FILM: The First Vampire

I downloaded this short film from iTunes to watch on a flight.  Set in 4th century Sweden The First Vampire (2004, IMDb) has a dark, sepia-toned feel a bit like a Breugel painting. 

The movie is 24-minutes long and opens with a man riding at night encountering a mysterious figure carrying a child who is near death.  He rescues the unconscious child but soon other people are sickened by attacks from 'the vampire'.  A doctor is summoned and soon questions the supernatural explanations of the disease, but can he solve the problem before the people's fears drive them to rash actions?

The first half of the film is rather muddled, dark and confusing--but it is worth hanging in there to see the rather interesting conclusion.

Movie: Bloodsuckers

Bloodsuckers a.k.a. Vampire-Wars_Battle-for-the-Universe is a low budget 2005 TV movie.  It starts of just plain bad and manages to finish with a certain (small) amount of kitchy charm. 

Basically, in a future where humans have gone into space and found it full of vampires, an earnest hero joins a team of semi-official vampire killers.  The team is, like the hero, pretty much a collection of cliches from central casting--reckless captain, vampire ninja babe, cowboy grunt and sassy sarcasticc chick.

The acting is not great, the sets are not great, the action sequences are not great and the special effects are terrible--but the plot gets a little more sophisticated as it goes on, from 'kill the vampires!' to 'be loyal to your friends and kill the vampires!' 

This would have been a semi-promising TV series pilot, but as a movie it is pretty lacklustre.  But if it is on sale or on TV, Bloodsuckler is and okay movie for someone who has some free time and is prepared to kick back and descend to its level.

• IMDb

Stephen King's Intro to 'American Vampire'....

What Stephen King thinks vampires should be:

"Killers, honey. Stone killers who never get enough of that tasty Type-A. Bad boys and girls. Hunters. In other words, Midnight America. Red white and blue, accent on the red."