Blood Widow

Shot in and around barren locations, in stairwells and alleyways in Tucson, Arizona, BLOOD WIDOW offers an intriguing plot and a decent script that deserved a bigger, better production. We follow a serial killer-turned-vampire who encounters a small group of bloodsuckers intent upon resurrecting their kind in a modern setting. Two hardened police detectives chase down the clues, to a tragic end. Director-co-writer-costar Brendan Murphy has constructed a few effective scenes -- the ballerina's death sequence is a stand-out -- but for every decent scene there are around ten that don't come off, including a ridiculous nightclub scene and a lot of slow-moving procedural dramatics. A quick shooting schedule is evident. The actions scenes are far too ambitious for the movie to pull off given the limitations of the micro-budget. Additionally, most of the actors are either under-rehearsed or plain incompetent. However, James Craven is notably quite good as the elder detective who enlivens all the scenes he is in; and Melissa Aguirre Fernandez is a strong presence as the lead vampire.