Monday, August 29, 2011

Strigoi (Review)

Strigoi

Strigoi (2009)

Directed by Faye Jackson

I don't get it.

Every other reviewer seems to think this was a creative and unique take on the old Romanian legend that spawned the vampire. Maybe I have ADD and can't stand long, boring scenes of nothing. Maybe I don't get the humor in this. Maybe I don't understand why Romanians speak English. Maybe I don't get the fact the film is goofing around with a generational gap.

Maybe I just don't get this flick.


Boring Plot-O-Matic

Podoleni Village may seem like a typical Eastern European town, but when a young local named Vlad goes searching for his grandfather’s runaway dog, he uncovers a mysterious death. As Vlad digs deeper into the possible murder mystery, his trail leads him to the Tirescus — an ex-Communist couple who happen to be the richest landowners in town. Though Vlad is determined to confront the Tirescus, his quest takes a sudden detour when he learns that the two bullies may be bloodsuckers in more ways than one…

Strigoi: The Undead is a Vampire movie that defies categorization. Shedding a fantastic light on a post-Communist Romanian village, the film introduces us to an ancient myth: Strigoi, the belief that people who’ve been wronged can rise again after death to seek justice and satisfy their thirst for blood. A deeply human take on an old horror story, this dark comedy explores the old world versus the new and delves into the heart of modern Romania.

Awesome Review-O-Matic

Faye Jackson's Strigoi is a British indie flick that uses the old Romanian legend of "strigoi" to get back the vampire to its roots. The central character Vlad is a young 20-ish hipster and former med student who's looking for guidance in his life. Returning to his hometown in Romania, he encounters his mom, grandpappy and a cast of townies who have a secret that they are trying to cover up.

Filled with slight goofy humor as the strigoi infiltrate the lives of Vlad, his family and the town, none if it really clicked for me. Lots of 'logue filled with generational gap humor and investigative protocol. I probably wasn't really paying attention but if the movie were interesting, I'd be on alert. None of the humor was very funny and none of the scenes were remotely memorable.

The monsters weren't really that terrifyingly funny. And running at 106 minutes, you need a good pace to keep somebody like me interested.

Maybe I missed the point, the humor and whatever was going on in this flick. I'm just going to mark it as a gap in my jaded viewer memory.

The Jaded Viewer's Final Prognosis

The movie is being released via Breaking Glass Pictures on their Vicious Circle Label. These may not be the vampires you're looking for. Move along.

The Vitals
Rating:
1/2 a

Here's the trailer.



5 comments:

  1. This film was painfully boring. I don't get the positive reviews either.

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  2. I agree...this movie was a total bore. I guess I was expecting it to be more "horror", but it ended up feeling like a lame family drama that tried too hard to be "quirky". It even went beyond just "meh" for me to the point where I actually kinda hated it for all its pointlessness.

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  3. I fourth that! It was so boring, I fell asleep in the theater. . . That or I was drunk. . . Nah, it was boring. - Cory

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  4. Thank goodness I'm not the only one who thought this was boring. I read a few of the other IMDB reviews and I can't believe all these positive reviews. What the hell we're they watching?

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  5. This movie is HEAVY in dark humor and is kinda slow, I enjoyed it. I love dark humor, you have to search for the laugh.

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