So Vam

Kurt is an outcast in a conservative town (Adelaide, Australia!!) who dreams of moving to the city to be a famous drag queen. We see him bullied and beaten on the street and at school, but he is proud, not cowed. When he is kidnapped by a predatory old vampire and killed, he is resurrected by a gang of rebellious vampires who feed on bigots and abusers. In his new condition, he finds empowerment and belonging, but his killer is still out there. Kurt must face the monster, but this time he is not alone.

So Vam also takes us into gay & trans nightlife culture with lots of high-camp glamour and outrageous dress-ups. It deals playfully with a lot of very serious issues using topical scenarios. The plot is convoluted but always fun, and some of the acting is pretty good. The music is keyboardy, 80s 'New Wave', notably from the excellent Alter Boy.

This is a well-photographed, drag fantasy by director, Alice Maio Mackay. Edited by Dan Vink (bassist in local Ramones tribute band, Kosher Salami), So Vam has some nice special effects and surreal, dream sequences. Not quite 'What We Do In The Shadows' or 'Warm Bodies', but It is a brave and often-entertaining labour of love, certainly with its heart and fangs in the right place.

Desperate to get out of his small-town home, a bullied teen eager to embrace his dreams of stardom and performing on stage, but after being attacked by a vampire and turned into a vicious bloodsucker tries to balance keeping his human life intact while fending off the creature that made him.

This was a rather intriguing and somewhat enjoyable genre effort. Among the more likable qualities here come from the engaging and sympathetic build-up to getting the various subplots out here. Firmly placing us on the side of the bullied teen who's effeminate persona rubs the rest of his classmates the wrong way to the point of wishing death threats against him for daring to embrace those qualities in his quest to be a performer in a drag show, we see that he's a generally nice guy who's in the wrong town for a person like he is. That his friends get dragged into the situation forcing them to come to his rescue which results in a fantastic sense of longing once we find out what's gone on with his disappearance and subsequent transformation. As well, the further openness with the film reveling in the queer lifestyle here by making the vampires' powers an extension of their freedom living their lives openly and freely in connection to the drag-queen lifestyle they masquerade as that has quite a lot to like here. There are some issues to be had with this one. The biggest issue with this one is the decidedly unsympathetic turn the lead goes through after being turned which is supposedly based on him getting revenge for the past transgressions but doesn't come off that way in execution. It feels far more like an abuse of power, especially with the first encounter being just a random attack on the counselors at a gay conversion camp he witnesses in passing with no build-up or pay-off which is the case with most of the encounters where he gets to show off his powers. This arrogance continues on throughout a vast majority of the rest of the film he's barely a main character until the end which makes it lose a little of the sense of identity and owning one's self that had been at the core of the film until then. As well, with the film's resources on full display with some shoddy production work, ineffective make-up, and lackluster action scenes that are effective enough to keep this entertaining if only to remind of the limitations upon it, are enough to drag this down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language, Violence, and intense themes of bullying.

It's not a scary horror type vampire film, it seems good for teen, and young adults. I actually love the LGBTQIA+ story it has to tell and think it had sone interesting takes on vampires. I think LGBT+ teens will resonate with some of the themes in the film.

The drag culture was absolutely wonderful to see as well. It had some wonderful touches with including vampire history.

The acting wasn't consistent, some of the characters did a lot better than others, and some of the lines were a little bit awkward. But considering the age of the filmmaker, there's certainly a lot of potential in their future for sure. It was certainly a fun film overall.

Low budget, and not great acting. But the bad acting just adds to the campiness of it. Love the idea of baby lgbt vamps eating bigots. I wish there had been more exposition explaining ghouls, the vampire "rules" and who the fate like drag queen was. The effects are intentionally bad too. I loved the way the melting dead bodies looked.

The costumes were fun and campy. The acting is pretty bad, but if you don't take it seriously it's really fun too. I watched this when I wasn't feeling well and it was super easy to follow and not scary at all. The gore is minimal, some fake blood and like I said, some a very fake head melting.

The filmmaker is 17. With a shoestring budget(and you can tell), they tell a story. A good one. If you're a fan of vampire horror, this maybe isn't for you. But if you're looking for a fresh take on LGBTQIA+ stories and vampires, with an appreciation of drag culture, it's a must-see. Yes, it could really use a BlumHouse reboot, but the sheer talent of the storyteller is really something to catch.