31 Days of Halloween: Night Teeth

2021, Adam Randall (I See You) -- Netflix

We watched Randall's last flick last year, continuing the trend of seeing at least a handful of the directors repeatedly year to year. Good; I like that. I need to find more Mike Flanagans to add to this month. And this year we got two Flanagan offerings, but more on that later.

This is not a horror movie, but it is a vampire movie, something that gave me a lot to chew on, pun so fully intended. It was chock full of world building, almost like someone decided to write a Vampire: the Masquerade movie and ended up with this instead. Then again, I will always compare detailed worlds where humans and vampires interact in stylish, but always violent ways to the old RPG.

In this world, the vampires and humans of LA established a truce. The vampires may feed in established quarters, as long as it is consensual. And they are to stay out of Boyle Heights, wherein live a cadre of gangsters tasked with keeping the peace between the vampires and humans, punishing both sides should they transgress. But one night, Jay (Raúl Castillo, Army of the Dead) the leader of this cadre is forced to let his younger brother Benny (Jorge Lendeborg Jr, Bumblebee) take his place as a chauffeur (his cover job I guess?), while he hunts down a vampire who is breaking the rules. Alas, he does not know that Benny is driving around the rebel vampire's two beautiful but deadly henchmen. And they have been tasked with assassinating all the leaders of different vampire power groups in the city. And add to that mix, a group of human vampire hunters who decide to take advantage of the ensuing chaos to take out more vamps. They are not really there for any particular plot point, just more world building and added violence.

The weird thing about this movie is that it's less an ultra-violent thriller (oh, it IS that as well) but also often a coming of age meet-cute, because Benny has taken a liking to one of the two vampire ladies, the alluring but sad looking Blaire (Debby Ryan, Horse Girl), the younger (in post vamp years) of the two. Benny is nervous, awkward, more than a little stoned during most of the movie, and also rather attracted to Blaire, so he ends up tagging along with them even when he realizes they are murderous creatures of the night, but not before he learns of his brother's involvement. Benny definitely doesn't get the scope of what the girls are doing, nor the consequences on how it will all end up playing out. He should at least understand they won't let him live, but nah, drug clouded Benny is only thinking with his heart/hormones. 

In the end, Benny saves the day, slays the evil rebel vampire (Alfie Allen, John Wick), saves his brother and gets the girl... for all eternity? Yeah Benny the slacker becomes a vampire. It was all a little silly but fun and violent, and likely to be added to any vampire-in-current-setting fan list.