Vampires Out For Blood 2004 Horror Film
Police Officer Hank Holton Stumbles on a Secret World of Vampires
Sep 9, 2009
Vampires Out for Blood is a 2004 horror film that was Written and Directed by Richard Brandes
Vampires Out for Blood's Plot and Characters
Out for Blood follows the story of Police officer Hank Holton (Kevin Dillon) as he retells his actions over the past few days which have led to him becoming a suspect in his ex-wife Susan’s murder. (Vanessa Angel).
His story defies belief.
Holton tells his superior officer, Captain John Billings (Lance Henriksen), that whilst investigating the disappearance of a college girl, Layla (Jodi Lynn O’Keefe) who went missing after visiting a rave, he has been exposed to world of vampires.
Holton managed to find Layla and when he did she invited him to a come with her. He is led to an abandoned hospital, which has been turned into a den for vampires. Layla attempts to feed on him but he fights her off and is set upon by the Master (Ismail Kanater). Holton is saved by a shaft of light coming through the window and falls unconscious only to find himself waking up in an abandoned building. He tries to tell Billings what happened, but the hospital’s night watchman claims that he hasn’t seen anyone in the building.
Fearing that he is becoming a vampire Holton goes to his ex-wife, a horror novelist specialising in vampires. Susan has moved on after their divorce but Holton is obviously still obsessed with her and practically stalks her. Fortunately, she is the closest thing to an expert and tells him that if he wants to prevent the change then he must kill the Master vampire.
Susan’s motives for helping him seem to stem from the fact that during a meeting she notices that he does not have a reflection. As the plot develops it seems that her motives do not revolve around saving her ex and it seems she desires to become one of the vampires that she has written so much about.
Clichés all Present and Correct
Out for Blood is by no means a brilliant vampire film; it is riddled with every vampire cliché that the audience can think of. There is a single vampire Master and if he is destroyed then all those he has turned will become human again. Vampires sleep in coffins during the daylight hours. Humans are bitten and turn slowly over a period of a few days. A stake through the heart will kill a vampire, and so on and so on.
The film is not original and anyone expecting to see a something that enriches the vampire genre will be disappointed.
However, the really good thing about Out for Blood is that it makes the very idea of vampires living amongst the humans of the world seem completely ridiculous. When Holton is recounting his story to Billings it sounds preposterous, the audience might wonder if he can hear the words coming out of his mouth and is struggling not to cringe. So many stories present vampires is a way that makes their existence in the world to be plausible, Out for Blood does the opposite and makes Holton appear to be insane.
The cast play their parts convincingly and the film does show everything from Holton’s point of view. The audience sees everything that happens to him; however, they are also left to guess what is going on when other witnesses seem to have no memory of the strange things happening around Holton.
Regrettably the ending does confirm whether what Holton (and the audience) has seen is real or if it was all in his head. It would have been more interesting if the ending was left open so the audience could decide if Holton was right or if he was just insane.
6/10
Not an original story, but the possibility that it might be in Holton’s head or might be real lifts Out of Blood above the average low budget vampire film.
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