There’s always some new tweak on the vampire mythos with every incarnation. Some, like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” always (mostly) made a clear distinction between the living (non-demon) and the undead (demon). Then there was stuff like TWILIGHT, that made vampires hot, bloodsucking, sparkly versions of their former self who were, for the most part, just like their former selves. I think my recent favorite was 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, which never even attempted to make the vamps anything but monsters. The point I’m getting to at a rather leisurely pace? Fangs are flying these days, and it looks like Phil Messerer and his vampiric posse are heading straight to the tree where the popular kids hang out. The result is disjointed, a bit goofy, surprisingly heartfelt at times, and better than I expected.
When first we meet the Baxter family, they seem like a typically dysfunctional lot that kinda hates each other in that way families do. The 16-year-old twins Lara and Helen (Eilis Cahill and Devon Bailey) are polar opposites—Lara’s an Anne Rice devotee with a Hot Topic wardrobe, and Helen’s an all-American cheerleader happy girl, brother Ray (Michael Strelow) is a closeted homosexual neuroscientist, Dad’s a non-issue, and Mom’s (JoJo Hristova) a former Bulgarian ice skater with a limp. Well, it all goes even worse when Helen’s nosebleed kills her, she resurrects as a vampire, and her family has to band together to keep her in fresh blood.
Now, there’s a whole back-story narration thing that goes on about this ancient vampire chick named Oya, and it’s unnecessary. Whoever is doing the actual narration sounds like a very stressed out professor of … vampires? … and the shifts to these portions are jarring. The story works without the Oya aspect, and even if the Oya tale remains, the film would be better served to introduce it in some quicker, subtler manner. Other than that, the story works. Taken as a movie that’s caught between genres, the comedy and the horror balance to make a black horror comedy. I think labels are overrated, though, and there are some genuinely effective dramatic moments that make everything else just a little more unsettling.
Just like the plot itself, the acting jobs range unevenly from really good to horribly bad. Of the good—the leads. Cahill does deadpan, and she brings a “Wonderfalls” quality to Lara that makes her a likeable Goth girl. Bailey is a great prom queen type as well, and she’s a believable blood junkie. The real standout, though, is Hristova, who one, had to go through some amazing make-up, apparently, to look that world weary, and two, was just a little bit heartbreaking in some of the film’s quieter moments. Of the bad? Oh my god, what the hell was that Patrice Duchamp III (Peter Morr) doing? Bad acting, terrifying hair, and so … ugh. I get that he’s like a friendly poke in the eye to the Rice-o-philes, but really—really? Like the voice-overs about Oya, this was an aspect that needn’t have existed, and if it did need to exist, could’ve been executed so as not to come off like a bad high school take on INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE.
Wow, I’m really starting to sound like a broken record here, but production value was … that’s right … a mixed bag. The make-up was, at times, amazing, especially the gore, and also especially, the fantastic work that aged Hristova. Bailey was creatured-out well, too, except for a few scenes where her dark-eyed blue circles looked like my early third-grade attempts with blue eye shadow. The music was overpowering at times, and though I actually LIKED the piano stuff, there was too much, and at times I felt like I was watching a vaudeville play. The sound in general seemed a bit off, as if maybe only one person was mic-ed at a time—and again, those segues between film and back-story always startled me because of the change in volume. As for the actual shots, I’ve read some reviews that didn’t care for Messerer’s eclectic sense of angle and such, but I, for one, am a fan, and I felt like that was one element that remained consistent throughout the entire film. Whether the scene was comedy, horror, drama, or an unholy hybrid of those, the directing and shot selection kept a common thread and kept the film interesting.
So, what have we learned about THICKER THAN WATER: THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (PART 1)? It’s not really scary, but the gore is well done, and the parts about Helen needing to get crazy with hunger before she’ll feed are a fun touch. There’s something sickly admirable about a family that will instantly band together to save their own, even if their own is a vampire. Hristova, Bailey, and Cahill give it their all—Morr should be stopped, and his bad wig (or god forbid hair) put on lockdown. Stories don’t always need a mythological narrated background. Messerer is good with a camera, though not in a conventional sense. A little music can go a long way. So, overall—it’s got some issues, but it’s enjoyable, worth watching, and offers a few new twists to a currently over-cluttered and bloody sub-genre.
– Amber Goddard
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
