Vampireland (2012) – Review
1/2 Star
If you make it past the excruciatingly boring and pointless first half an hour Vampireland does get marginally better before falling back into its incredibly fatigued and slow pace. Clearly this was shot on a shoestring budget, but regardless of the shot on home video look there’s little to no artistic value. A small moment when our heroine is being chased by a vampire after her date is the exception. Suddenly the director finds the ability to frame a shot and the editor is capable of making cuts that have impact on the scene.
This movie is a great example of why the digital revolution was never a threat to Hollywood. This plays like something that the neighborhood kids put together for fun. The actors appear to be nonprofessional friends of the director or producer. The writing is nothing more than an idea with a “fill the voids” style. It’s incredible when anyone gets a movie made, it’s a truly hard and difficult feat to achieve. Unfortunately what happens with these made for fun flicks is they are bought up by crafty companies which slap some interesting artwork on them along with a more commercial title. Those who don’t know what they’re getting into will feel ripped off by these used car salesman bait and switch tactics.
The half a star is up from no stars because of some surprisingly effective digital special effects. Regardless of that short praise, skip Vampireland, there’s no reason to see this one.
Director: John Vincent
Stars: Mahssa Rashidy, Eric Maurer, Michael Bugard, Eric Jaan