A.K. Tolstoy’s “A Taste of Blood” – review

Director: Santiago Fernández Calvete

Release date: 2020

Contains spoilers

Let me be clear from the off-set this is a review of the Western (US/UK) release of this Argentinean film and may not reflect the film in its original form, released as Sangre Vurdalak. Certainly, the film is listed as Spanish language – whereas the release I have seen is (partially) dubbed and, I suspect, the soundtrack has been changed (though that is an educated guess) and both things bring issues to the release.

However, first things first, the film is based on Tolstoy’s The Family of the Vourdalak and that (excellent) short story from 1843 was most famously filmed by Mario Bava as a segment of Black Sabbath. The film sticks to the broad brushes of the story well, despite being transplanted to Argentina and the modern day.

Alfonsina Carrocio as Natalia

So, the film opens with a car driving and a goth soundtrack. This is issue number one. I really like Goth – in fact the soundtrack CD that ships with the US Blu-Ray is a great collection. However, I suspect this was not the original soundtrack as the distributor is Cleopatra – famous as a Goth music label – and I suspect that they have picked up the distribution rights and retro-fitted a soundtrack from their artist roster and, whilst not necessarily an issue in the opening scene, the Goth rock and darkwave soundtrack actively undermines the atmosphere and fails to fit the mood of the direction and photography. It is, in short, distracting.

Tomás Carullo Lizzio as Alexis

The car gets to a building and the pair in the car, Natalia (Alfonsina Carrocio) and Alexis (Tomás Carullo Lizzio), enter the home of Alexis’ parents. Their appearance causes questions; where did they get the car; will they have trouble from Natalia’s family? They are told they can’t just turn up, they don’t appear to be eating and Natalia suggests that they can answer the questions as they have all the time in the world – and that’s the ending broadcast, with the film being the story that led them to this point and the aftermath following the story. But that broadcasting of the punches is not the biggest issue this scene shows us.

Germán Palacios as Aguirre

Both Natalia and Alexis are dubbed into English, and it is poor dubbing. His father and mother are not dubbed but hard-subtitled. This carries forward to the main film where Natalia’s father Aguirre (Germán Palacios) remains in the original Spanish and is subtitled. I don’t get it. OK over-dubbing is rarely great and can be distracting but, for the most part, once in the mode of watching a film that way there is some acceptance as you watch. However, to part dub a film and, in the same scenes, have some in the original language and some dubbed is just distracting – there is no other word for it. It is also nonsensical – if you are paying for voice-over actors then pay for it all, if paying for subtitling, subtitle it all. Give an option of either to the viewer. But this was just rubbish.

Carmela Merediz as Malena

So, Aguirre runs a country vet practice that only opens during the day and has a household that includes Natalia, his son Miguel (Lautaro Bettoni), Miguel’s girlfriend – I think – Eva (Naiara Awada) and her sickly daughter Malena (Carmela Merediz). He is strict, preventing them from going out after sunset and stopping Natalia from meeting new people generally. When he discovers that she snuck out to meet Alexis he grounds her and locks her in her room. So she uses bedsheets to get out and run away that night.

stalking Natalia

She gets to a cantina in a nearby town, where Alexis works. However, he seems none too pleased to see her and so she leaves. A man, Mesojedec, from the cantina follows her in his car and offers her a lift. He tells her he is related to her father but she has been told they have no family and so is suspicious but he offers details that a family member would know. He is driving her home when he stops and seems to collapse against the steering wheel. He convulses and then looks up with his vampire face, which seems plague ridden. She is rescued by Alexis, though it seems Mesojedec actually lets her go.

Mesojedec vamps out

At home Aguirre explains that the family, in the past (19th century by the photos, or very early 20th century) moved to Argentina from Slovakia to escape the vurdulak – blood eaters who were drawn to prey on family and loved ones. Natalia spots Mesojedec in the photos. Aguirre says he will hunt him down but the vurdulak are cunning hunters and if he does not come home in daylight then they must kill him. He comes home before dawn – seen because Miguel turned on Alexis and chained him outside in case he was a vurdulak and Natalia sat outside with him.

turned

Now this was a bit difficult. The kids believe the story of the vurdulak immediately (ok, Natalia had seen one but Eva and Miguel had not). However when he is there before dawn they do not kill him, as instructed, and allow him entry before the sun comes up. The issue here is tying in the sunlight myth. In the original story the father warns against him returning after a certain period of time and returns right on the stroke of the hour (which leads to confusion). Here they should have either just shot him as instructed or barred his entry; their acquiescence makes no sense (especially given their on-running suspicions).

the vourdalak

That logical flaw aside, one could see how this would be atmospheric enough, if the soundtrack was not misplaced, and it built at least some tension (not is he a vurdulak but when will he reveal himself). However the film had already broadcast the ending, unfortunately, and the dubbing/subtitle mixed economy was not only distracting but also prevented suspension of belief – which buying their actions necessitated. I really want to see a subtitled version of this with no dubbing and, I would hope, a more appropriate soundtrack. However Tolstoy is a favourite, the broad-brush of the story followed the short (bar the sunlight) and I find myself torn. 5 out of 10.

Edit: The Blu-Ray does have a Spanish language version of the film on it (as an extra but accessed through the language menu). However it is not subtitled. I can confirm though that the Goth soundtrack was added to the English dub as the Spanish language version forgoes it.  

The imdb page is here.

On Blu-Ray @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK