Thralls

The story focuses on a group of six beautiful women called Thralls, referred to as "the white trash of vampires;" effectively a lower species of vampire. They don't kill people, they don't have the ability to turn their victims into vampires and they can't fly. These Thralls are under the control of Mr. Jones, the vampire who sired them, and whom they are trying desperately to escape. To do this they must complete a blood ritual which will turn them into full-blown vampires. Their plans hit a snag when Ashley, the younger sister of one of the Thralls, comes to visit. Ashley has no idea what her sister has been up to since moving to the big city nor what she has become...

It's a vampire movie, it's got a bunch of hot babes, running around like vampires normally do. That's pretty much it. The story is stupid and really starts to annoy me as every vampire movie I see, gets more and more similar to that of the last viewed that I just feel like I've watched the movie already.

The acting is decent, it's not good but its usually bearable. There's quite a bit of blood (well, it is a vampire movie) but nothing overly disgusting. There are some small additions of CGI into certain scenes and is executed poorly. There can be so many movies that have had a great idea, but the scenes don't have the proper effect on you because the image is too fake. You've got to go for prosthetics over CGI for the effect.

I'll keep it short and sweet. The main reason why most guys will watch this is because of the women and that really is the only part worth looking at in the movie. If you watched this for any other reason, you're either female or most likely a homo.

Yet another modern vampire romp. If you enjoyed "Dracula 2000", this may hold your interest.

Ashley meets her sister in the dead of night at the bus depot. Right away she is almost attacked by a group of hoodlums that sis is able to dispatch without as much as a drop of sweat. Ashley is escaping her traumatic past to live with her sister who happens to run a rave with a bunch of her bodacious lady friends. These girls have got it all….brains, looks, a killer job and oh did I mention they were vampires? Well not exactly vampires but 'thralls' half human, half vampire and the whole lot of them are hiding from their ex-master. Mr. Jones (Lorenzo Lamas) will stop at nothing to get his girls back or is he up to something more sinister? Well I had passed this one by once or twice but I'm glad I reconsidered. "Blood Angels' (aka Thralls) on the surface does appear to be yet another batch of the same old thing. But the film is surprisingly fun and has energy. The director did a good job with what he had. The action scenes pop pretty well and the lovely ladies chew up the screen. True the script is clichéd and the one-liners are real groaners at times, not to mention the digital effects sometimes are a bit weak. But I had fun in the end and with a film like 'Blood Angels' that's all one can hope for.

"Thralls", or "Blood Angels" as it is known now, appears with a very attractive cover and an equally attractive plot: A group of semi-vampire slaves escape from his master in order to become full vampires by themselves using a ritual they read in an old black magic book (the always present Necronomicon). In the mean time, they pay the bills running a club that looks like a mixture between "Coyote Ugly" and the nightclubs in "Blade".

I was not expecting a lot of this Canadian B-Movie, so I was very surprised as it turned out to be enjoyable, on a level similar to the TV series "Buffy the vampire slayer". In fact, the style of the movie is very similar, with TV level CGI effects, silly comic relief and a great looking cast who put up some Kung-Fu moves, message about family values included. Also, despite its cover and the small amount of nudity, the movie is a bit feminist, on a "Coyote Ugly" level.

Considering its budget, the Make-up and gore are awesome. Few gore, but well delivered. Too bad the CGI effects were not that great. As I wrote above, they are on a TV level, so, don't expect too much.

The acting is above average, and while lead character Ashley (Siri Baruc) is not at her best, Sonya Salomaa and Leah Cairns gave good support acting. While I'm not a fan of Lorenzo Lamas' work, he ended up being the most likable character. Kevan Ohtsji as a rapper wannabe and Richard Ian Cox as the Renfield-like servant were good as comic relief and they helped the movie to be more enjoyable.

Overall, it was an entertaining movie; of course, it won't pass on history as one of the best horror/comedy movies ever, but it is good for an afternoon with friends or your beloved. If you like campy vampire stories like "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", give it a try. 6/10

One of the common complaints in this country is that we tend to make oblique films, weird films, deliberately shocking films and boring drawing room pieces. I have often felt that Canadians should make more accessible films in addition to our trademark films sensitively or insensitively tackling subjects about necrophilia, auto-erotica, sexual abuse, magical lesbians, suicidal gay males and the assorted, at times inexplicably disturbing subject matter of David Cronenberg. Unfortunately, when Canadians try to make films that reach a broader audience what we often get are films like "Men with Brooms" that try too hard to be an accessible, popular 'Canadian' film. We also get films like "Thralls" that try hard to be American, but fail horrifically. A film like "Thralls" always feels like a low grade Canadian film. Low grade American films feel different, less amateurish even. If you are tempted to watch this for some of the babes listed in the cast (like Leah Cairns, who I hope becomes part of the regular Battlestar Galactica cast as Racetrack)take a chance on something else they have been in, chances are it will be more worth your while.

...about being any good. Because "Thralls" does actually give a damn about being enjoyable and giving B-movie fanatics a fun time. Really, this might very well be the definition of modern day camp. A bunch of gorgeous, hot-looking half-vampire babes open up a nightclub in which unsuspecting, trouble-making ravers end-up as a midnight snack. The plan is to free themselves from slavery by vampire-lord Johnny (played by Lorenzo Lamas who strikes an intentional ridiculous note here) and hereby upgrade themselves from 'thralls' to full-blooded vampires. Johnny-boy has a plan for himself, though: summoning an evil demon to make himself an über-vampire. It's all good and enjoyable campy fun. The CGI demon-head near the end is so crappy that it doesn't even live up to Playstation 1 graphics. But that's all part of the game. And if you don't have any sense of humor at all, then don't even consider giving "Thralls" aka "Blood Angels" a watch.

On a side-note: I always have to laugh with Lorenzo Lamas. Can't help it, when I hear his name pop up, because I've always considered him to be a not-so-very-good actor (and I'm being polite here). But in "Thralls" he's actually quite a bit of fun to watch. And to my surprise, he even managed to entertain me a second time very recently, when I popped in this Z-grade CGI-infested rubbish called "Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus" (proudly produced by The Asylum company). Good old Lorenzo really is a hoot and a whole barrel of fun in this one. Virtually all of his lines had me laughing out loud. And he seems very well aware of how to deliver his pun-filled nonsense. Seems like he does have some talent for something after all... Go, Lamas, go! A few more of these flicks, and you'll hit a strike! Anyway, I think I'm straying off topic here... But do support Lorenzo Lamas, and go watch "Shark Thralls vs. Blood Octopus" or... something... Which movie was I talking about again?