We Are the Night

It's January but it feels like Halloween! I don't really understand why I've watched two German lesbian vampire movies and a new werewolf film, back to back, but I have. "Vampyros Lesbos" is a 1971 offering from director Jesús Franco and it's pretty much awful. Imagine if Penthouse, of the same year, 1971,  made a lesbian vampire porn film - you get the idea - the blood bright red before they figured out the formula for making blood look real. I watched this at Ottawa's Mayfair Theatre. "Wolf Man" is out in theatres now. One line review: It got a few howls and it's much better than the mangy dog I thought it would be. Which now brings me to "We Are the Night," a German vampire film from 2010 which I'm sure you've never heard of. I hadn't until it landed in my physical DVD/Blu-ray collection by accident. It's co-written and directed by Dennis Gansel and stars a bunch of German actors you've likely also never heard of. It's excellent. I haven't enjoyed a vampire film as much since "30 Days of Night" or "Daybreakers" (two other excellent vampire films). If vampires aren't your thing, I get it. If they are, this is a good one. The imagery here is, at times, surreal, something off of a Pink Floyd album cover. These are rich party girls with teeth. They go clubbing - something out of "Blade," and they have decadent tastes for all things but men. But these ladies have immortal problems as all undead folks seem to have. There are some fresh and tasty ideas here which I have never seen in a vampire movie. You can't find it for rent at  Movies 'N Stuff and you can't find it on streaming, at least not that I know of. If you get a chance, somehow, to see this one, dig your teeth in.