Vampiress Review: Blood Fest

The Gist: A group of horror fans get more than they bargain for when the exhibits at the horror festival they attend end up being real with the guests being the intended victims. 

Female Vampire Factor: In a similar manor as the film Waxwork the films protagonists go from location to location in an enclosed area set aside for a horror festival and each location has a theme loosely based on a real world horror movie (with slight changes to avoid legal action I'm sure). 

In one of the area's the virgin of the group Krill (Jacob Batalon) ends up in a camp ground with a number of attractive women seducing campers. 

In what seems to be an homage to the werewolf scene in the film Trick R Treat the women eventually fang out revealing themselves to being vampires and kill the campers.

One in particular sets her sight on Krill but being that horror movie rules has the virgin always live she let's him go after witnessing how innocent he was.  He leaves being completely oblivious that everyone else there was killed during the conversation or that she was a vampire as he was just happy a hot girl was talking to him. 

Later in the film he looses his virginity to one of the other members of their surviving group.  As they are about to escape the vampire that let Krill go corners the group at the exit.  He (still oblivious to the situation) tells the rest of the group she's cool.   She explains that she feels drawn to him and how innocent he is.  He stupidly admits to her he's no longer a virgin and well.  You can figure out what happens from there. 

The last remaining survivors stake her through the heart and pin her to a truck avenging their fallen friend.

Final Opinion: This was a great comedy/horror flick.  Much more horror than comedy (the humor is scuttle and very dark IE early Nightmare on Elm Street).  The films story has a much deeper commentary on society as a whole and the lengths people with an agenda will go to in order to make a point once the final twist of why all of that is happening is revealed which made it all the better.  I give it a Vampire Beauty Rating of 4 out of 5.  -1 point for not being a full on vampire film but the parts that were was perfect.  

Vampiress Review: "10 Minutes to Midnight"

 

The Gist: On her last day before a forced retirement a late night radio DJ is bitten by an animal and struggles to maintain her humanity and sanity. 

Female Vampire Factor:  The main character of the film is Amy Marlowe (Caroline Williams)

She shows up for work with a bite mark on her neck that progressively gets worse. After an argument with the young girl who is to replace her she bites the girl in the hand and from there pretty much loses it the rest of the film.  Not being able to understand what's real and what's a hallucination. 

Throughout the movie one of the main subjects of her hallucinations is Sienna (Nicole Kang), the girl pegged to replace her at the radio station. 

Even though she is the one who bit Sienna.  Amy sees her throughout the film as the monster. Including seeing her fang out and feeding on the station manager and her producer. 

Eventually Amy confronts Sienna and drives a wooden stake through her heart taking her out.

By the latter part of the film without Sienna to project as the monster Amy herself begins to show fangs and she eventually feeds on her producer. 

Final Opinion: It's a decent horror movie but moves way too slow for my taste.   Similar to the films Vampire's Kiss and Lilliths Awakening the main driving force of the film is the idea of manipulating the audience into trying to figure out what during the film is actually happening and what is all in her head with the movie never actually clearing up what was what.  The last scene shows the day manager showing up to the studio the next day and finding all the bodies and being attacked by a bat so you never find out whether there actually were vampires or whether she just went psychotic and imagined the whole thing while killing everyone she worked with.  I give it a Vampire Beauty Rating of 3 out of 5.  Most fangs scenes are very dark and the last act of the film just kind of throws everything that happened before it away but otherwise pretty decent. 

Vampiress Review: "Black as Night"

The Gist: A teenage girl in New Orleans finds herself at war with a vampire leader who plans on turning the cities destitute population into a vampire army after they turn her mother. 

Female Vampire Factor:  Not much to speak of.  Only one that gets any screen time is in the scene where the films protagonist Shawna visits her mother after being attacked herself and her mother turns and attacks her. 

Final Opinion:  Obviously with the above statement I can't give it a Vampire Beauty Rating above 1 out of 5.  With that being said for overall enjoyment this is a great film that I can't say enough great things about.  Genuinely decent vampire horror movies where vampires are a thing to be feared and not the stereotypical "people who live normal but just happened to have a taste for blood who are potential love interests" are hard to find.  

While the head vamps do still follow the "vampires are divided into mob like factions" thing films like to do the film is not told from the vampires point of view but from the victims so it doesn't matter. Vamps in this film are a threat to be feared and if they're on screen (with one exception) they're trying to kill someone so if you're looking for a straight forward horror film I can definitely recommend this. 

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