DVD Artwork
A grief stricken young woman who is desperate to contact her dead brother obtains an ancient vampire relic that is being sought after by two evil vampire lords and a vampire hunter.
This film is a total mish-mash of sub-genres that mix and mingle together to make a completely original viewing experience. You’ve got everything within, including the kitchen sink. You have warring vampire lords being chased by a weary vampire hunter (Jason Carter of Babylon 5). You get an ancient relic that controls the dead. They give you zombies, a séance and Andrew Divoff in a dime store wig? Oh yes, worth a view for that alone.
Divoff and Tom Savini portray the vampire lords with smarmy gusto. They both ham & cheese it up which solidly places this film in the camp department. The film not only mixes sub-genres but the tone of this film also changes throughout. The director Edward Douglas of Midnight Syndicate, music composer extraordinaire’, provides really solid moments of suspense with his set-ups, camera work and music. The music is really good and it is what scares in here. The power of the music within this piece is more than apparent because this film is not scary but the music is.
In fact this film is mostly humorous and thankfully the humor works. Savini and Divoff especially make this a fun watch. There are some really fun gore moments but this film is not a gorehound’s dream so if that’s what you’re looking for, you won’t find it here. Production values and effects are startlingly high for a film of this nature, completely independent. The acting for most of the other players is what you would expect but I do have one complaint. The lead actress in this piece (sorry to call you out Sean Serino) tends to deliver her lines with the same smile on her face throughout and this ended up being distracting to me. Still a minor complaint considering the entertainment value this provides. I don’t usually say this but this DVD is worth a purchase.
This release not only comes with the film but you get the original motion picture soundtrack CD and a Midnight Syndicate Halloween Music Collection CD. It’s a beautifully produced release with a lot of extras. Kudos to Robert Kurtzman (From Dusk Till Dawn and The Rage) for backing Midnight Syndicate and this quality production. This is mostly story and a tale that’s told well albeit a complicated one, especially for this genre. There’s a lot going on in here and none of it is taken seriously except the bottom line message regarding guilt and the fact that The Dead really do Matter.
