VAMPERICA

Vamperifica (2011)

Directed By: Bruce Ornstein
Starring: Martin Yurkovic, Dreama Walker, Creighton James, Bonnie Swencionis, Jeff Ward

It wasn’t until I put Vamperifica into my DVD player, that I realized I had been avoiding Vampire movies. Somewhere just south of all the blood and sex, Vampire movies became overdone. Of course this is no reason to completely ignore the sub-genre, but it goes without saying that we can expect some truly awful instances of Vampire horror to arise. Lucky forVamperifica, this isn’t entirely the case as it boasts some truly original vampire development and humor. But is it enough to will me out of my too many vampires coma?

Vamperifica follows Carmen, a flamboyant college student who dreams of being a Broadway star and loves to yell about dirty whores and bitches. He gets a brutal wake up call however, when two vampires arrive to give him unsettling news. Carmen actually contains the reincarnated soul of a powerful vampire king and he now must help in populating the vampire race once again. The news comes with difficulty however, as Carmen finds it difficult to separate his friends from his new life as a vampire. Will he choose his new "life" or will he remain faithful to his friends?

Vamperifica manages to stay away from the normal conventions of vampire tales, by removing that whole romantic aspect. The relationship at the story's center is actually one of a very strong friendship instead. While not romantically involved, Carmen and Tracey provide an extremely touching and hilarious take on love. Their chemistry is the kind we yearn for after droves of shallow and boring vampires and their victims/ love interests.

Also notable here is the high level of sarcastic and crass humor. Who doesn't love people being complete bitches? More importantly, who doesn't love well written bitches? Hopefully no one. The humor in Vamperifica is certainly over the top, but it's over the top in a good way. It's not afraid to push boundaries and it does it mostly with a lot of tongue in cheek.

The overall storyline is creative for the most part, intertwining Carmen's past and friendships with the immediacy of his present situation as a bloodsucking vampire. What I loved most is that Carmen's homosexuality isn't a major plot point--that is to say Carmen is portrayed as an actual human being and not this whole other separate category. It's his story and he happens to be gay but Vamperifica is not a gay vampire movie and I think that's an important and valiant distinction to make here.

What bogs the story down however is that there isn't a whole lot at stake. We watch Carmen float from one situation to the next where the supposed conflict of choosing his friends or new vampire friends arises. The problem is that this never really feels like a conflict. We always feel and know that Carmen is going to choose his friends so therefore there's not a whole lot keeping us roped in. Carmen gets mad at someone then kills them in an entertaining and often gross matter, but then what? This lack of true motivation changes in a sudden turn in one of the characters which seems to be one last try at establishing a real conflict. The problem with that is that it comes too late and almost feels a bit forced.

Additionally while I loved Carmen's character, I wasn't entirely in love with Martin Yurkovic's performance. He has his shining moments but more often than not I noticed a few stumbles that felt a bit too unnatural. There's even a bizarre musical number midway through that is almost just too much.

Finally, the special effects vary in Vamperifica from completely awesome (head twisting, penises sliding down walls) to laughable (glowing red eyes that may or may not have been added with Paint Shop).

If only a few of the unnecessary instances of silly red eyes and a few other CGI blunders were removed, I'd sayVamperifica nailed it.

Overall, Vamperifica is a good watch. It's funny, original and even heart warming in all the right spots. What it lacks in story and plot, it makes up for in characterization and that's where it truly shines. Don't expect to be whisked away to the magical land of streamy vampire romances, or gay vampire sex scenes. Vamperifica is its own breed of fun, sass and blood and there's nothing wrong with that.