Director: Michael Almereyda
Year: 1994
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Vampire
Plot:
Following the death of their patriarch, a vampire family is upended and thrown into chaos when the news reaches them, and they are forced to deal with their own morality when the daughter’s abduction of a victim sends a famed vampire hunter and his assistant after them to stop the family.
Review:
Overall, this was a decent enough arthouse vampire effort. Among the better features here is the overall offbeat and off-kilter presentation, where the unconventional approaches are used to present a somewhat unique experience. The central concept here, focusing on the vampire family coming together to look at their own mortality with their own wants and needs following the death of their family member, and trying to also stay ahead of the vampire hunter on their trai,l makes for some enjoyable times here, where the film can dive into that exploration of the characters among the conventional approach. Diving into the various introductions of the characters through a slew of bizarre strategies, from contemplating her seduction of a young woman after hearing the news of the situation, the first meeting with her husband in the boxing gym, or the different encounters with her brother that serves to give us rather keen insights into their philosophy, mannerisms, and mindset, this all manages to start this on a strong note.
From there, the film will simply live or die by virtue of how the viewer reacts to the presentation of the film more than anything. Eschewing the more traditional vampire elements with the lack of graphic bloodletting when they feed, are hunted down, or even showing off any kind of spectacle of any kind, this on focuses more on heavy-handed conversations about their philosophical motivations or the nature of her relationship with the victim which can provide a contemplative experience for those looking for this kind of change up from the usual style of genre effort. However, for those not interested in this kind of arthouse approach, this can easily be seen as a dreary, sluggish affair without much happening to differentiate it from a glut of barely horror elements that are built on the overlong conversations, which are dull to sit through. Given that this might be a personal preference, the other attributes here that make this a challenging watch, from the grainy pixelated camera shots, black-and-white photography, and day-for-night shots, even in that presentation, all of which might make for enough to hold this back.
Overview: **.5/5
An intriguing if somewhat problematic arthouse vampire effort, this comes off a bit better than expected, even if some of the elements here that play into that style might be a turnoff for more traditional-minded fans. Those who appreciate this style of genre fare or who are curious about it might want to give this a shot, while those looking for more of the same with their vampire fare might want to heed caution.
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