Director: Maria Lee Metheringham
Year: 2021
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: Party of Valice
Genre: Vampire
Plot:
Hosting a special after-party for fans, a rock band invites several guests of a performance back to their home for a special series of shenanigans, but as they stay the night everyone comes to find the trip was a cover for the group’s vampiric tendencies to signal another monstrous threat in the house.
Review:
Overall, this was a pretty fun British vampire indie. One of the brighter features here is the highly effective and enjoyable atmosphere that perfectly befits a film with this approach. Dripping with a synthpop/goth aesthetic that suits the band's gimmick and initial means of hiding in plain sight with their secret intact, the neon-drenched club they play at and the Gothic estate where it takes place later feel incredibly complimentary to each other makes for a rather fun time. That gets enhanced rather nicely with the whole idea of the band's secret identity as vampires coming to the forefront with the whole gag of the party being thrown as a means of covertly securing food in the form of their fans so that no one suspects them of their real identity before slowly getting revealed over the course of the evening which is all rather fun.
On top of that, once it becomes obvious that the group is vampires looking to snack on their guests there's some fun to be had here with the means through which it all gets revealed. Comically believing their bloody props and severed body parts instead mean that the band is cannibals, the real truth comes about through a nicely concealed series of encounters with some of the more enthusiastic and annoying guests who are anticipating sexual trysts before getting the truth revealed which is all handled with an alarmingly nonchalant attitude that makes for a fun time. With a nice twist in the finale offering a secondary threat that arrives at the party and being making a fun complication to what’s going on as the vampires and the guests are both being targeted as a result which provides some cheesy make-up and brutal kills, this one manages to come off quite fun with some nice positives.
There are some issues here that manage to hold this one back. One of the biggest drawbacks is a stilted pace that tends to take a while before it gets to the action. The first half here, where it details the party that brings the guests to the house, the ride over in the transport van where they get t know each other, and the exploits at the house where they continue with the introduction to the guests and the band, take a lot of the running time to start in on the horror. While most of this is enjoyable enough at helping this offbeat atmosphere those looking for a little more speed at getting to the good parts might be a bit turned off by the lack of action present. As well, there are also the bits here about the generally lower budget on display which might be a put-off as well, even though it's not a truly detrimental feature since the rest of the film works as well as it does but is still a factor worth mentioning here.
Overview: ***.5/5
A generally fun if slightly flawed vampire effort, this one comes off quite nicely with the fun positives here bringing this one up against the few positives that manage to bring it down. This will appeal mostly to those that enjoy or appreciate this style of indie fare as well as those that follow the creative crew, while those who aren’t into those factors should heed caution with it.
This review ran as part of our 2023 Women in Horror Month celebrations. Click the banner below to check out the rest of our month-long celebrations including various reviews and interviews:
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