American Cannibals – review

Directors: C.D. Ruiz3 & John Rainwaters

Release date: 2021

Contains spoilers

This was an odd one as the conceit of a documentary crew making a film about vampires made one think it would be a found footage type film but it certainly wasn’t (no bad thing, at all, to be fair). Rather it was a film that concentrated on the crew as the primary protagonists.

The DVD starts off with a word from the actual filmmakers who suggest that many of the actors involved are members of the Rocky Mountain vampire family – meaning that many of the vampires in film are people who identify, or present, as vampires. One then struggles to see why they would make the film (baring promoting the fantasy they subscribe to) as the film runs on the idea that the documentary crew are investigating self-identified vampires (who they refer to as cannibals through film) but they really are murderous blood-drinking, flesh-eating vampires. The film actually carries a legend that suggests it is based on actual events (err… no). Indeed, an intertitle covers a tad of detail about Richard Trenton Chase (a serial killer known as the Vampire of Sacramento) as well as highlighting the number of people in the States who identify as vampires and then some suggestion that they might not just take willing donors.

demonic faces

So, the crew is made up of Chris (Donald Martin), who seems to be in charge, Mark (Michael Vincent Miceli), who is on cameras and also the second-in-command, Rick (Stephan Hampton-Valle) who is the sound engineer and finally Jessica (Masha Pichugina), who is Rick’s girlfriend and is involved somehow (her role was never clear). As the film starts, Mark is looking over footage they have filmed of an interview of a couple who claim to be energy vampires (blood, they say, is so old school). They claim they are feeding off the crew but no one would notice unless they pushed too hard… Rick suddenly collapses. As Mark reviews the footage, he sees a glitch (and Chris writes it off as such) that seems to (for a split second) distort their faces to something demonic just as Rick stumbles.

interviewing

At Rick and Jessica’s apartment two more interviewees are waiting to be filmed. Only Mark and Jessica are there and they are waiting for Chris and Rick. We discover that the crew put out adverts for interviewees but few have taken up the offer. The two mention they have a meeting once a month (the next day, coincidentally) at a place referred to as “the Cathedral” which is a bit of a vampire party, with bloodletting and a mock sacrifice. In response they are asked if anyone ever gets hurt and they mention attendees signing waivers. They suggest they might be able to get the crew an invite.

vox pop interview

At this point things get weird – they are followed by a sinister homeless guy, their footage is hacked and deleted from three separate servers, they can’t get hold of the pair (and their number seems to be out of service) and mysterious messages come to warn them off their film. With no footage they do some vox pops with people through the day and then decide to go and get footage of the Goth kids at another venue but change their minds and sneak into the Cathedral – and, of course, they are then in danger…

the crew

The trouble is, the acting isn’t great and the photography often awful, becoming lost within darkness in many scenes. With that said I did think Masha Pichugina displayed a presence, however in general I didn’t buy the documentary crew. I do recognise, however, that the film was done on a micro-budget. Certain lines in the dialogue get repeated multiple times, which is simply lazy writing and/or editing, and the scenario doesn’t feel right, with too much unanswered (suggestions that the vampires are able to hack a computer and three servers should have had more of an explanation – is a member of the ‘family’ a hacker, for instance – but then we get a warning message sent on the hacked computer but its unplugged, suggesting it is actually a supernatural intervention).

finger food

The reason for the vampires’ apparent cooperation and then blatant murder and consumption of people, in the middle of a city, made little sense. Are they supernatural – the film would suggest so. However, it wasn’t clear why the people (as in the actors) who identify as vampires in real life and who regularly state being a vampire is not like the movies, would want to then make a film that suggests that they are supernatural vampires, and murderers, and cannibals. It would seem a mixed message, at best, and counter-productive. This struggled, to be honest. 3 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.