Night Junkies (2007)

by Rizzy

This was another Red Box selection of mine. I think what caught my eye about this film was that they focused on vampires as blood junkies which I thought was an interesting twist. This movie kept more true to the description than a lot of Netflix's descriptions are, which was nice. I kind of like having the movie arrive and be what I thought it was going to be... thought it was a bit more about sex than I was expecting.

One thing I will say about this film is that it's a lot darker than the normal movies I Bview... and I'm not just talking about the lighting as you can see here.  The main character is a stripper for a place that's not very friendly... in fact they are down right nasty and with short tempers. The movie also deals with women getting beat up (and I mean bloody beaten up to death) and raped. Also, it deals heavily with addictions. So, I guess I wouldn't rent this film as something to laugh at/with or for the cheese factor, cause although there are a few scenes that are a bit cheesy (mostly due to the actors trying to hard) this film is much too dark to really be a cheesefest fun film. This movie is not for the squeamish so if you don't like a lot of sex/violence in your films avoid it (I'm looking at you, mother).

The film starts out with a phone conversation between this guy and what is obviously a sex phone line. What are they talking about? Vampires and how sexy vampire films are. And the dialogue gets delivered a little flat, like it's trying to hard, but in the end I really like what they are talking about so I forgive that. The idea behind this film is that vampires are really just normal people who have a blood addiction. They still have a lot of the same traits such as they heal quickly and sunlight burns their flesh, but basically they are not immortal and blood is like crack to them more than anything. A lot of movies play with that idea to one degree or another, but that's really what this movie is about. Fighting addictions.  And I really love the gritty way they portray that. The delicate balance between self loathing and self acceptance.  I am an addict and I can be no more; it's fantastic!

So, the stripper and her vampire boyfriend who turned her decide that they are going to beat their blood addiction and so break into labs to steal drugs to go without. God, I love how they deal with vampirism and coming off the blood. They look like they've been through shit while they are fighting their addiction, dark circles under the eyes, stringy hair, etc.  They look weak, helpless, like people struggling and I really loved that portrayal of vampires.

Here is a better photo of what I was just talking about. The look of this film (Hollywood recovering drug addict chique) felt really unique and fresh in the world of vampire films.  They really just feel like normal people battling an addiction who just happen to have some extra capabilities. The thing that annoyed me most about the film was the progression of this character though. Ruby Stone played by Katia Winter, because she starts out the film as a hardass who slaps guys around and is tough.  And then she meets Giles Alderson as Vincent Monroe, turns into a vampire and suddenly turns into this weak, pathetic, doey-eyed, love sick girl. It's BEYOND annoying.

They meet and it's a cute scene, but then two minutes later Vincent is telling Ruby she's the most amazing girl he's ever met and a day later Ruby is telling Vincent that she's in love with him... let's see here... he turned her into an a vampire against her will and now she's an addict, she hardly knows him, but we're suddenly supposed to believe that this is some great and amazing love? I don't think so.  I think I'd have believed it more if she hadn't turned into something so soft and weak from something so strong. I feel like she turned into a victim for him to take care of. Here's a girl who's been acting tough, but been secretly waiting for a white night to protect her and found him apparently. That's not my type of hero.

This movie is worth a watch for the way they portray vampires, but it's not worth any more than a cheap/Netflix rental. I wouldn't go out and buy it, heck I'd rent it with a group so not everyone has to waste money on it even. I can't even write a good drinking game to this film, because the stuff that stands out and gets repetitious is "drink to every time a girl gets beat up" and I don't want to drink to that. Really, I'd only check out this film if you're really into vampire films and want to see a new spin on them, otherwise I'd let this one pass. I have a lot of other great films on this site, go check out Dead and Breakfast or something.