A vampire hunter intends to end the world of the deadly creatures in the latest film from director Michael Su.

In the future, an apocalypse has unearthed vampires who now intend to be the dominant race. As they continue to target innocent people, the Vampire Master is hell bent on taking over the world. However, John Shepard is determined to end the vampire race. He takes in a protege named Charlie, who has been affected by the Master. Shepard informs Charlie that should he be able to kill the Master, Charlie may be cured of his affliction. 

However, John and Charlie are not the only ones who want to destroy the vampire horde. Local hunter Daddy Thompson and his two daughters Brooke and Elena are hot on the trail as well as a local biker gang led by Rico. As more innocent people are turned by the Vampire Master and the Vampire Queen, John and the group realize the only way they can stop the horde is by banding together. Will they be able to put an end to the vampire takeover?

From the producers and director of the underrated Death Count comes this tale of a band of locals who must become heroes to save their town from a vampiric horde who are bent on world domination. While some may find the dialogue between vampires and humans cringeworthy at times, overall, this is actually a pretty good indie action film that unifies the unlikeliest of allies in a time of desperate need. 

Costas Mandylor leads the group as vampire hunter John Shepard. Akin to James Woods’ Jack Crow in John Carpenter’s Vampires, he is a no-nonsense hunter who during battle sports steampunk-like armor to protect himself from getting bitten. He has some dry humor with protege Charlie, played by Johnny Huang. The two are typically similar to Batman and Robin, and yet, Charlie does get attacked and is bitten. And this just adds fuel to the fire within Shepard to stop them so Charlie can revert back to normal. 

The other vampire hunters are an eclectic bunch with genre greats Sarah French and Elissa Dowling going full-on Daisy Duke as the badass Thompson sisters. Their introduction scene gives the film a bit of comic relief when Dowling’s Elena is not comfortable with bagging a vamp she just killed, only for French’s Brooke to tell her, “you kill it, you bag it”. Rich R. Rendon’s Rico is the biker gang leader willing to join forces to stop the horde and goes above and beyond when needed. 

The vampires themselves are quite a bunch as well. Led by Tara Reid and Robert LaSardo, we see the horde open the film and attack a local farmer couple with a cameo by The Exorcist’s Pazuzu herself, Eileen Dietz, as the wife. Kudos also goes out to Tatiana Sokolova, whose henchwoman Destias is a no-nonsense vamp who tries to warn the Master what’s at stake, leading to occasional dissension. However, as mentioned, some of the vampire human interactions is a bit cringe. One that comes to mind is a vampire looking to feast on a young woman, only for her to tell the vampire she has hepatitis. The vampire’s reaction brings a notable sense of “what the heck” along with his actions afterwards. 

That doesn’t take away the action, not by a long shot. While stakes are of course, the weapon of choice in most cases, there is some pretty good archery style action complete with the arrows allowing to microwave the vamps from within along with some other great weapons needed especially in the final battle. And be prepared because an end credit reveals there is a sequel in the works! 

Bloodthirst is a fun film in the vein of John Carpenter’s Vampires, thanks to a great cast, some occasional humor, and of course, we have vampires here. 

WFG RATING: B

Lionsgate presents a Mahal Entertainment production in association with Blaen-Y-Maes Bootleg Films. Director: Michael Su. Producers: Sonny Mahal and Michael Mahal. Writers: Massimiliano Cerchi and Adrian Milnes. Cinematography: Michael Su. Editing: Eric Chase, Gregory Solis, and Lea Vrabelova.

Cast: Costas Mandylor, Tara Reid, Robert LaSardo, Johnny Huang, Sarah French, Elissa Dowling, Rich R. Rendon, Tatiana Sokolova, Denny Nolan, Eileen Dietz.