Short Film: Voltaic Blood

On Amazon Prime as a longer run-time short film (some 50 minutes), this is listed part 1 on the actual titles and IMDb suggests a series, of which this is the only episode currently released. It was directed by Jaime Gonzalez, released in 2025, and is rather ambitious with some strange, and I assume deliberate, anachronisms.

After intertitles that give a potted history of the Angelic fall, Nephilim and vampires we move to a cyberpunk scenario in a world not quite ours, in a city called Neo-Babylon, at the tail-end of a corporate war. A vampire, Gabriel (Jake Wade) feeds on a woman (Vanessa Lauren Freeman). We hear the nearby car’s AI declare that she is losing blood and death is imminent. In the car is a baby. The woman deploys a blade implant from her arm, but the vampire prevents any attack and she dies.

the victim

Filled with bloodlust he heads to the car ready to devour the baby. However the baby wears an icon (a cross with a dragon below – being the order of the dragon) and it causes Gabriel pain, which curtails his bloodlust. He puts, what looks like, a 5.25" floppy disc into the car’s IT – this is part of the anachronism I mention, like a cassette player later – and takes over the AI, forcing a change in owner to be detected. Michael Rákóczi, however, is the baby and too young to drive. Gabriel puts the woman in the drivers seat and the car is programmed to go to an orphanage in auto-pilot mode. He contacts base to say that the target has been eliminated and is told that *she* wants to speak to him – she being Elizabeth Bathory (Claire Bermingham). He ignores this and walks away.

Sia Kravchenko as Nadia

Thirty years on and Michael Rákóczi (Aaron Groben, Nightcomer) is grown and a cop working for a corporation, PNCR. Elsewhere, Bathory turns a woman, Nadia (Sia Kravchenko), but the new vampire must kill for her turning to be complete. Michael is still eager to know about the dead woman in the car, when he appeared at the orphanage. He seeks out fellow Orphan and data broker Valeria (Victoria Myssik) in, what appears to be, that world’s equivalent to the dark-web. However simply bringing up the subject of his search triggers Bathory’s corporate alarms. Luckily, and unbeknown to him, Michael has a guardian angel in the form of Gabriel…

cityscapes

The look of this world was superb – though not perfectly executed, due mostly to working at budget. The filmmakers drew something alien in its post-modernity. Cityscapes are dominated by giant advertising holograms. The world seems to be permanently dark but lit by a million neon points of light. The heavy filtering on the photography adds to the stylised look. It is a bold, brave production choice. There is so much to explore generated in this opening episode and I do hope we get to delve into this world further.

The imdb page is here.

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Legend of the Eight Samurai – review

Director: Kinji Fukasaku

Release date: 1983

Contains spoilers

My thanks to Ian, who contacted me suggesting that this Japanese film might be worthy of a ‘Vamp or Not?’ As you can see, I didn’t go down that line as this turned out to be a film with a definite vampire. It has moments that are very eighties (particularly in the soundtrack) but it was based loosely on the novel Shin Satomi Hakkenden by Toshio Kamata, itself based on the 19th Century serial by Kyokutei Bakin, Nansō Satomi Hakkenden. It also owes a debt to Star Wars, if I’m honest, despite being a period film.

at the foot of the castle

It starts with an army that has taken the castle of the Satomi clan. The leaders of the army are Tamazusa (Mari Natsuki) and her son Motofuji (Yūki Meguro) and they are presented with the heads of the Satomi family – one is missing, the head of Princess Shizu (Hiroko Yakushimaru). The film follows the attempt to get her, whilst she (as the subject of a prophecy) searches for eight dog warriors destined to help her defeat Tamazuma and remove the curse on Shizu’s familial line.

Shizu escaoes

The ins and out of the plot are not as important, from a TMtV point of view, as the vampirism and this centres on Tamazusa and Motofuji. Tamazusa was Lady of the castle 100 years before but the Satomi looked to overthrow their tyranny and decadence, killed the Lord and set fire to the castle, which killed Tamazusa and Motofuji – they being undead now – and killed a baby son who did not survive. Burnt, Motofuji has been replacing his skin with the soft white skin of princesses – the final patch reserved for Shizu. Using skin in this way isn’t common but does occasionally appear as a trope, for instance in the film Replace.

blood bathing

As for Tamazusa, when we first see her she uses a chalice of blood to awaken a (demonic, presumably) statue, which is named Mitama and is the source of their power it seems. However, that Chalice then becomes centrepiece of a bath of blood. Part way through the film an attempt to take Shizu fails but Tamazusa is still close by when Shizu takes her four (at that point) companions’ glowing orbs. These are orbs, representing a virtue, that they have mostly had from birth and denotes them as dog warriors. The four orbs glow in her hand and the light spreads outwards damaging Tamazusa, causing her to age. The withered and bent queen returns to the castle and submerges herself in the blood bath, emerging young again. As well as bathing, she drinks some of the blood. It is very reminiscent of Erzsébet Báthory but it is not clear as to whether there was an influence on the filmmakers or if this is coincidental.

dying vampire

There is a strong hint of an incestual relationship between mother and son, and when she later finds the adult reincarnation of her baby, the first thing she seems to do is stuff his hand down her top – to feel her heartbeat! The last thing to mention is the way they die (not a spoiler, you must have known good would triumph over evil). This is via a magic, glowing bow; just being bashed with it for Motofuji, and being shot through the chest for Tamazusa, the arrow also hitting into Mitama (the sentient statue) also. In both cases they rapidly age to mummified husks, which is, of course, a primary genre trope. The destruction of Mitama causes the castle to fall, which is reminiscent of the rejected ending of Dracula.

Shizu with the magic bow

The film was really good fun, an epic in feudal Japan with a fully supernatural/fantasy aspect underpinning the setting. The effects were good and some of the epic shots, like the army at the castle at the head of the film, were magnificent. The whole blood bathing section was wonderfully photographed. If I have a major irk it was the soundtrack. There was a tendency to having synths on fantasy films in the 80s and it didn’t work for me at the time. I could have lived with it here, especially as there is some balance with strings. But the two John O'Banion (English language lyric) power ballads, oh my word they were poor. I am tempted to say that the track Satomi Hakken-Den, played over a love scene, was more misplaced than Strange Love in Lust for a Vampire - and that’s saying something. Nevertheless, still a great film despite this, 7 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

On Blu-Ray @ Amazon US

On Blu-Ray @ Amazon UK

Franky and His Pals – review

Director: Jerald Cormier

Release date: 1991

Contains spoilers

We are in straight to video territory here, with a monster mash that generally fails to provide more than the most very basic of plot and relies instead on dubious humour to carry it forward. Nevertheless, with an appearance of Drak (Jerry Cormier Jr.) – Dracula, of course – there is a need to watch, document and review.

the mad scientist

It starts with a mad scientist (director Jerald Cormier under the adjusted name spelling Gerald Cormier) talking to whoever he works for on the phone and explaining that he can’t test the time machine yet. He needs gold to make the inner workings work. He is also distracted by the cleavage of his assistant (I think Kelli Gianettoni whose character is named Blonde Bimbo). After credits (that are designed to be self-effacing) we meet grave diggers Calvin (Russ Lowe) and George (Robert Lowe). As they dig, the legend of the monsters is told.

Jerry Cormier Jr. as Drak

Apparently the Monsters were reputed to have been in the area and became trapped in a cave by a landslide. Cutting to the monsters they are still in the cave and are Drak, Franky (Eric Weathersbee), Wolfie (Wilson Smith), Humpy (Keith Lack) the Hunchback, and the Mummy (Richard Sumner). The Mummy is mute but a midriff level parasite it carries, called Apophis, can speak. They pass their time playing poker. Elsewhere the town council have met and the town is in a bind – they owe over a million in property taxes to the IRS.

grave diggers

Playing poker (with multiple decks it seems), one of the stakes is a map that Humper has, showing the town and an x where a cache of gold is hidden. Drak wants the gold and, following a bean binge, fortuitously Franky’s fart clears the cave entrance. It is night (or so they suggest) and the monsters leave. They have been trapped so long they are astounded when they see horseless carriages. In one of an interminable number of musical interludes we get a “rap” (really not well done) that explains the plot thus far.

bite

Beyond scaring a driver and his date and the grave diggers, the monsters get to a hotel, where the gold is hidden and a Halloween party is going on. Of course this means they fit right in and start looking for the gold, sort of… they do tend to just wander around firing off crudely drawn gags and the base layer of misogyny in the script/gags is not supported by any true layer of sexploitation (the closest we get is a bikini contest) or any underlying funny humour. From a TMtV point of view, Drak at least manages to bite two women, the barmaid (Hester Simonis) and a party goer in Egyptian garb (Pauline Elliott). Both suffer no more ill effects beyond feeling weak and the slight amount of blood seen on one neck is really the only blood seen.

dancing Drak

And weak is what the film is but, the makeup seemed ok (at a distance at least) and there was an underlaying something that kept we watching, morbidly fascinated. The vast majority of the film is focused on the party, the grave diggers are scared occasionally, the town council appears right towards the end and the time machine is almost a coda, lining up a sequel that looks to have never happened. 2.5 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

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The Complete Dracula – review

Adapters: Leah Moore and John Reppion

Artwork: Colton Worley

First published: 2010 (tpb)

Contains spoilers

The Blurb: Writers Leah Moore and John Reppion are joined by painter Colton Worley for a fully painted series, reprinted here in this softcover collected edition. All of the stunning covers by John Cassaday are included, along with script pages, annotations by Leah Moore and John Reppion and samplings of the original text by Bram Stoker!

The review: Another graphic novel adaptation of Dracula and one that underlines the idiom "never judge a book by its cover". The cover was by John Cassaday and I absolutely love it, a stark comic graphic that absolutely drew me in. The inner art, however, not so much. A painted style I was not wowed. The panel layout is, for the most part, pedestrian and the palette muted, it was at best utilitarian in my eyes – which is not the best way art for a graphic novel should be described. I disliked the character designs too. Art, of course, impacts different people in different ways, there will be those out there who love the style – it really wasn’t for me.

The story itself followed Stoker, but sometimes strangely. Aspects seemed glossed over or, in some cases missing, which might be fine in an adaptation as there is only so much that will fit into the format (though they have called this complete) and yet other moments of completeness that I’d have missed out are included. Moments of crates being shifted and located round London just slowed the pace of the graphic down, for instance. They included the Dracula’s Guest sequence, presumably to be complete (though Stoker chose to expunge that from the final novel) and I was curious about their decision to move to Stoker’s rejected ending connecting the collapse of castle Dracula with his demise. I love Stoker’s novel but didn’t feel this did it justice, for me at least. 5 out of 10.

In Paperback @ Amazon US

In Paperback @ Amazon UK

Short Film: Gothic Tales of Terror

It seems strange to put an anthology film down as a short but this comes in at just over 37-minutes. It is a series of shorts by Tony Laudati and was released in this format in 2025. We have looked at the short Dracula’s Daughter by Laudati previously and it makes up the first segment of this. The anthology has a sequel to that later as well as a werewolf and a Frankenstein’s monster facing piece. There is also a piece that is made up of stills of three women in cat woman makeup/costumes (as per the film poster with this article) that is worth mentioning as you could read them as cat vampires.

seduction

You can read my write up on Dracula’s Daughter but it was essentially a reimagining of the scene from the Universal feature where a young woman is convinced to pose for cash for the artist who also happens to be a vampire. Dracula’s Daughter 2 sees Lili (now played by Rosa Singerman), the victim in the first part, return to the apartment owned by Countess Marya Zaleska (Ausma Fiame) having picked up a young woman, Chloe (Brooke Gorman), at a club. There is conversation, flirtation and an admission that she and the Countess live together but the Countess is away.

Ausma Fiame as the Countess

The film uses the same focus on bringing a glass of wine and the vampire, for that is all Lili could be, not partaking of it before she gets Chloe to lie on the couch and seduction turns into attack. As she bites the Countess returns early and pulls Lili from her victim, allowing the woman to flee. The Countess does not allow drinking from the living (she has plenty of plasma available) but Lili is quick to point out that she certainly didn’t follow that rule with her. How this is resolved and what happens to Chloe – well you can watch the short to find out – at the time of writing it is available on Fawesome.

The imdb page is here.

The Immortal Hunters – review

Director: Paolo Bertola

Release date: 2020

Contains spoilers

It is a bad sign when I watch a film (incidentally subtitled The Renegade on the Tubi stream but not on IMDb) and have to drag myself kicking and screaming to the keyboard because it is just so poor.

Now, when I say poor, I don’t mean 'so bad its good' poor… not even so bad it isn’t good but at least I can laugh at it… I mean so bad that I was deathly bored whilst watching, bad. So bad that I can’t write a review that, at the very least, is entertaining.

fangs on show

Oh well, so we start with the information that, some time ago the dead started being blamed for bringing disease and there was a move to neutralise them – stakes, bricks in the mouth, cut the corpse up were all used but people were only safe when they were reduced to skeleton state (this is all pretty folkloric to be honest).

the vampire lover

Cut to Romania in 1944 and a battle. The narrator, Vladamir (Ruben Maria Soriquez), is a lone survivor. Injured and doomed he crawls when a woman comes to him and decides he is too young to die and bares fangs… Athens in the present day and he is there with his lover and they serve the King of the vampires, Count Ţepeş. Now, Vlad Ţepeş was not a Count and would not have gone by the sobriquet Ţepeş, but hey, ho… The vampires discover *they* are here (Catholic clerical vampire hunters) and the lover is killed.

a goat based diet

They run off to the Philippines and live in the middle of nowhere – Ţepeş has some form of condition and he must have blood once a week. Some are suspicious of Vladamir as they don’t see him feed (he actually only feeds on goat blood). The clerical hunters show up and one of the nuns (apparently undercover) is the spitting image of Vladamir’s erstwhile vampire lover (though clearly not a reincarnation as she has only just been killed).

hunters

And that’s the story, but I didn’t really care. The thing I noticed the most was the really poor dialogue delivery. The film is in English, but sounds dubbed, though possibly by the original actors as they have Italian accents. But it is just flat throughout. The story didn’t hold me, the characters are instantly forgettable. I’m sorry, I just wasn’t moved in any way – indeed staying awake was a challenge. 1 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

Draculaw – review

Director: Scott Deschaine

Release date: 2023

Contains spoilers

A horror comedy (mostly a comedy, to be fair) this not only tickled me but also used a rather unusual trope for the vampire. Of course the title brings Dracula to mind but there is no indication that the vampire at the centre of the film is Dracula, Referred to throughout as The Counselor (James Donahue) he is a lawyer (whereas Dracula hired lawyers) and it is with this vampire plying that trade that we start.

a vampire's contract

Though we only see hands, we hear the conversation between the Counselor and his client Frederick Rockman (Tom McFarland). Rockman wants to start a lawsuit against a rival and, whilst it sounds as though the vampire is trying to caution him, in fact it is clear he tempts him and has him sign a contract. The lawsuit fails and a series of counter claims are lodged against Rockman, eventually settled, though almost ruining him, there then comes the matter of the vampire’s invoice…

Sarah Dewey as Mary

We meet Mary Rockman (Sarah Dewey) as she takes her father into the nursing home. As she goes in she meets a youngish man, mistaking his room for a media room. He is Arc Gabriel (Joshua Greene) – the owner of the nursing home. Once a crack young lawyer, five years earlier something happened that smashed his confidence and he gave up law and moved into the nursing home. Mary tries to solicit his help, at first to no avail. However, after her father passes, his lost briefcase is discovered and they realise they share the same nemesis, at which point he relents – this renewed confidence shows in the filmmakers removing the makeup that made him look haggard.

James Donahue as the Counselor

Arc lost his briefcase when, celebrating a win with his engineer girlfriend Penny (Bessie Amato), the bridge they were on collapsed (invariably due to the Counselor). Her head was never recovered… Meanwhile the vampire is not only a lawyer but he has a pet politician (Dennis Mowery) and makes him get safety laws passed that are annoying and bog people down (there are a range shown through the film and they all take the concept of health and safety to ridiculous levels). This is done for a reason, it causes people to loose time and the vampire feeds on the lost time. He also cannot break a law (or at least cannot break a law and get caught), which is the apotropaic of the film. We, at the end, see him in a nebulous, smoke form where Arc combats him with the law (in the form of a book).

a vampire in the old country

There are various monsters (many seen in the coda) and Arc gets some lore help from home resident Sasha (Adela-Adriana Moscu, One for the Road) who tells him about vampires in the old country – and we get a flashback of a vampire, who is described as ghastly and far from the movie image of a vampire – and also points out that fellow home resident Mrs Hoover (Gerri Weagraff) is an energy vampire. But it is our lawyer vampire that is most fascinating in this with his diet of time. Of course the conflation of lawyer and vampire is telling in and of itself and the film plays with a satirical look at “health and safety gone mad”.

skull-headed bridal revenant

The film isn’t perfect… the haggard makeup for Arc is, quite frankly, rather stage-like, some of the green screen work is very obviously green screen and it isn’t evenly paced. That said some of the effects are brilliant. A skull-headed bridal revenant (Heather Cole) is brilliantly realised, for instance. There isn’t much horror to this; though the vampire's lower face is always covered (due to a horrendous accident, is the cover story, though likely due to a monstrous visage), he is actually more designed to be annoying. The main thrust is comedy, and I was amused, and enjoyed the unusual lore. 6 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

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