"I have nothing against retards in general..." -- David Cronenberg Directed by Holly Dale
89 Minutes / Live Home Video / Cropped from 1.85:1 to full screen
Boya (Gordon Currie), a youthful "humanist" vampire, awakens after decades of slumber and soon befriends a waitress (Molly, Helene Clarkson) of a sleepy donut shop. The stubble-laded member of the fanged undead doesn't want to "turn" any humans and resorts to feasting on rats in his apartment. He saves a cabbie friend of the waitress (Earl, Justin Louis) from alleyway execution by some local toughs and falls under the eye of their soft spoken crime boss (David Cronenberg). Only to compound Boya's problems, a lover (Rita, Fiona Reid) from all those years ago is deeply resentful over his not granting her eternal beauty and life. With Boya falling for Molly, can he find it in himself to stop the criminals closing in on him and his friends while keeping Rita at bay?
I hate to say this, but soon into viewing it became obvious this was the product of a female director. Not saying that's necessarily a bad thing; but all the trumped up personal drama and bathing buff (and butt) shots of Currie just scream a flick all the young girlies would fall over. Yet make no mistake, this isn't some offensive bullshit like Twilight, despite a story that waffles about.
Currie first constructs a withdrawn and twitchy vamp like a composite of Max Schreck's Nosferatu and Marty Feldman before becoming a tough blue-eyed pretty boy with overgrown K-9s with his acclimatization to Molly and Earl. Dale's film really has the whimsical rock 'n roll vibe of its period in its melding of a relationship drama with the Grand Guignol. The overall picture only just barely succeeds halfway at this bond, the trouble with the toughs drifts off as the conclusion suddenly dawns after what seemed like a protracted hour plus set-up. Better to watch than pick apart, but I don't think I'll be seeing it again.
VHS Picture: 6/10
VHS Sound: 7/10
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