Thursday, July 3, 2014

Vampire (2011)

Watching the trailer for this movie, it appeared to be a fast moving horror flick. But in reality it is a slow moving, brooding, overly long drama about a guy who drinks blood.

Simon is a high school biology teacher who takes care of his invalid mother who has alzheimers. In order to keep her from wandering away while he's at work, he came up with a harness attached to multiple large balloons so that she can't get out of her room.

In his spare time, he cruises chat rooms to find young women who want to commit suicide. After forming an online bond, Simon sets up a meeting using the pretext of a suicide pact.  Then he convinces the woman that the best way to go is by draining their blood.  Since he knows how to do the set up, he has them go first.

While Simon pursues these activities, he also gets involved with a police officer who invites him fishing after investigating why Simon's mother is confined to her room and strapped to lots of balloons.  Simon and his mother go fishing with the office and his sister Laura.  She turns out to be a pushy stalker who begins to show up  at his apartment every day. If he's not home, she has the super to let her in.

Simon also goes to a lavish home where there is a gathering of goths who're into serial killers and vampires.  It's never explained whether he was invited, or why he would go.  He doesn't seem to enjoy it at all.  It just provides an interlude for one of the goths to don his vampire teeth and bring Simon along as he decides to kill a random woman.  It's not clear why Simon just sits around as the murder happens.

There's never any real background given for Simon's delusions. Why does he think he's a vampire?  Why is he drinking blood when the only time he does it, he throws up afterwards?  How long has he been doing this?  How many women has he killed? And why doesn't he tell Laura to leave him alone? He seems totally put out by her obsessive attention (anyone would be), but doesn't ever stop her from inserting herself into his life and home.  And why does Simon try to save his suicidal student when she fits his criteria for a victim?

If you watch this be prepared.  It is almost two hours long and is mostly mopey dialogue or people brooding.  It's also not as interesting as the premise which is a vampire only targets those who are going to commit suicide.

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