Directed by: Sean Nichols Lynch
Release date: 2021
Contains spoilers
I had seen this film on pre-order DVD for region 1 but suddenly it appeared on UK Prime Video and what we have is a neat, simple little film. There are, of course, several films where the vampires are found in snowy climes and this is another to add to that list, but it is also set specifically at Christmas near Lake Tahoe.
It opens by a cabin and a woman calling for her dog. When it fails to return she goes into the woods looking for it, eventually finding its bloody collar. She hears a gasping sound and turns to see a vampire, Brock (Alan Silva), as his hunting mate Jackie (Laura Kennon) also comes for her. She is killed off-screen.
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| Dennice Cisneros as Olivia |
After the credits… A car pulls up and Olivia (Dennice Cisneros) gets out. She lives in her recently deceased mother’s house near Lake Tahoe and is an aspiring vampire novelist with a draw full of rejection slips. We see her reading the book 100 Vicious Little Vampire Stories (which I have and is great fun, incidentally), taking a peppermint each day from her advent calendar and going about her life. One night something bangs against her window.
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| injured bat |
She looks outside and there is an injured bat laying in the snow. She retreats indoors and googles how to tend an injured bat, puts it into a box (whilst she wears rubber gloves), gives it some water and then puts the box in the garage. She doesn’t notice the car that slowly drives by her house. In the morning she’s on the phone to her sister when she hears something coming from the garage. She grabs a knife and looks and there is a busted box and a naked vampire, later discovered to be Luke (Nico Bellamy), who has a wound in his side. She shuts and locks the door.
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| Vernon Wells as Julius King |
There is a knock at the door and a man, who we recognise as the driver from the night before, stands there. He flashes a badge, but does admit that he is a private eye named Julius King (Vernon Wells, Re-Vamped, The Dead Undead& Like a Bat Outta Hell), and tells her he’s looking for three persons – the first two we recognise as the vampires from the film start and the third she recognises as the vampire in the garage but says nothing.
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| in mother's clothes |
King has noticed the vampire book she's reading, as well as the plastic fangs used as Christmas Tree decorations, and suggests she likes vampires and then suggests that the three really are vampires and goes on about how dangerous they are – until suggesting he’s just kidding. After he has left, leaving his card, she takes clothes to Luke (having got his name from King) – though they are her mother's as that's all she has spare and he subsequently spends a section of the film dressed in mom clothes. His eyes are clouded, his fangs out and he demands blood – which she gets from the supermarket (though he seems unimpressed with pig's blood).
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| Luke bloodied |
So the two get to know each other – Olivia taking advantage of having a real life vampire to learn about the actual lore (stakes will kill anyone really, garlic causes hives, sunlight hurts but won’t kill, crosses are an issue but holy water only really works if the priest is good – most are corrupt. We also get the concept that a vampire has amnesia regarding their mortal life and an implied need to be invited. Luke had not been invited but Olivia carried him in, a de facto invitation, however there is a definitive invitation moment later). His slow healing injury was caused by King shooting him with a holy water drenched crossbow bolt. Of course, she also gets him to read her manuscript eventually, looking for tips. Of course King is still out there and so are Luke’s vampire companions…
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| Laura Kennon as Jackie |
This was a gentle comedy, driven in main by the characters of Luke and Olivia and relying on the actors and their likability. This did work for the film, Olivia comes across as a little ditsy but determined, Luke charming in a gruff sort of way. The story is very simple, there are moments of gore that work. Luke’s motivation isn’t explored massively and so we do wonder why he vacillates between dangerous, with a barely contained hunger, but ultimately safe and just plain violent. However this isn’t a major block to enjoyment and I think it is the simplicity that carries this. 6 out of 10.
The imdb page is here.
On DVD @ Amazon US
On Demand @ Amazon UK