Blood and Bone China

Chris Stone has created something fascinating and original, which blends the old tropes of vampires with the tale of a man's hunt for his lost brother. Vampires are at large in Stoke, feeding on the unwary and dragging their bodies off to goodness knows where. Behind it all is Linus Hemlock (David Lemberg), the man behind the Hemlock pottery which makes perfect and strong bone china at knock down prices. His vampire slave, Victoria (Lara de Leuw), has been hunting, and her victims include Doctor ('I'm not a Doctor, I'm a vet!') Howell's (Anthony Miles) brother. Howell joins forces with feisty reporter Anna Fitzgerald (Rachel Shenton) to try and get to the bottom of the mystery. Along the way they are attacked by vampires, join forces with hunter Alexander Pyre (John James Woodward), meet up with a band of Steampunk Victorians, and battle creatures of the night in Hemlock's pottery. All great stuff.

What is incredible is that Stone has created this film on a micro budget - BUT IT DOESN'T SHOW! There is minimal CGI that I spotted (some neat eye effects towards the end), and some superb performances, great settings and location work. The camera-work is excellent, and the script which, while in places shows it's webcast roots with a little to much retelling of the plot, is generally first class.

There is a standout performance from - I think - Lewis Brindley as the young boy Aaron. He steals his scenes and gets the best laugh of the film. But everyone is really top notch. Kudos to Rachel Shenton as Anna, who manages to bring a modern girl kick ass sensibility to a Victorian reporter, and to John James Woodward for his creepy and yet brilliant vampire hunter.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. It has a lovely balance of horror, suspense and dark humour, with a cracking soundtrack. The dramatic scenes toward the end are filmed so beautifully and convey poignant moments without the need to over embellish things with computer generated special effects. There are some subtle yet genuinely scary scenes. The cast work extremely well together, Anthony Miles, Rachel Shenton and John James Woodward give excellent performances - and Ryan Callaghan is particularly striking as the Servant. The whole thing was just great, with nods toward classic Hammer Horror and popular sci - fi such as Doctor Who. I'd love to see more from Chris Stone, he shows great promise and potential - and I really hope there's a sequel!

What a brilliant movie!!!!! Glued to the screen through out the whole thing. All the Actors/Actress's were fantastic. Great story line which incorporated local people and history. What a brilliant way to put Stoke on Trent on the map.

Even though it was done on a very low budget, as the locations, quality of the film, the music used and the use of the special effects..you wouldn't know it. Chris Stone definitely knows how to produce and direct an excellent film.

I'd like to see a sequel!!!! Please Mr. Stone...... make another one to follow on....you know you want to. :-D xxx