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Vampire Boys
R2 - United Kingdom - Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Samuel Scott (28th September 2011). |
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The Film
 Gay interest horror movies now rightfully have a genre of their own and even have several award ceremonies dedicated to gay/lesbian/transgender horror such as the Gaylactic Spectrum Awards and The Queer Horror Awards. The real question is can a gay horror movie entertain a straight male like myself? Well it probably could with some sort of thought into the filmmaking process so it is unfair to use Vampire Boys as a true test, because it's a bad film, no matter what your sexuality. The case synopsis reads: A brood of hot and hungry vampires are in desperate need of ‘The One’: a young, fresh blooded victim that can be turned into an eternal mate that allows them to live forever. Tara, a sexy and seductive college student who is open to suggestion, offers herself up to the gang of vampires but Jasin, the dominant leader, has other ideas as Caleb, a fresh-faced and innocent stranger, enters the scene. Jasin is everything Caleb has dreamt of and both males feel an instant and uncontrollable connection, a connection that threatens to tear the vampire brood apart. Jasin has to decide which one is ‘The One’ as he asks: Who would you die for to live forever? The cast here all seem to have been picked more for their bulging six packs rather than their acting talents. Nobody in the cast gives a particularly convincing performance and at times, the acting talent on display is downright laughable. Despite the acting being poor, it is still average for the budget range of the genre but that's no excuse really. The dialogue really doesn't help their case either with poor structuring of the barely there plot used to just link kissing and sex scenes together. The script also failed with poor character development. Considering this is a vampire film, the serious lack of special effects was a real shame. The fake blood they did use looked good but they could've been far more inventive with the horror aspects of the movie and put more time and consideration into making it more convincing as a genre movie, instead opting to concentrate on the 'erotic' segments. Music featured within the film was soft rock and did suit the scenes well. Of particular note was the title track which through the opening credits. Some more atmospheric orchestral music would have been good at times but I suppose what we have is more fitting in tone to the direction the movie went in. It's hard to find anything to like in this film, but some of the direction and the way some scenes are shot are OK I suppose. Overall, unless you're a massive (and I mean massive) genre fan, probably best to give this one a miss.
Video
Presented anamorphically in the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, Vampire Boys looks quite good for a low budget vampire movie. There is little damage to the print, it's quite sharp and colours are fine. It is a little underwhelming in some scenes lighting wise but that's mainly due to budget constraints and lack of experience in my opinion.
Audio
Only one option available here and that is a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track in the original English. Seperation is minimal but dialogue is clear at all times and volume levels consistent. The film could've benefited from a 5.1 upmix for atmosphere at times but the stereo track is certainly adequate. No subtitles have been included.
Extras
Just one extra here, a ten minute "Behind the Scenes" featurette. For the most part, this is your typical fluff piece with some b-roll footage interspersed with interviews with cast and crew. Although mainly a backslapping affair there are a couple of small points of trivia of note, including being informed the movie had a shooting time of just six days. Worth a single watch (just) but don't expect anything particularly informative or in-depth.
Overall
Kaleidoscope should be proud of themselves for bringing yet another low budget independent feature to UK stores and giving it a better treatment than many of the major companies would have done. It's just a shame the film isn't that good and didn't contain enough horror to keep me interested. Also, as a straight guy, it's fair to say that the fact the movie caters heavily towards the gay scene rather than the horror scene meant it just didn't appeal to me. The more hardcore fans of gay interest horror might want to add this to their collection but I doubt it.
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