Director – Chad Zuver (Night of the Living Dead 2014)
Starring – Kayla Elizabeth (Night of the Living Dead 2014, P.O.E.), Dana Furlong (Unnoticed), and Vanessa Leonard (Talk Nerdy to Me)
Release Date – 2014
Rating – 2.5/5
Vampires are a touchy subject among horror fans in recent years. From the beginning age of cinema the vampire has ruled the roost with the film Nosferatu and again in the 30s with Dracula. The vampire still had reign over horror up until recent years with Stephanie Meyers ruining them for the horror obsessed fan. Since 2008 horror fans have stayed away from vampire oriented films because they are now tainted by the shit stink of Twilight. Though many films before have tried to romanticize vampires none of them went to the degree that Twilight did making it hard for fans to be open minded to other vampire flicks.
Recently, director Chad Zuver reached out to me to review his flick New Blood Rising. I instantly knew the film was a vampire flick but I had no idea what kind of vampire film it was. Was it a vampire film that depicts them as blood thirsty beasts or is it a film that shows they have a human? I had no idea but I was curious.
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows a family of vampires who just happen to be the last vampires on Earth. Most of the vampires in the world has been eradicated by a family of vampire hunters. Now, both clans just happen to converge in one small town. The vampires are in search of someone that is “pure” so they can use their blood to raise a vampire army while the hunters are there to stop them.
The vampires find a pure soul in the form of a extremely bitchy teenager who just happens to take an eye to one of the hunters. The vampires start turning her friends and family against her to break her down but the hunters quickly realize her importance and rally around her before all hell breaks loose. **Spoiler Alert**
I can take my vampires different ways. I can take them if they are completely brutal with an insatiable appetite for blood or I can take them as unsuspecting menaces of the night in a cliched campy kinda way. Sadly, New Blood Rising was neither but it did stay away from the kind of vampires established in Twilight. New Blood Rising felt more like a teen drama than it did a horror movie which was really disappointing.
The acting in this one is very hard to watch. The cast tried hard but their lack of experience showed in every scene. Sadly, having heart did not go the distance in this one. The film is also home to one of the worst fight scenes I have ever seen in a film regardless of the caliber. I was actually embarrassed for watching that particular scene.
The story for this one is one that has been told numerous times before. In fact, it is very similar to the very first Blade film with Blade and Whistler trying to stop a clan of vampires from awakening an ancient evil. Though the film was nothing new it did have a few campy moments that made for some enjoyment just not an abundance of it.
Finally, the film does have a few kills but nothing special. Most are what you would expect from a vampire flick. A few bite marks here, blood smeared there. Nothing that would re-invent the genre. Overall, New Blood Rising is a vampire movie that just does not feel like a horror flick. The film has an amateur cast and a familiar story but it does have a few brief campy moments that prevents it from being a total waste of time. The film deserves at least one viewing.
