Bloodsucking Bastards

Okay I've seen worse, but yeah not too impressive movie and takes far too long time for any bloodsucking to commence, first half of the movie is pretty much a (mostly mean-spirited) office comedy with mostly unlikeable characters.

The second half, or to be correct the last 30 minutes is rather entertaining and action-packed but we had to sit through 50 minutes of (mostly) unfunny jokes and little plot to get there, and you have to judge the movie on a whole not a good last third.

Horror in the office can be done well 'NOT SAFE FOR WORK (2014)' with Max Minghella is a good example of that, or if you need a bit of comedy in your office-horror 'INHUMAN RESOURCES' aka 'REDD INC. (2012)' is a much better alternative than this.

Bloodsucking Bastards is a fun ride, has some nice gore and some actual laugh out loud scenes. The cast was good for the most part and helped keep the tone of the movie nice and light. There were a few characters on the annoying side but not enough to fully pull the movie down. One of my main complaints would be that things do take a while to truly get going, but at least there was some decent humor to keep things entertaining.

This was a nice surprising treat, I really like horror comedies but so many of them seem to fall flat. "Bloodsucking Bastards" isn't perfect and some of the humor was a little too dry but it definitely did a good job of being fun and not really taking itself seriously at all.

6.5/10

The story of Evan Sanders (Fran Kranz), a dutiful and overworked employee stuck at a soul-killing corporation with his beautiful co-worker and girlfriend Amanda (Emma Fitzpatrick) and his slacker best friend Tim (Joey Kern). Evan's world begins to crumble when Amanda dumps him and his boss Ted (Joel Murray) hands his coveted promotion to his nemesis Max (Pedro Pascal).

The film is marketed as a mix between "Office Space" and "Shaun of the Dead". Individually, these are some high bars, and together may be impossible to match. But the comparison is fair. "Office Space" definitely seems to have been an influence. And while this may not become the cult classic of either of those two, it excels far better than most horror comedies ever manage to.

"Horror comedy" as a genre (or subgenre) is more challenging than it sounds. Some in recent years have been great, including "Tucker and Dale Versus Evil" and the aforementioned "Shaun". Many more fail. "Brutal Massacre", for example, was chock full of horror icons and tried to be a good comedy, but ends up rather flat, ultimately failing in both horror and comedy categories. "Bloodsucking B..." gets the balance right. Some of it is downright funny, and there is more blood and gore here than... well, almost any movie ever.

The comedy also works on multiple levels. Most of it is obvious, but there are enough references to keep you finding more hidden gems. Talking of "calling in sick to see a baseball game" is clearly a reference to "Ferris Bueller". But is the name Max a reference to "Lost Boys"? Probably, but maybe not.

Definitely worth a watch. Even if you do not buy a copy, at least rent it or check it out on demand.

Opening credits can really set the tone for the movie. In this case, Bloodsucking Bastards nails it with the opening credits.

Evan (Fran Kranz, Marty in Cabin in the Woods) is an overworked employee, freshly dumped, and just got passed on a promotion. Life isn't going well for him, but it's about to get worse (and more bloody). Turns out that the homie (nemesis Max) that got the promotion? Vampire. Him and his bestie Tim (Joey Kern, hot guy from Cabin Fever) are now up against an office full of vampires.

We start off with some off-screen deaths before jumping into the gore. Once it gets rocking, it doesn't stop until the end.

The cubicle-based bro banter in this is heavy, but it leans on the entertaining and comedic side rather than the annoying side. You can tell the comedic inspiration was derived from Office Space. For a B horror with a low budget - there's a good cast and crew behind it. You can tell the budget from the low quality camera work, but the actors slip into their roles with ease and set the tone well. The range of personalities in the cast made for great chemistry.

It hits the mark as far as horror comedies go. The underlying metaphor of a soul-sucking office environment vs. Blood-sucking vampires is clear as day. Worth grabbing a beer and having a free watch (with commercials, thanks a lot Freevee).

Rating: Bro banter: 5/10 First half: 4/10 Kelly Clarkson: 7/10 Janitor vampire: 8/10 Exploding vampires: 7/10 Frank the security officer: 10/10 Overall rating: 6/10.

Pros:

I picked this movie to see Fran Kranz ("Cabin In The Woods"), expecting a low-budget slog. What a pleasant surprise when I began laughing out loud. The script is hilarious, and a lot of work must've gone into it. I worked on a network team that reminded me of this gang: bosses, office politics, and everything. "Oh yeah, I knew that guy!" or "Hey! I was that guy!" The office building setting couldn't be simpler. The actor playing Tim especially had me cracking up. I think what I liked most was the script's confidence -- you could tell these guys knew they had a funny thing going. This was also a professionally-made film, with decent direction and camera work.

Cons:

BB works much better as a comedy than a horror flick. The effects are fine, and usually funny, but it kinda loses the spark after the first hour. Still, highly recommended.

Bam Snap!