Director: Brad Michael Elmore
Year: 2019
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Vampire
Plot:
Moving to Los Angeles for the summer, a woman gets involved with a strange group of girls who prove to be vampires out for themselves while keeping it out of the hands of men, and when she gets drawn into their lifestyle finds the influx of power appropriate but struggles with the other changes it brings.
Review:
This was a truly stellar vampire effort. One of the film’s brightest spots is the overall concept of the vampire society which offers a truly unique look at the creatures. Lesbian vampires here have been a staple of the genre but has been solely used for exploitative purposes in regards to simply being an excuse to have hot women making out only to then bare their fangs occasionally. Here, the central group is modeled on a different theme entirely where the central group of girls are together not for sexual satisfaction but more for survival as they’re presented as strong-willed and determined on their own. By being aware of men around them and using their looks to prey on them instead in order to feed, and having rules in place within their group for who to turn and who to kill when they do feed on men, their female-centric mindset that allows for them to be reliant of their own kind but also tolerant of men, a refreshingly original feminist genre take.
These storylines end up being balanced out by the film’s portrayal of her change into vampirism. Taking the point about staying together for protection, the stage here becomes a wholly unique creation of using the change more to secretly remove power and protection away from me in order to shift the equality away in this dangerous situation. Knowing full well of the type of power and control men in the real world have over women, spreading the gift to women and using me for food as a means of assuring that will never happen mirrors her discomfort with the need to feed after being turned. The emotional resonance of her consciousness battling the oncoming rush and rules of what’s she’s become is a direct line on switching up the traditional power struggle by having the stronger individual at odds with the means of what gives her the power to hold herself over others. Overall, this marks a highly complex and intriguing storyline.
The stellar cast here also manages to give this a lot to like. Nicole Maines as Laurel is an outstanding lead here, being truly sympathetic as she goes through her plight and slowly realizes what becoming a female vampire in this clique and her growth into a strong leader is a capable one. Being transgender in real-life and the film, the greatest and most important quality of the film is to not equate her gender switch with the vampirism and seeks out the group in order to deal with the pressures of her changing as it’s treated with so little general hoopla its possible to mention the reveal scene. Diana Hopper as the leader Duke is even better, managing to transition from calm, cool, collected and in control to see why she is with her backstory that gives the character motivation to act that way as well as the storyline reasoning for their mission. The background members of the group are somewhat missing in development and characterization as most of them take a while before we know who’s who, but it’s really the only main complaint in the film.
While there’s a lot to like here with the storyline, the horror quotient of the film has plenty of exciting aspects. Opening with the strong sequence of the group confronting the illegally-turned male vampire and then the member who broke the group rule about it provides some semblance of what to expect here in terms of vampire action how that fits into the storyline. That turns around into the actual sense of her being turned and learning the rules of the clan offers a great touch to this one, and the scenes featuring them feeding provide several montages of quick attacks that offer up plenty of fun. The scenes with the vampire hunters springing their trap and then getting their own hideout ambush has a lot to like, while a stellar showcase battle against the resurrected male vampire is a really enjoyable time. This combination of elements makes this one absolutely fun and enjoyable.
Overview: *****/5
One of the greatest and most impressive takes on the vampire genre as a whole, there’s so much to dig into and like about this one manages to raise this one up as a sterling example of the genre overall. Immediately seek this one out if you're intrigued by its positive elements or a fan of these kinds of genre efforts while those who aren’t into the content featured here might find enough to like elsewhere to still enjoy it.
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