Jeff (Matthew Jason Walsh) is a young pathetic vampire who has to put up with his domineering mother (Cherie Patry) and clean up after her whenever she feeds on poor Girl Scouts who are unfortunate enough to try to sell her cookies. If that wasn’t bad enough, she also forces her son to help lure trick or treaters to their death on Halloween night. Naturally, only so many people can go missing before it brings the attention of the local sheriff. Meanwhile, Jeff begins seeing a pretty girl (Shannon Doyle) and it’s only a matter of time before his meddling monster of a mother spoils his happiness.
Directed by J.R. Bookwalter, Kingdom of the Vampire is more serious and downbeat than some of his other work (although he’s still able to work in an amusing reference to his previous flick, Robot Ninja). It’s less a horror show and more of a sad portrait of someone trying to break free of an overbearing parent. It’s just that… you know… the parent also happens to be a vampire.
The performances are strong and help elevate the film from its low budget trappings. Walsh, who also wrote the film and supplied the music (which is surprisingly good) makes for a solid lead. I mean you wouldn’t expect a movie called Kingdom of the Vampire to put such a concentration on characters, but everyone fares well with the material. It’s easy for a low budget horror movie to rely on cheap gore and laughs to carry it. It’s rare to find one that focuses on performance driven horror.
And for the most part, it works. The biggest sticking point is the third act where everything comes to a head all at once. I can’t help but think that Bookwalter and Walsh must’ve run out of time or money (or both) since things end so abruptly and unsatisfyingly. It’s only seventy minutes long, but this is one of the few times I wished a low budget vampire movie was longer, if only to properly flesh out the finale and give its characters a send-off they deserve.
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