Vampirus

With the pandemic affecting the city, a vampire tries to keep a low profile during the lockdowns only for a neighbor in the building to stumble upon her secret and lead them together into a relationship, but once she starts to see his true self she decides how to end things safer for everyone. This one was quite a fun vampire comedy. At the core of this one is a highly enjoyable relationship between the pair that allows for an engaging connection to be made. The early stages of the film focusing on the two hanging out in the apartment with the whole thing supposedly kept a secret but he clearly knowing what's going on in the way they interact before the revelation gives this a wholly endearing setup. As these scenes go for more of a romantic comedy aspect with the way they come together after the reveal to have their relationship change the way it does, this is a fine touch with the resulting scenes showing them developing a full-on romance that includes the usual tropes of them moving in together, going on dates or indoctrinating him into the rules she lives in to escape detection. That leads to a lot of fun to be had here with the second half as he tends to take a far more proactive role in proceedings against her better judgment. Feeling far too comfortable with the idea of killing people as he knocks off a random victim for her after a romantic date through the city, this is the perfect end to a long list of scenes that bring about an uncomfortable distancing that had been developing over time. It all comes to a head in a bloody finale that manages to generate a great twist about the true intentions within the relationship and seeing how it's corrupted them into a far more dangerous monster than either of them realize that offers plenty of gruesome moments to go along with this kind of setup. Overall, these are the films' positive features although there are some minor drawbacks to this one. One of the few issues here is that the films' focus on the romantic relationship becomes the centerpoint to the detriment of the genre thrills present which aren't that prominent. Those expecting the two to go about on a massive killing spree and be the result of their relationship developing while that's going on will be somewhat taken aback by the lack of these scenes here with the film instead focusing on areas beyond that with only a couple genuine moments sprinkling liberally throughout. That can be somewhat off-putting, which is also the case with the films' technical issues being distracted by the state of the world at the time it was filmed. The liberal use of masks causing much of the dialog to be unnecessarily unmuffled with their faces barely moving despite long conversations taking place which is distracting and combines together to form the issues here. Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.

Right, well I can't claim that I was harboring any expectations or hopes from writer John Lerchen or director Ryan Ohm with this 2022 horror comedy titled "Vampirus". Why? Well, just read the movie's synopsis, and you're already in for a dubious thing. Yet, I opted to sit down and watch "Vampirus" on the offbeat chance that the movie would be a funny horror comedy, and I do believe in giving a movie a fair chance. But "Vampirus" was not a great movie. Actually it wasn't even a funny movie. This was just a heap of rubbish that baffles me how and why it ever came into existence. The storyline was just downright rubbish and laughable, so it was really a struggle to sit through this ordeal of a horror movie. And especially so since the movie just utterly and completely failed to entertain me in any way. This movie felt like a film school class project made with a budget of a few dollars found in the director's pocket. So yeah, you are not in for a great or outstanding cinematic experience, if you opt to sit down and watch "Vampirus". Actually, I wouldn't recommend you waste your time, money or effort on this particular stinker. The acting performances in the movie were a mixed lot, ranging from dubious to bland. So once again, you're not in for an outstanding cinematic experience with "Vampirus". "Vampirus" came and went without leaving any lasting impression. I hadn't heard about the movie prior to watching it, and I am firmly believing that come tomorrow, the movie memory of "Vampirus" has faded into obscurity and the movie will be laid to rest. This is not a movie that I will ever return to. Not even a single laugh, or even a smile, did this movie manage to get out of me. My rating of "Vampirus" lands on a one out of ten stars.

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