Eulogy for a Vampire

I watched 'Eulogy for a Vampire' the other evening with a friend and we both thought that even though it was not our genre really, it was a really interesting film and we both really enjoyed it. I love the way in which it was filmed with the lighting and the lens, especially the way in which it differentiated between the flashbacks and the present, and we felt the acting was pretty good and raw and added to the naturalness of the setting. What an amazing location -- it really added to the creepiness and spookiness of the plot and kept one on the edge of the seat! AND how clever were the special effects?! The music was pretty good and the sound was also pretty good, which cannot have been easy on what must have been a pretty difficult location. The odd (tiny) bit of post-dubbing that was noticeable actually made the piece feel more like a slightly mysterious Eastern European film, like Murnau's 'Nosferatu,' so the viewer was never quite sure if it was a new American film or a classic European gem recently re-discovered. This impression was added by the clever camera work - which also made me think a little of some of those wonderful classics from the 70's like 'Halloween' and 'House,' especially with the music picking up the tempo and lending a degree of anticipation and dread! All in all I thought it was a great film. My main complaint is that the only character I really fancied never got to do anything but whip the others. I think the director needs to use him again and get him to do a little more.

I watched the film last Sunday with high expectation. Before that, I watched "Sun kissed", which is from the same director. I did like "Sun kissed" very much as a very creative gay-themed independent film for its twisted storyline and frequent switching between reality and imaginary. After watching "Eulogy for a vampire", I personally don't like it as much as the "sun kissed". I would say the "Eulogy for a Vampire" is a very ambitious film. The director put so many elements into this film, the Hitchcock style horror, religions, vampire legend, B class film raw blood, sin and vengeance, and of course homosexuality. It is very interesting to see so many controversial topics in one film, and the chemical reactions among them. However, the film seems lose its consistence in its story telling and cinema style. The whole story happened in a closed space and the chaos was caused by an intruder with the ghost vampire. This frame is a typical scary story. I enjoyed the switching between the blur, non-realistic screen and normal clear, well focused shooting inside of the house, just like "Mother and son" by Sokurov and "The assassination of Jesses James " , however, some of the blur dark scenes are too much in this film and it is a little bit uncomfortable for the visual purpose.

If you like light horror film, plus raw bloody fresh scene in B class films, and you don't decline to watch men sexual action between monks, you may want to try this alternative vampire film.