Director: Andrew Bell
Year: 2024
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Vampire
Plot:
Struggling to feed his addiction, a man breaks into the house of a local dealer looking to secure a new stash of a deadly drug compiled from the blood of vampires to help distribute over the neighborhood, but when other factors become involved finds that he might be in over his head.
Review:
This was a somewhat decent genre effort with a few big issues. One of the better features here is the main setup involving the connection between vampire blood and powers as a cover for the theme of addiction and obsession. Taking over the concept of the drug being a part of the vampire society being taken straight as an obvious stand-in for real-world issues due to the fervent desire to procure it, consume it, and overcome any kind of obstacle in the quest to take it for themselves offers a lot to like as a way of drawing the obvious parallel. With the way others are shown to be affected either physically, personally, or professionally following their addiction to the vampire blood and subsequent drugs that are featured here, the setup here comes off with an intriguing enough hook that allows for an interesting time investing in what’s going on with an immensely topical look at the race to keep a handle on the drug that mirrors a more conventional epidemic of real-world drugs.
Beyond this, its focus on the effects of addiction and isolation manages to make this one feel rather bland for much of the running time. As we watch the guys go around their lives battling the high that comes from ingesting vampire blood and what that does to them, the implication is that this one is going to more of a dramatic approach going into detail with this storyline. The few attacks here that bring about the bloodshed necessary to secure more of the chosen drug or addiction process that they’re fighting under are kept to a minimum with far more emphasis on the commentary involving drug use in the community than anything so it can feel prolonged and sluggish for large sections of the running time waiting around for more traditional elements to come about while waiting through all the different allegories it spends the majority of time offering. That might be the main factor on display with the film holding it back.
Overview: **/5
A generally intriguing take on vampirism but not so much a genre feature, this one comes off more as a curiosity piece for its symbolism that might not be a factor everyone appreciates in their films. Viewers with a taste for this kind of genre fare or who are curious about it will have a lot to like while those looking for simplistic, straightforward genre fare or turned off by its flaws might want to heed extreme caution.
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