Director: Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein
Year: 2016
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Vampire
Plot:
Living in a remote village, a secret group of women discovers that their religious sect is coming under attack by a vicious section of men determined to impose their puritanical values upon the free-spirited group and forcing two women to decide how to proceed when they don’t agree with the outcome.
Review:
There was quite a lot to enjoy with this one. Among it’s more notable elements are the fine and worthwhile social commentary that takes center stage in the film. The idea of the male society intent on hunting down the girls for refusing to follow in their footsteps as the girls go against their religious practices with vampiric tendencies speaks to the imposition of a male-dominated social hierarchy. The men are cursed with disease and physical deformities even though they follow the belief that they’re righteous in the eyes of their religion and set out to stamp out the girls for daring to go against their domineering mindset which brings about their need for the women to stand up for their lifestyle. This empowerment dealing with the women being on the virtuous side and clearly more relatable than the psychotic group of men is made all the better with their own troubles we see them going through, giving this a great setup at play.
As well, there’s also plenty to like with the film’s old-school Gothic horror aesthetic. Focusing on the Victorian England village-style feel, the old-world look and feel here are quite apparent which helps to tie into the older values imposed by the film. With brick-and-stone walkways and bridges, ornate flowery dresses and a general aesthetic that flows through the continuous notions of being out in the middle of the forest or a small clearing, the idea of the Gothic archetypes that are some commonly employed in these efforts is quite strong. The stylistic choices that emerge here, from scenes of the girls going through the massive landscape as tiny figures or color-coding the group to stick together add to the overall setting and atmosphere of this one taking place in the old-world, which adds to the film’s strengths.
The film’s other great quality is the strong exploitation mindset at play within this one. The puritanical group at the forefront of their struggles is quite proactive, starting off with several impressive scenes of their rank hunting down the various members of the vampire cult not only in their homes but outside in the forest, near the village grounds and an impressive raid on their meeting place where the girls are overwhelmed and slaughtered in pretty brutal manners. As well, their habit of stripping their own members naked and flogging them for misdeeds or failure to complete their missions continues that nicely, much like the brutal kills and continuous nudity from both genders that skews slightly more toward the males in a fantastic show of equality. Overall, these are what manages to make the film quite enjoyable.
The film does have a few minor missteps that aren’t too damaging or detrimental at all. The main issue here is that the majority of the film’s dialogue-free scenes force far more imposition and guess-work to be done to understand what’s going on which tends to cause some confusion over what’s happening. The lack of traditional means of killing vampires, since this one seems to utilize any form of method that would kill a mortal as also being able to kill a vampire even though the usual wooden stakes are also utilized, are just one such example as well as the idea that both sects are imploring the same being as the one everyone is trying to appease so it comes off with little to no sense as for what’s going on. While these are hardly detrimental factors, they are what knock this one down somewhat.
Overview: ****/5
A solid and highly entertaining throwback exploitation effort that has a few minor factors going against it, this is a fun, sexy effort that gets quite a lot right and is quite enjoyable as a result. Those looking for a sleazy vampire effort with brains or fans of old-school Gothic horror will really enjoy this one the most, while those who aren't interested in the subject matter or turned off by the low-budget indie background won’t enjoy this one.
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