Bloodsucking Bastards

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.

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!

In the same vein as horror comedies such as Shaun of the Dead, Bloodsucking Bastards tries to deliver laughs and scares but unfortunately fails to bring either to the table.

From the beginning you can see exactly what the movie is trying to achieve. An overworked underdog is put into a situation where he has to overcome monsters, get the girl, and avoid impending death. This much is readily Apparent in the trailer and is an easy enough story line to follow for a fun B movie. Unfortunately... you have to care about the characters to actually pull off that story line.

The comedic timing is off, and many of the characters are extremely unlikable, which can work in some cases, but in this case just doesn't due to the poor character development and the timing of the jokes.

I would say, stream this if you're bored, but don't plan a night around it or buy it.

Most of the humor in the film is coming from the office dynamics in a typical cubicled corporate office. I don't know if this is still current or not (I mean, it's all about open space now, right?) but it is still funny.

Then there are vampires, which are presented in a really refreshing way. In a way it is a full circle thing: vampires, as a metaphor for noblemen sucking the blood of the working people, now updated for the corporate world which just replaced finery with expensive suits.

The acting is not stellar, but it doesn't have to be. Where the movie excels is the script, with the little funny puns and interesting dialogue. While not perfect, it was mighty entertaining.

I don't know if I watched before any of the horror comedies, at least in the real sense. I remember some parodies which were trying to be hell funny but they were lame. This movie has a bit of its funny moments but overall it is very entertaining.

What is most positive about this movie for me it is that is not boring. As I said, very entertaining. The story is pretty normal, but the whole vampire thing adds to the fun. I don't know if they were trying to make parody of some other movies. But although this one has a lot of bloody scenes - especially killing of the vampire crew - it is not scary but kinda funny.

Kelly Clarkson as a gay icon?! It seemed to me that it was that her purpose in the movie... and that the security guy and the other one are actually together.

All in all, not bad. Seven from me.