Remember Remember – review

Director: Mark Hindman Smith

Release date: 2021

Contains spoilers

Let’s aim for the elephant in the room first, the very idea of Guy Fawkes as a vampire hunter brings Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter immediately to mind – Fawkes would seem to be as prevalent in the UK collective psyche as Lincoln is in the US, though seen as a challenge to authority rather than an exemplar of it. This anti-establishment re-write (in reality Fawkes did not want to end the British monarchy, rather replace it with a pro-Catholic branch) has an international relevance thanks to the Fawkes masks in V for Vendetta.

fangs a lot

Of course, the big difference between this and the aforementioned Lincoln vehicle is one of studio vs indie, big budget vs shoestring. This does have heart but it also makes some fundamental story errors along the way. It also is the first part of the story – whether the filmmakers have plans to continue is unknown as I write this.

ferals

The film starts in Black and White as we see a fight between a group of hunters led by Guy Fawkes (Mark Hindman Smith) and a horde of vampires that seem to pour from a house. We later discover these are feral vampires; humans who are bitten, consume blood and go mad (though there does seem to be some level of cognitive ability left). There is fight choreography, though the action direction does occasionally pull a punch and this is probably down to there being a varied level of skill amongst the actors.

Ruth Stapleton as Mercy

We then get a narration from Fawkes, mentioning the issue (in the future for the film’s timeframe) of being caught under Parliament. He mentions being part of a secret society that hunt the equally secret vampires. The film moves to a tavern and Mercy (Ruth Stapleton, Bite Night) sings until Fawkes enters and she suddenly stops. Her sister, Grace (Gemma-Louise Keane), runs up to Fawkes to greet “uncle Guy”. He has noticed Mercy’s mood and she vanishes off to speak to her mother (Amelie Leroy, Nest of Vampires). In that conversation we hear that tavern owner and father to the girls, Byron (Mark Ward), and their mother are vampires, as are the girls and the family have been enacting a charade with Fawkes and his hunters for ten years.

Mark Hindman Smith as Fawkes

How are they getting away with that? Firstly, by not hunting – they feed on pig’s blood. Mostly, however, we hear through another hunting unit that Fawkes’ unit may have the highest kill tally in the society but they are in the dark about certain aspects of the creatures they hunt. They know about ferals but have not been told that there are born vampires (and purebloods – the two seemed to be mentioned as separate things but without an obvious distinction) who are not feral and can pass for human. Sunlight in this can weaken, disorientate and, if direct, cause collapse and eventual death.

Rachel Brownstein as Glover

This other group of hunters is led by Captain Glover (Rachel Brownstein, also Bite Night) who has a disagreement with her second in command Sergeant Parsons (Maria Lee Metheringham, also Bite Night) who wants to tell Fawkes what is going on. Their unit is tracking a vampire and they have noticed non-feral vampires moving North. The vampire they track is Isaac (Damian Freddi). He happens to be looking for a pureblood to breed with and sets his eyes on Mercy. He slips her human blood but she turns feral and runs off, killing one of Fawkes’ brethren hunters (Richard Carter) and revealing the innkeeper family’s nature – this was one of the feral moments that suggested they were not devoid of human knowledge or drive as she clearly headed towards the tavern, and after feeding returned to Issac (and was imprisoned).

Fawkes and Parsons

The film was clearly on a small budget but also showed a lot of heart and ambition. There were, however, issues. The dialogue sometimes strayed into either feeling a tad too modern or beyond the social status (some of Mercy’s dialogue seemed too book smart for a tavern-keeper’s daughter). Delivery was often rather stagey as well. Action sequences, as mentioned, suggested different levels of skill/experience. It was story moments, however, that caused the film to stumble. Aspects seemed off – Byron, discovered by Fawkes, manages to choke him into unconsciousness and tie him in the cellar (there is some confusion as to location, with scenes concerning Isaac and barmaid, and Fawkes’ love interest, Maria (Caroline Dunne) in a cellar that one would assume to be the same place but Fawkes is mysteriously not there). This is all well and good but why spare him and then lead him to a cave full of ferals, and likely death, when it is clear he would try and track the vampire family down? Why did Isaac let the feral Mercy leave his mansion, knowing she would likely kill and draw attention? Why would a commanding officer keep his unit in the dark about the threat the enemy poses (there may have been reasons but the narrative didn’t suggest any)?

Mercy feral

The primary lore – beyond purebloods and ferals and the sunlight that I have already mentioned – includes a bite turns (though it is the imbibing of human blood that sends the turned person feral) and stabbing the heart seems to be the primary kill method (Fawkes uses his skills with gunpowder to hide evidence of the vampires – thus blowing up the house at the start of the film). Purebloods span all levels of society, ferals hide away from towns and cities (though given the numbers we see it feels plot weak that the populace do not know of the existence of vampires). Byron has discovered that the blood of different animals offer different skills to the vampire (cat, for instance, seems to be speed).

blood spattered

Despite the issues I have mentioned, this film did have heart and star/director Mark Hindman Smith looked to be enjoying himself. It is the feeling of loose narrative direction and the questions this raises that causes me to depress the score down to 4 out of 10. A good script edit would have done wonders for this. The imdb page is here.