Monday, July 18, 2011

Strigoi and A Romanian Vampire: A Movie Review

*full disclosure: a screener of this film was provided by Breaking Glass Pictures.

Director/writer: Faye Jackson.

Who can create a vampire film better than Romanians? After all, this is where the vampire legend began with Vlad the Impaler's legendary bloodlust. In Strigoi there is a Vlad of another kind. This failed medical student has a fear of gore and when he returns to his grandfather's home he finds a town full of blood thirsty creatures. They are not only after tasty victims but justice. The strigoi return from their graves to right their wrongful deaths and in Strigoi they create much of the tension and mystery in the film.

Strigoi was filmed in Romania and many of the actors are Romanian themselves (Variety). One of the interesting elements of this film is seeing the unique culture of this Ukranian country. Apparently a lot of Romanians smoke and drink, while watching over the recently deceased. This is a Romanian ritual but more of a precaution, to ensure the dead do not come back. But somewhere, someone gets sloppy and Constantin Tirescu (Constantin Barbulescu) returns from the grave, after he is murdered by a group of vigilantes. Now the myth of the strigoi begins, as Constantin and his wife search for their killers.

Vlad III aka Vlad the Impaler was a 15th Century Romanian ruler who had a strange predilection for stringing his enemies up after disgorging their internal contents. Six centuries later and there are still those who share a similar bloodlust. Now, they are less dramatic and instead, they can come in the form of a kindly grandfather or a local police officer. Fitting right into society, the strigoi go about their neck biting business, as if they are enlarged mosquitoes. Vlad wakes with little sores on his upper body each night. The virus spreads and Vlad must hunt down the strigoi so that his village is not completely overrun by this sickness. This is not an easy undertaking, with Vlad's past of squeamishness.

The settings, characters and myths make this an interesting look at Romania and at some of the darker legends housed therein. Strigoi is an evenly paced thriller, which is two parts black comedy, two parts murder mystery and one part horror. The cultural source of the vampire myth makes this a natural flowing film, that does not take itself too seriously. Instead, Strigoi introduces a new take on a legend that has devolved into sparkling vampires in North America, but, in eastern Europe, there is still a place where vampires and the undead are something to be feared.

Breaking Glass Pictures will release this title on DVD August 2nd. Thriller fans are encouraged to pick this title up. However, this is not your standard blood sucking madness, as director Faye Jackson adds in a detective story amongst a village of vampires. Somewhat slowly paced and sometimes culturally confusing, Strigoi manages to be an enjoyable time throughout. Check this one out on digital in a few weeks.

Plot/story/writing: 7.5 (well written, interesting characters, some comedy).
Characters/believability: 7 (some seem not to be professional actors, but the main protagonist is well casted).

Overall: 7.25 out of 10.

Strigoi at Breaking Glass Pictures:

Strigoi Release Details at Breaking Glass Pictures

Another review of this picture at Variety (Dennis Harvey):

Stirgoi Reviewed at Variety

Available soon:



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