Director: Christopher Leto
Year: 2023
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Vampire; Horror/Comedy
Plot:
Taking on a new case, a private eye specializing in cases of vampiric activity gets wind of a suspicious set of disappearances lurking around a strip club in the area that's just taken on a new owner, and when he finds his target enlists his aide to help him in defeating the creatures.
Review:
Overall, this was a rather fun indie effort. Among the more likable elements here is the film’s fun tone and atmosphere which comes about quite well throughout. The initial setup that gives us a hint of who he is, his skills and somewhat incompetence that allows him to save the day despite getting into trouble on occasion, serves well to establish him as the well-meaning-but-not-infallible conquering hero who does get outsmarted at times but still manages to use his skills to get the upper hand. This goes alongside the fine rapport he and his assistant have that makes for a solid and engaging relationship offering enough light-hearted banter and teasing to know they’re not romantically linked but it’s not aggressive or egregious to the point of being unlikable and not worth following. This all gets wrapped up in the solid setup that allows for them to build a relationship together based on this setup that also provides a nice bit of investigative work to uncover the truth about the strip club while also allowing for a solid series of action scenes throughout.
These encounters are quite enjoyable, offering enough confrontations where the encroaching horde trying to get to him brings about some fine low-budget martial arts sequences with the creatures and the hunter either in the alleyways of the city, in his apartment, or trying to contain the creatures while infiltrating their base. This is all fun enough to keep this one going as he can demonstrate his skillset in hand-to-hand combat while her ability to save the day against his wishes with better weaponry or smarts helps to bring an extra layer to their relationship. This is all low-budget and can’t hide it, from the production values, on-location shooting, and special effects work that help to hammer this point home, especially with the brief running time and lack of big action also bringing this about. The piece-to-camera conversations describing character relationships or world-building here don’t help much, either, but it’s not enough to lower this one overall.
Overview: ***.5/5
A really fun and rather likable indie effort, this one manages to get quite a lot of positive points about it that can overcome a few minor drawbacks that are featured here. Give this a look if you’re intrigued by this one, appreciate the indie style on display, or are a fan of the creative crew while most others out there should heed caution.
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