So here's the first trailer for the first "Vampire Academy" film set to hit theaters on Valentines Day 2014. The biggest positive out of this is we do have fangs and girl on girl biting. The trailer contains a lot of action but I'm still a bit weary that this could become new Twilight.
For more on the backstory of the franchise, check out my update HERE.
The Gist: A young college student fears for his life when he finds out his art professor is really Countess Elizabeth Bathory who is now an immortal vampire.
Clarification: So first things first....As I've delved into in the many preview blogs I've done for this movie basically Collin Farrell NEVER HAPPENED. In fact, this isn't a sequel at all it's the reboot we should have gotten back in 2011 (if you can't tell I liked this movie so much more). If you were a fan of the original film (and/or it's 1988 sequel) you will absolutely LOVE this film as it seems they put a lot more effort into recreating the feel of those films as opposed to the 2011 film which seemed to be more about creating a new version of an old movie (the same complaint I had with the remake of "Total Recall" also starring Collin Farrell). What I mean by that is though the film takes place in a modern era, the characters are almost exactly what they were in the 85 film, Charlie is the nosy kid that doesn't know when to mind his business. Amy is a prude and evil Ed is just as obnoxious as he was in the 85 film which makes this all the more enjoyable. Peter Vincent is back to being a television show host (as opposed to the corny Vegas magician they made him into in the 2011 film) but this time to modernize it a bit the show he hosts "Fright Night" is a ghost hunting program.
Selling Point: As I said, they did it right this time
Female Vampire Factor: One of the biggest questions regarding this remake was how the character of Gerri Dandridge (Jaime Murray) would be handled. Basically she's a hybrid of the 85 Jerry and the 88 Regine Dandridge characters. While the film pretty much follows the plot of the 85 film to a tee just changing the location to Romania you do get a number of scenes of Gerri teasing Charlie while seducing her victims that reminded me a lot of Julie Carmen's character in the original Fright Night 2.
Fact of the matter is, she makes getting murdered by a vampire seem downright fun. It looked like she was practically raping Evil Ed in the scene where she catches up with him.
If there was one disappointing thing about this film (and pretty much this is the only disappoint thing) it's the handling of Amy (Sacha Parkinson) turning into a vampire. Unlike the other two versions of this story, there is no gradual turn and no seduction involved. As a matter of fact, she's kind of like an alligator in a pool of blood that Charlie has to wrestle with.
The thing is with this film that's more of a nit pick than anything as there is more than enough seduction with Gerri being the hot teacher who "fraternizes" with her students and all. Anyway, this film while not the greatest female vampire film of all time is light years better than the last attempt to I will give ita Vampire Beauty Rating of 5 out of 5. These types of films don't come around too often so enjoy it.
The Gist: A writer on a getaway to Europe to clear his mind falls for a beautiful yet mysterious red head, but when he can't take no for an answer reveals that she's a vampire and at his suggestion turns him.
Clarification: This isn't so much a horror movie as it is a romance/drama about sibling rivalry. While the film starts out about Paulo (the writer) and Djuna (The Vampire). Once he is turned the film goes in several different direction but has a bit of a reverse Twilight feel. In this case it's not a bad thing whatsoever being that all the vampires are hot women and they actually do have fangs plus it doesn't take 5 movies to tell the story.
Selling Point: The scene in the film where Djuna proves to Paolo that she is a vampire and not just trying to blow him off. She has him chain her to her bed (while wearing nothing but lingerie BTW) and romances her till she fangs out (I guess vampires can't have sexual relations with humans without wanting to eat them). She then begins growling and writhing around the bed and his response? What else... He unchains her, says "lets make love" and get an eternal hickey for it. This scene was HOT!!!!!!!!
Female Vampire Factor: The film stars Josephine De La Baume as Djuna. Outside of the above scene Djuna rarely ever looses control and feeds on animal blood and teaches Paulo to do the same when she turns him (as I said "reverse Twilight"). Being that the gist of the film all happens in the first 20 minutes they have to fill the rest with something and that something is Djuna's sister Mimi played by Roxane Mesquida.
Unlike the other vampires of the film Mimi wants absolutely nothing to do with the whole "don't hurt anyone" lifestyle that the others live and is often getting in trouble for leaving her meals lying around for others to see. She comes to town to stay with Djuna while Xenia (the vampire who seems to run this halfway house for wayward vamps played by Anna Mauglalis) prepares a home for her in Arizona. Mimi is quite evil and decides she doesn't want to leave and not only sets her sites on Paolo but even goes as far as blackmailing Xenia to prevent from having to go to Arizona by bringing her a young woman and "accidentally" cutting her (Xenia is a vampire version of an alcoholic as she is not capable of controlling her hunger around humans without loosing control).
Though the ending of the movie seems like a "we couldn't come up with anything better" rush job the fact is getting to it is the best part anyway. It's a very artsy film meaning full of sex scenes with pretty music in the background. For that I give the film a Vampire Beauty Rating of 5 out of 5. The two scenes of female vampires loosing control is worth the price of admission alone.
