

Director: Timothy Linh Bui

Release date: 2023

Contains spoilers

It great to see a piece of vampire cinema coming out of Vietnam, especially when it looks as good as Nguoi Mat Troi (which apparently translates to People of the Sun). There were aspects of this that felt like underlying social commentary around class and status, which I missed the nuance of due to not being aware of societal cultures in Vietnam, but they were a minor thing within a vampire movie that owed its tropes to Western cinema.

opening animation

That importing of the tropes is tackled in an animated opening that suggested a history were European vampires were being wiped out and so they fled to Indochina, where they cut a bloody swathe through the country, murdering, feeding and turning. Eventually the people fought back, driving the vampires to near extinction. The commentary on colonisation here is obvious.

Marco hunting

The vampires decided they had to blend in to survive and there is a general rule of no killing (though also a rule of leaving no witnesses, which does involve killing). We meet a schoolgirl, who is helping her dad. She is apparently top of her class and doing really well. Her dad transports stock from his store as she closes up for him. He is worried for her, but she reminds him it is a five minute walk home. As she leaves we see she is observed and a hooded figure, later revealed as Marco (Thuan Nguyen), floats down behind her. She does get home and is sat at a dresser, not noticing the reflected shutters opening – vampires in this cast no reflection. He feeds from her and then takes her to the river and dumps the body, wrapped in chains to weight it down. The police are called to the bodiless bloody scene in her bedroom.

testing Nhat

We meet a group of vampires, the so-called Daydreamers. They have a legend of a turned monk who sealed himself into a cave for 100 years, subsisting on rat blood and avoiding humans, until he eventually became human again. These vampires believe that through abstinence they can tame their inner demon and turn back to human. The sect is led by Vy (Thiên Tư), with her her human son Loc (Thach Kim Long), who is a police detective, acting as a daylight protector. They do a test of some of the vampires (chaining them up and putting blood before them) following the murder (Loc recognising the signs of a vampire attack at the crime scene). Among those tested is Nhat (Trang Ngoc Vang), the main protagonist of the film – one of the vampires fails the test and is killed by silver bullet.

slaughter fantasy

Nhat’s job is to pick up animal blood (currently fish blood) and distribute it to fellow daydreamers. As he drives through the city he passes Ha (Trinh Thao), being bullied by other schoolgirls. She jumps onto his trailer but he stops (she drops her purse that he subsequently accidentally rides off with), forcing her off the vehicle, but does intervene in the beating Ha is getting. Elsewhere Marco is with Trieu (Chi Pu) at an opulent restaurant celebrating their 1-year anniversary. She offers venison blood to drip in their champagne – he fantasises about the two of them slaughtering the staff and customers. We later discover she is the vampire queen of the city.

Nhat and Ha

Marco is Nhat’s brother. He escaped from the daydreamers when he failed the blood test but their mother took the silver bullet fired at him. He returns to Nhat and tempts him to go out with his new friends – which involves going to one of Trieu’s clubs (it seems she runs clubs, gambling dens etc). Coincidentally, also at the club is Ha, dragged there by her friend Mai (Ngân Hoà). There is an attraction between her and Nhat and he does become drunk. Trying to help him in the restroom she sees he has no reflection and runs. Trieu’s rule is there are no witnesses, so Ha should die – Nhat wants to save her by getting her out of Ho Chi Minh and Loc sees them together and fears the worst. Marco wants his brother with him but, of course, he has embraced his vampirism more fully than any other vampire we meet, with a credo that goes against both Trieu's rules and the ethos of the daydreamers.

dying vampire

So, the lore is pretty standard – sunlight burns, silver can kill and burns otherwise, no reflection and the vampires are fast and strong (though Marco seems exceptionally strong comparatively and this, presumably, is down to his human diet – there is a quite a collection of weighted down bodies in the river). When they die they crumble and dust and the effect is neatly done. They refer to humans as pets. It appears that a bite turns – so I guess that fully draining kills and part draining turns (the film doesn't distinguish). The film looks great and clearly had budget. Trang Ngoc Vang really does well, creating a sympathetic protagonist, but Thuan Nguyen needs mentioning as he really makes Marco a character you root for, despite being the one vampire with absolutely no moral compass. The film’s English title is odd as the daydreamers play a relatively minor role in the story. 7.5 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

On DVD @ Amazon US

Vampire Zombies... From Space! – review

Director: Michael Stasko

Release date: 2024

Contains spoilers

With the best will in the world, this film drawn like a 1950s-B should score low, it really should. However, I sat amused as I watched this. Michael Stasko and his team aimed for something straight out of Ed Wood’s playbook and totally committed to it and that commitment paid off, this should be bad, or so bad it’s good, rather I think it is actually pretty darn good.

Drawn in Black and White it starts at the MacDowell tobacco farm and mom, Bernice (Catherine Valle) sings a lullaby as she and pa, Roy (Erik Helle), put daughters Mary (played young by Elizabeth Wacheski and older by Jessica Antovski) and Susan (played young by Lauren Meadows and older by Charlotte Bondy) to bed. Later in the night the family dog, out on the porch, starts barking. Susan goes to the window and sees it run off into the tobacco fields, she follows.

spattered in mom's gore

Mary gets her parents and they look for her sister, who has been traumatised when she found the dog fed on by Dracula (Craig Gloster). In response Dracula causes his spaceship (yes, he’s a UFO flying Dracula) to blast Bernice, leaving Roy, along with the girls, spattered in her gore. Dracula turns his attention to the family but the spaceship fails and a reflection of light catching Roy’s cross causes the vampire to flee, turning into a bat.

Oliver Georgiou as Wayne

Ten years later and, a now grown, Mary is walking to school, something is in the field by her but she is distracted when a car with some guys stop by her. The majority are being sexual to her – though there is a warning about her murderous father. It seems that the townsfolk believe Roy killed Bernice, though he was acquitted. No one believes about the UFO. One of the guys, Wayne (Oliver Georgiou), is pissed with the attitude of the others and makes them drive off. They don’t see the zombie come of the field and rip Mary’s throat out – or the others that then rip her to shreds. I say zombie but they have fangs…

stake

Essentially, Dracula is going to invade Earth. His son, Dylan (Robert Kemeny) – a secret human-o-phile – created a serum that prevents their reaction to the cross (although these space vampires do not know it as a cross and refer to it as a t symbol). The side effect is that those bitten by a vaccinated vampire will turn, develop fangs but they (and their brains) rot. In other words, zombie vampires (or zompires, we would say). Like a vampire they must have the heart destroyed, not the rotting brain. There is, however, another apotropaic in the film, which the audience works out long before the characters – tobacco. It scares them off and makes vampire technology fritz out (hence the foul up at the beginning). It seems that it works fresh but tobacco smoke seems more effective.

the vampire high council

So, there is a vampire high council – not impressed with Dracula’s efforts. Unnamed in film they are credited as Vampira (Judith O'Dea, Night of the Living Dead), Nosferatu (David Liebe Hart) and Coppola's Dracula (Martin Ouellette). There is a cracking mirror bit with Dylan dressed as a soldier with a massive fake beard and only being spotted through the mirror – and it’s a moment where we can see a reflection of clothes (and fake beard) but not the vampire. There is turning into bats, as mentioned, but at one point Dracula turns into a bat to get into a mini bat-winged UFO.

clothes reflect

High silliness abounds with some genuine NSFW jokes - Lloyd Kaufman for instance appears as a character credited as town masturbator and his antics, when described, are consistently followed up with the line, “did he finish?” But the real reason this works is the absolute commitment to the aesthetic. The designs – be it the sci-fi elements or the fifties elements are bob on. There is no attempt to hide the wires. Because that fits the aesthetic. This was way more fun than I thought it would be. 6 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

On DVD @ Amazon US

On DVD @ Amazon UK