The Night Time World – review

Directors: Various

Release date: 2025

Contains spoilers

This is a portmanteau film, where the wraparound – entitled The Night Time World and directed by Timothy Paul Taylor – is about vampires but so are the four segments. It has become very easy to stitch a series of shorts into a film and I guess that theming them is a good a way to try and build a cohesive anthology. It feels to me, however, that creating bespoke segments is normally the stronger method.

Doug Henderson as Nada

Nevertheless, we are where we are with a vampire theme but shorts of varying quality and one in particular was probably not a good one to curate into the selection. The wraparound sees podcaster Nada (Doug Henderson) hosting his horror story show. He gets a caller, who seems to be in distress and speaks of a woman (Selina Flanscha) who answered his ad asking to kill him on camera. He gets cut off but she then calls, supernaturally controlling the lines, and their conversation makes the wraparound. It is fluff, to be honest, but Henderson makes for a calm, charming host for the stories.

Shane and Paul

The first segment is called The Backpage, directed by Brandon Lescure and originally released as a short in 2016. It is actually, for me, the best of the bunch. Paul (Brendan Krick) is in a bar with friend Shane (Joe Welkie). They are very much an odd couple, with Paul recently single and not very good with the dating game and Shane a player (or a bit of misogynistic slut). Both their dialogues are cringeworthy for different reasons and designed to be so.

Annabel Leah as Lilith

Shane convinces Paul to try out a massage website for a happy ending and he goes home, surfs the net, realises he has very little cash in his wallet and then spies a Backpage ad in a newspaper. This suggests a masseuse, named Lilith (Annabel Leah) who will come to the client and rates are negotiable. He calls and then falls asleep, woken when she knocks. Paul is nervous, suggests they chat but she soon strips, gets her massage table and kisses him.

drool

With a name like Lilith there is going to be no spoiler in discovering she is our vampire but I need to go into some unfamiliar lore they add in. She drools a foam-like drool onto his face and it is numbing and sedative. It also turns into a waxy residue, which seals his mouse and is used to glue his arms down. She straddles him and a large trunk-like tube comes from her belly and starts to suck his insides out from his groin. It was spectacularly unusual, and she comes across as much succubus as vampire.

Nina Donnelly as Scarlett

The next segment was Scarlet, directed by Sean Brien and released in 2020. It has three friends in a car – Denice (Harley Cubberley), Craig (James Stephen Walsh) and Robert (Greg Young) – watching for a woman who soon comes into view, her name is Scarlet (Nina Donnelly). It is apparent they know what she is and it is down to Craig to deal with her (he has a bag of vampire killing tools and Denice gives him a flask of garlic water). As he seems reticent, Robert suggests going to her, but Craig eventually leaves the car. She seems pleased to see him and leads him away… will he be able to deal with the restless dead? This is a very short segment (around 9 minutes) and has some good imagery but fails to get past a very basic narrative.

having a bite

The third segment is the one I am unsure of why it would be placed in the anthology, called for this Sorry for the Blood, and directed by Adam Michaels, Chaz and Dray Schoenbeck as I watched it I felt like it was lifting its story from Morbius and the vampire (Adam Michaels), unnamed in credit, looked like the comic book living vampire. Turns out this was a Morbius fan film from 2014, which is fine but curating it into a commercial anthology seems risky and, honestly, it was the weakest of the segments as it feels more like a proof of concept than a story.

feeding blood

The final segment was called Indictment and was a 2016 short that was directed by Gene Blalock. A man, Nico (Derrick Scott), wakes in a police cell and is brutalised by the cop in charge (Robert Hugh Starr), having been accused of murdering another cop (Nick Somers), which he can’t remember. As the brutality continues, memories start to return and he begins to realise that he’s been changed. This was my second favourite after the Backpage. Over all, this was a mixed bunch, though the photography was set at a decent standard across the segments and the shorts are worth watching (even Sorry for the Blood has some merit). 6 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon US

Succubus: The Bloody Mary Murders (#1-4) - review

Author: Darryl Hughes

Illustrator: Monique MacNaughton

First published: 2023 (#1) – 2025 (#4)

Contains spoilers

The Blurb (#1): VIOLENCE BRED...

She was created in the aftermath of a brutal violent crime committed against her by sons of wealth and privilege that ended the life that she was born with. She was reborn with new "life" in a burst of the soul cooled flames of hellfire, christened by the depths of hell, and blessed by the devil him.

VENGEANCE FED. FEAR NOT THE DARKNESS--FEAR HER INSTEAD!

Brimming with preternatural life, consumed with a hunger for vengeance for the life that was ripped from her and the blood of those responsible, she hunts the darkness and the cold still night for her victims, leaving a mounting trail of carnage and carnality in her wake.

WHO IS SHE?

Her name is Mary. Bloody Mary. Vampire...SUCCUBUS.

The review: This is a series of 4 (so far) comics, available via Kindle and I’m covering of all four, though am linking to book 1 with the link below. Often, when it comes to something tagged as succubus we have to discern whether the entity falls into the vampiric. Mary, central character in this, is very much a vampire.

In life she was brutally raped by a bunch of bros, presumed dead, buried alive, which caused her death, and then emerged from the grave (the succubus side directly touches in to the how she turned, and the actions of the devil are entirely behind it). Now those college bros are finance bros and she is back for revenge. The first is killed, and flayed, which draws both Cinder Duvalle, a journalist, and Patricia “Pepper” Doyle, a homicide cop, into a hunt for the femme fatale.

This was fun, the art worked for the story and, whilst it had some quirks within the narrative (such as Mary, missing and presumed dead, able to access her assets on her return, something that was quirky due to lack of exploration – which was understandable given the limitations of the comic medium), it was a quick, fun read. The story, however, is far from complete at issue #4 and I hope the writer and illustrator get opportunity to finish the series. 6 out of 10.

In Kindle format @ Amazon US

In Kindle format @ Amazon UK

Honourable Mention: All Wrapped Up

This was a low budget anthology film directed by Jason Liquori and released in 2007. It opens with Debbie Rochon as herself, negotiating with the production company’s mascot and directing us to a catalogue of films. The film is then made up of four segments that concentrate primarily on mummies – a bog mummy in the first, an Egyptian one in the second, an Aztec one in the third and, interestingly, a reinvigorated, cryogenic man in the final one. But as well as this we get brief moments of vampires, the Aztec mummy itself has a vampiric trope, there's a succubus and we even get an implied werewolf.

the succubus

It is in the third story, The Jaguar’s bite where we start with our vampires and more vampiric elements. The film starts with a couple in need of some guidance, one feels. She (Marcienne Dwyer) assumes he (Brian Prost) is having an affair but he wakes more tired than before he goes to bed and hires a paranormal PI, Stewart (Jason Liquori), to prove he is being visited by a succubus (Gina Markette). Stewart manages to see it through a video and, after a little tussle, gets rid by spraying water on her – not holy water, mind, but mineral water as though he is dousing an oversexed animal.

a vampire

The film goes on to him being hired to track down a stolen Aztec mummy (le Nguyen) – the museum believing that it was not a simple robbery/homicide as the police believe. The mummy was an Aztec warrior who would drink the blood of his enemies to take their strength and became an incarnation of a god. To defeat him, his enemies drained his blood. So the mummy is draining the blood of new enemies (those who disturbed his tomb) and that’s our trope. The vampires (Alberto Giovannelli and Christina Daoust) are led by monster hunter Rose Lenoire (Brunhilda Zekthi) to the mummy where one of them drains it (killing it) then explodes because he contained dead blood.

Debbie Rochon as Mistress Misty

There is a further vampire in final segment Milleniman in which, to try and save his daughter (Chanel Bagwell) badly injured in the previous segment, businessman Sebastian Fairweather (Kevin White) is tricked into being a guinea pig for a cryogenic experiment. He is accidentally woken a millennia later where the human race has been decimated in wars and the survivors are physically weakened. He is wanted by the Mayor, Mistress Misty (Debbie Rochon), as he may hold the key to some of the medical issues they face – she, it is revealed at the end, is not human but a vampire.

the Aztec Mummy

And that’s it, we get a blood drinking mummy – it is suggested that spilt blood revived it but the blood drinking is mentioned as an M.O. and the dialogue makes it clear that it isn’t a vampire (in the traditional sense), a moment of an energy devouring succubus and three fleeting visitations of actual vampires. The film is straight to video and some of the effects are knowingly (or, at least I hope it was knowingly) terrible. Possibly the most interesting idea was that the man trapped in cryogenics was a mummy also, giving that monster a sci-fi edge.

The imdb page is here.

Diva Satänica – review

Words and Art: BRÄO

First published: 2025

Contains spoilers

The Blurb: She’s an urban legend. A whispered name.
Some call her Medusa. Others, The Queen of Evil. The Lady in Black.
Vampire? Witch? Demon? No one knows for sure.
But one thing is certain. No one leaves her mansion alive.


And yet, people still go searching for her.
Why? Because she promises you the greatest night of pleasure you’ve ever known… in exchange for your life.


In this haunting tale, we follow Jonathan, a lonely, aimless man consumed by addiction. A string of strange, possibly supernatural encounters leads him to the legend of Diva Satänica, and what begins as curiosity soon becomes obsession.

Rendered entirely in stunning, hand-painted watercolour across 68 full-colour pages, Diva Satänica is a seductive, violent, and deeply atmospheric exploration of desire, death, and dark myth.

The review: This was a comic book I backed via a kickstarter, in its digital form, and it is a great piece of comic art. Pretty simple in its storytelling – a predator who hunts lonely men via a darkweb adult site, there perhaps is a simile with the film Succubus in the idea that she uses an electronic medium to hunt (and seems to have a supernatural control over that medium). She lures the men to her, though that may involve stepping between worlds also, with the promise of a sexual encounter.

This is absolutely beautiful and the creature, known as the Lady in Black, is described in comic both as a vampire and as a succubus. It is apparent that she needs blood in order to climax. The story itself has some adult themes (obviously, given the story as outlined) and some adult illustrations – so take that into account – but beyond the story, the joy of this has to be the wonderful, atmospheric artwork. 7 out of 10. The comic is available from Afterlight comics.

Succubus {2024} – review

Director: R.J. Daniel Hanna

Release date: 2024

Contains spoilers

Seen on the big screen at Grimmfest 2024, this is (by its very title) about a succubus but the succubus is using both flesh and spirit of victims to strengthen herself and become a corporeal reality. In such a way her actions are vampiric. The film also does a neat line in using virtual relationships along with a commentary on our interconnected and camera filled world (the film could have veered down a found footage route but, thankfully, avoided it and instead does have some footage moments but is a narrative film.

Ron Perlman as Zephyr

That said the opening footage is a recording and it features Dr. Orion Zephyr (Ron Perlman) talking to his wife and saying if the footage is found then it means that he is dead. He talks of his controversies, which will have hurt her, but says that she must publish his research – even if it is just given away free on the net. He leaves his car (cutting to a narrative camera), gets an axe and then heads on foot, limping, to a farm house.

Chris and Sharon

Chris (Brendan Bradley, Death Valley) is at home with the baby, but it is not currently an ideal family life. His son has been dropped off, whilst his estranged wife Sharon (Olivia Grace Applegate, Blood Fest) attends a hen night – they have been separated for two weeks. The cracks in their marriage seem mostly down to him. He started an app business but overstretched and is in debt. The stress of the business saw him neglect her.

meeting Adra online

Sharon is out with Charlisse (Emily Kincaid), who is divorced from Chris’ best friend Eddie (Derek Smith). Eddie has persuaded Chris to go on a dating app (even though he actually does still love Sharon) and he matches, at first, with a mutual friend and then gets a match from a mysterious girl called Adra (Rachel Cook). At first he suspects a scam. She initiates a video chat but types as he speaks (she has lost her voice, she says) and has a filter over her face. However, he becomes convinced she is real (and she attempts to have him visit her). Faux pas with Sharon, such as her seeing him masturbating on the nanny cam in the nursery (to a video Adra sends) and reactions when she looks noticeably aged on a video call – manipulated we assume by Adra.

bio-mass

How? Well Adra is the succubus and has selected Chris. She wants his cells (as she puts it) and there is a possession aspect to this, in order to infect and use sperm to help bring her corporeally into reality (or so it is implied). Yet she is corporeal… sort of… we see a video of a goat birthing a deformity (described by Zephyr as her first attempt to enter our world)… we also see her physically as a bio-mass (whether there is more to it, we don’t see) that devours a victim whilst copulating with it. We also see her in devil form.

demon form

However it is clear she can manipulate the virtual – with her female form that flirts with Chris. She can also manipulate when people are in an altered state – be that during sex, through substance, hypnosis or dreams. She is able to do this through a digital interface too and trap a victim in the altered state and unable to return to their conscious body. All this is really clever but there are bits that seem frustratingly unanswered.

Brendan Bradley as Chris

Zephyr is described as having hurt her and one assumes that is tied to the opening, but what he was doing there is never answered beyond what we saw in the prologue. If he did damage her corporeal form then how did she get to the house she is currently based in? How did Zephyr know that Chris was in touch with her and how he might get hold of him? These are frustrations but they are not insurmountable. In truth they were more apparent when I watched for review than they were on first watch in the festival.

coming between them

Well-acted by the leads, a moment of body horror, and a really neat use of the virtual world meeting the supernatural. This is a good film that perhaps needed a little bit more in the aspects mentioned but nevertheless I think is worth a watch. 6 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

On DVD @ Amazon US

Short Film: Queen of Night Chapter 2

A sequel short film to Queen of Night, this one released in 2023 and just under 9.5 minutes. In the first short we met D’Angelo (Michael Beasley) and his friend Millie (Natasha Collado) in the aftermath of some occult incident. This takes place a month later.

taking Jessica's form

The two friends are in D’Angelo’s room, he is trying to study, and she wants to show him a trick. Knowing she won’t let up, he closes his book and she changes her form into that of Jessica (Jayleen Maldonado) – a girl from one of D’Angelo’s classes who he has a crush on. Millie suggests he practice talking to Jessica through her. He doesn’t comply and is soon leaving her in his room whilst he goes to get pizza. She gets in bed for a nap.

no vampires here

After he has left a couple, Leon (Christopher Guity) and Tara (Zullyvette Muniz), break in and go to stab Millie – she isn’t in the bed anymore. She confronts them, fangs showing. We get a lowdown here of what has happened to Millie. Having bitten and dropped Leon, Tara calls her a vampire, but Millie responds that there are no vampires here – she’s a succubus. I do have to say thanks here to blog reader Ghostly who commented about her succubus nature on the post for the first short. I was aware of that but I am always appreciative of comments and there was every chance I didn’t know, so it’s never a wasted comment.

looking like a vampire

Of course, the line between succubus and vampire is thin – I often feature them here as they more often than not have a vampiric element (often energy devouring). In this case we don’t know if she is feeding but she has vampire like fangs and goes for the neck - the look is very vampire. She is brought to her senses by being sprayed with holy water (which would be as effective against a demon type as a vampire) and there is a mention that Millie is possessed. The night, however, is not over… Like the first film I couldn’t find an IMDb page at the time of writing.

Short Film: Queen of Night

This was a 2021 short film, hailing from the Bronx as a community project, and comes in at 7.5 minutes. It starts with D’Angelo (Michael Beasley) running down the road and something is pursuing him. We see the chase through a red filtered pov.

Michael Beasley as D'Angelo

He gets to his apartment block and drops his keys but manages to grab them, get in and get to his apartment. Inside he locks and chains the door. He goes to his room and realises that the window is open. He closes it and Millie (Natasha Collado) is stood behind him. He asks her what’s going on, mentioning her floating with glowing eyes above a pentagram and being chased. They are interrupted by his grandmother (Jacqueline Rosa) who can’t see Millie (I suspect she’s blind rather than Millie being invisible).

Natasha Collado as Millie

The reason for looking at this here is the dream D’Angelo has after Millie crashes on his bed and so he sleeps on the floor. He sees her (through a red filter) sat above him, fangs click out and she bites him. It is a very vampy moment. When he awakens it was just a dream, but Millie has left handprints on the ceiling! An interesting little film, it doesn’t give us much story, more an aftermath of something and an introduction to the characters. At the time of writing, I couldn’t find an IMDb page.

Use of Tropes: The Heiress

The Heiress was a Joe Lujan directed portmanteau film released in 2023 and had a surround that showed the Heiress (Anthony Avery, Scare Me) as the keeper of several monsters. As she and her servant Opis (Danny Bravo) feed the inmates, their stories become the segments of the movie.

As she introduces the first segment she refers to the captive as a succubus… In truth she is not, rather she is a Yuki-Onna (Judy Lay) or snow woman. Now, in fairness, Bane lists the Yuki-Onna as an energy vampire. Most famously we see her story in the Japanese anthology film Kwaidan. In that she freezes one traveller with her breath, with no evidence that she is taking his energy, but that film does add in a blood drinking element. In this we do not get any definitive energy vampirism – hence looking at the film’s use of tropes.

rough driving weather

The segment is very simple. A traveller, Len (Eric Lum), is driving down a snowy road. Speaking on the phone to a loved one. The weather gets worse, killing his visibility, and so he stops the car intent on waiting it out. It is here we start to notice the big issue with the segment. It is snowing… however the snow is an effect and they used foam. This distracts from the tale as it is clearly foam and not snow. I realise that they were working around budgetary constraints but… As a snowy locale is a primary location for this creature then they should have considered a different monster type and avoided foam.

Judy Lay as the Yuki-Onna

Eventually the Yuki-Onna starts moving around the car, even appearing within it. Eventually Len goes after the woman and she breathes on him, freezing him. There is nothing much else to this story and certainly nothing vampiric. However the use of the Yuki-Onna does link, as mentioned, to vampirism. Foam aside they manage to build a decent atmosphere, with very little to make the atmosphere more palpable the audience has got to trust in the filmmakers.

The imdb page is here.

Honourable Mentions: Debbie Does Demons

Ah, Donald Farmer, director of many a poor film… this is his 2023 opus and, whilst rubbish, it is so knowingly so that one almost can take it as a self-styled meme and appreciate it for that. The primary reason for having the mention is that the central antagonist is named Carmilla Karnstein (Jessa Flux) – the name obviously coming from Carmilla and her look owing a tad to Franco’s Female Vampire - though in this she is a witch.

The opening credits actually seem quite well shot, a low tracking through a graveyard that has a feel of film of a more 60s/70s pedigree (and added pops and scratches). The cuts to shenanigans with rubber demons probably breaks that a bit but this is a rule of thumb for the movie – all the demons look blooming awful.

Carmilla grabs an innocent

We get some detail about the witch Carmilla, from the witch herself, and then we are in the show Debbie Does Demons (named, of course, for one of the most famous of adult movies). Debbie (Angel Nichole Bradford) is the host of a horror show and the next scene would seem to be presented on the show (except that the Carmilla character is played by Flux and thus it might also be a flashback). If the former then we can forgive the fact that the nun and monk outfits are clearly cheap end Halloween costumes of modern material and, as well as a cape, Carmilla wears some very modern briefs (and nothing else), this also allows a forgiveness of the very shaky camerawork (as the show is on the cheap) if the latter, then it’s poor.

the possessed monk

Anyway, Carmilla has grabbed a woman in period dress and is promising to use her virgin blood in a rite that will allow her mother, killed by witchfinders, to possess the innocent's body and finish the work of bringing Hell on Earth. Her plan is foiled when grabbed by a monk – who is a witchfinder – and a couple of nuns. However, she then decides to pass her spirit (mouth to mouth) into the witchfinder, who subsequently spits blood onto a nun and is now Carmilla… the story ends, Debbie ends her show.

the friends

Four friends Lauren (Morrigan Thompson), Jan (Dixie Gers), Ashley (Roni Jonah) and Adam (Adam Freeman) are watching the show (bad scripting later makes incorrect names be used – Ashley is called Angela at one point – and things be forgotten, such as Lauren forgetting that the Debbie Does Demon show exists after making her friends watch it). Lauren knew the episode was about Carmilla, announces she is a descendant thereof and suggest contacting the witch through a ouija board. As soon as it works Adam and Ashley leg it to their rooms upstairs and Lauren has a seizure. Jan runs to her room and is first to meet Carmilla who manifests in the shower, as you do, because… boobs (though they are out through 95% of her screen time anyway).

attack of the vampire nuns

So, Carmilla turns Jan and Adam into demons (who actually just look a bit like really low budget zombies whose makeup comprises of blood round the mouth) and Lauren has to find a way of unsummoning the witch. But, whilst I have mentioned this because of the use of Carmilla's name, there are two scenes to mention that are part of the Debbie Does Demon show. The first is linked as a piece on a haunted mansion, but instead we see a priest with a stake go to a building, be let in by nuns who are more in fetish dress than holy vestments – and they call the place the Church of Hallowed Holes. We see a woman (presumably vampire) get out a coffin and the priest attacked by nuns (who were previously licking blood from a naked nun) and consequently put in the coffin. It’s definitely a vampire scene with no narrative to speak of.

the succubus

At the end of the film, we see another part of Debbie’s show that has adult film maker/star Newt Wallen (Les Price) go with a crew to a burnt out building where his father had tried to summon a demon to have sex with and the place had burnt down. Newt is going to try and summon the demon, a succubus (Roxie Rose), for the same reason. She appears and then bites his bits off as the woman with him shows fangs. All in all, the two scenes are just fleeting visitations. The film itself is rubbish, but so knowingly rubbish it was actually not as bad as it should have been.

The imdb page is here.

On Blu-Ray @ Amazon US

On Blu-Ray @ Amazon UK

Succuba – review

Director: Jaron Lockridge

Release date: 2022

Contains spoilers

To avoid an inevitable comment – Taliesin Meets the Vampires looks at the widest spread of what might be termed as vampires and that includes demons whose actions are vampiric. This makes sense as the succubus and the vampire exist within the same general space symbolically and archetypally (I think). So long as the succubae in question feed on their victim (and they do indeed in this) then it’ll appear here.

This is a modest little film that is greater than the sum of its parts, I think, but we’ll see that it misses one particular element (which is a crying shame).

finding Maurice

The film starts with Eddie (Keith Lamont Johnson), a minister who is going to visit one of the parishioners, Maurice, who hasn’t been to the church for a couple of weeks. We get a sense (confirmed later) that Eddie is mourning and, on the way to Maurice’s home, he gets a photo message sent of Tracee (Crystal Jones), his wife who recently passed. He knocks on the door but no-one answers then he hears a gunshot. Entering there is gasoline on the floor and Maurice dead, a suicide. He had tried to light a gas-can before shooting but it didn’t catch. There is a strange sound and Eddie sees something…

Ketrick 'Jazz' Copeland as Phillip

Cut forward two-years and Sheriff Phillip Grover (Ketrick 'Jazz' Copeland) is standing for re-election and has been to a fundraiser with his wife (Nichole Tate-Jackson). Back home there is some talk – mostly her not being in the mood for sex and suggesting he use his porn account (and an indication that the porn he watches involves women who perhaps have a different look to his wife). The next day he is going fishing, an activity rejected by his daughter (Lauren Taylor) and wife – who warns a storm is due.

Keith Lamont Johnson as Eddie

He gets out to his normal fishing spot but it looks like the weather is turning so he quickly decides to go home. We see he has left his phone on a bench and the truck refuses to start until he fiddles under the hood. Eventually, part way home, the truck dies and he starts to walk. Night has fallen by the time he reaches a house. He knocks on the door, looking for help, but the owner – Eddie – refuses. Phillip pleads and Eddie lets him in but says he has no phone. A noise – his dog, he suggests – and Eddie’s demeanour tells the cop something is up.

shotgun

Eddie leaves the room and, when he gets back, the shotgun he aims at Phillip outguns the pistol the sheriff carries. Phillip tries to de-escalate the situation and Eddie explains what is going on. Back to the day at Maurice’s home and when he finds the source of the noise he heard he found Tracee sat in the backroom. He didn’t call in the suicide, he took her home and never questioned how his dead wife had returned – rather, they made love.

demonic form

However, he soon started waking with blood on his pillow, from where he had coughed it up. His health took a drastic turn – with him coughing up blood and blood in his stools and urine. He started to understand and confronted Tracee with gospel verses and eventually saw her true form – a demonic, horned creature. He pledged to imprison and guard her for as long as he could. However, when he finishes his tale, he passes out and Phillip goes to the padlocked room and rescues the woman (Brown Anastasia) he finds in there. He aims to take her to the station but she wants to go to his home and her eyes flash red, hypnotic, when he mentions his family being there…

pained by scripture

The film is quite simple in set up but it works well as a narrative, with all the actors (primarily Keith Lamont Johnson and Ketrick 'Jazz' Copeland) offering naturalistic performances. The dialogue is well constructed and this is mostly a neat little film. I say mostly because I felt it missed one element… a sense of horror, uncanny or anxiety. I never really bought the peril that the family found themselves in and it’s a shame as the running time could have withstood expanding in order that more of a tension could be built.

red eyed

We don’t get much lore. The Succubus isolates the male victim and uses sexuality to ensnare them (plus an implied hypnosis as necessary) – taking on a pleasing form for them. She does feed on them – this is stated – and the blood is a result of the feeding rather than her feeding on blood – so it isn’t explicitly stated but we can assume energy consumption. The use of scripture seemed to cause it pain. It appears that she remains in demonic form for women. However I don’t think we need much more lore than this – again a simple set up works in the film’s favour.

5.5 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK

Blood Covered Chocolate – review

Director: Monte Light

Release date: 2022

Contains spoilers

Touching on themes of addiction and mental health, Blood Covered Chocolate is a low budget piece with lofty ideas that moves purposefully into the arthouse area. In black and white with occasional colour (mostly filters) this revels in the idea of an unreliable narrative, where the viewer must keep their wits about them.

It starts with a man, Massimo (Michael Klug), in a storage facility, entering a unit and looking at a bag stuffed with money. Then at home, Massimo looks on proudly at his 1-year sobriety chip. His girlfriend, Tien (Christine Nguyen, Haunted Hotties & Twilight Vamps), who wears her (longer) sobriety chip on a chain. They have sex and afterwards are talking about penanggalan (and the alternative Arp name).

Massimo and Tien

Massimo thinks the idea gross (she turns this back on Western folklore of the prince sexually forcing himself on a sleeping woman) and we do get a visual of the penanggalan (a sketch and later in photographic form). Tien explains that her grandmother was obsessed with her virginity and use to tell her tales of the creature to scare her (as it will suck a foetus right out of her). When the conversation turns to his parents it becomes more strained. His father ran out to Mexico and was involved in shady stuff, and his mother, Barbara (Debra Lamb, Beverley Hills Vamp & A Blood Story), is described as a succubus – Tien will see when she meets her.

shadow of the vampire

The film cuts to a dinner with her and her husband, Crate (Joe Altieri). Crate offers Tien wine – even though he is aware of her alcoholism, and makes direct mention of it. He is scornful of her job – bartender – and is generally rude and the dinner is very awkward. She takes it in her stride until she has to leave. There is then heated words within the family until Crate tells Barbara to wait in the car. We see her outside the apartment with a shadow reaching for her, à la Nosferatu, Eine Symphonie des Grauens (I’ll circle back to this later). Crate interrogates Massimo and orders him to break things off with Tien. It is clear that Crate is into some sketchy stuff and controls Massimo’s life.

penanggalan

After Barbara and Crate are gone, there is a knock at the door and a woman (Jamie Tran) is there and demands Massimo invite her in. She refuses the offer of wine, which Massimo pours on the floor, and then attacks him. She seems to be penanggalan. Tien is calling him and wonders where he has been, he has not spoken to her for seven days. He starts to say he needs to break up with her but, when she argues back, a woman he identifies as Sofia (Meghan Deanna Kingsley) sits on his knee and tells her to take a hint. Sofia is the vampire and can change form – later she takes the form of his mother when sexually tormenting him.

fading reflection

The narrative becomes splintered and we wonder as to the reality of the vampire – we get the impression that he is both drinking and using heroin and as the film focuses on his gaze, and he is a very unreliable narrator (as I alluded to earlier), we are never sure. He loses his reflection (and we see it fade) but is told that most of the folklore/tropes are wrong (stakes do not work, nor crosses or garlic and the sun is fine 9 out of 10 times). He learns to smell the truth of people, able to almost read their minds through scent.

Michael Klug as Massimo

I mentioned Nosferatu and I have seen the film described as a tribute to the classic silent movie. We do get the odd moment of shadow but, to me, this is a tribute only in that it is vampire themed. Whilst director Monte Light may have had it in mind, this is much more modern and eschews the European gothic (though there is arguably an American gothic running through it), leaning much more into the black and white New York vampire films (The Addiction and Nadja specifically). That black and white, with occasional colour, worked well and the photography is very nice. It was nice to see Christine Nguyen in a serious role within a quality project – given the films we’ve seen her in before – but it is Michael Klug who is given the task of carrying this and his effort is admirable.

Meghan Deanna Kingsley as Sofia

Whether you like this or not will very much depend on your taste for arthouse films and splintered narratives. It twists into psychedelia from time to time – replete with kaleidoscopic imagery – and whilst it does offer a trustworthy explanation at the denouement, the viewer may find themselves put off with the unreliability of our lead’s narration through the body of the film. If you are cool with that then I think there is much to get out of this and I certainly enjoyed it. 7.5 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

The film is on free services such as Tubi but can be found:

On Demand @ Amazon US

On Demand @ Amazon UK