Summary: A young man returns home to a small Romanian town only to discover that a number of people have died under mysterious circumstances and seem to have come back for revenge.
Vampires seem to be all the rage these days (this is the second I’ve seen at the Edmonton International Film Festival alone). Amidst the current glut of vampire media it is difficult to do something original and stand out. Some people rely on sparkles and abstinence (how that worked out so well I’ll never know), some rely on excessive sex and intrigue (this is pretty standard, but Sookie, you did take it up a notch), some rely on style (see my Sodium Babies review) and some rely on humour and obscure interpretation of myth. Welcome to Strigoi.
Although the movie is from the UK, it is set in Romania to give it that creepy gypsy authenticity and is surprisingly funny. I was not really sure what to expect when we sat down (I neglected to actually watch the trailer) and I figured it would be funny, but it turns out not to be a horror movie at all. The vampires are quite unlike the vamps we know and love. Honestly, I found them to be more like zombies that can only go out at night. They don’t just eat blood, it seems to be a last resort when they run out of other food (the compulsive gluttony is pretty inconsistent too) and there are also “living vampires”. As far as I can tell that is just a dude that drinks blood. It is not clear whether they require blood or are immortal, or what. Anyway, it does not really matter. What matters is whether the movie is entertaining or not and for the most part it is.
I found the last 20 minutes or so to drag bit and I never did figure out if the main mystery was resolved, but it was not nearly as baffling as the ending of Sodium Babies.
Although the movie is from the UK, it is set in Romania to give it that creepy gypsy authenticity and is surprisingly funny. I was not really sure what to expect when we sat down (I neglected to actually watch the trailer) and I figured it would be funny, but it turns out not to be a horror movie at all. The vampires are quite unlike the vamps we know and love. Honestly, I found them to be more like zombies that can only go out at night. They don’t just eat blood, it seems to be a last resort when they run out of other food (the compulsive gluttony is pretty inconsistent too) and there are also “living vampires”. As far as I can tell that is just a dude that drinks blood. It is not clear whether they require blood or are immortal, or what. Anyway, it does not really matter. What matters is whether the movie is entertaining or not and for the most part it is.
I found the last 20 minutes or so to drag bit and I never did figure out if the main mystery was resolved, but it was not nearly as baffling as the ending of Sodium Babies.
B
originally posted Oct. 6, 2009
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