Aaron's Blood

Original,entertaining and well produced movie combining the high school social scene with a struggling single father and vampires in suburban America. Eddie's Father meets the Twilight crew. Barely qualifies as a Horror film, the greatest audience fear comes from the bullying, school boys. But it does have enough gore that it's not an ABC Family film- close though. I only FF once when I just wanted to see the end which was a simplistic duality- either A or B.

Worried about his sons' condition, a series of accidents after his release from a hospital visit causes his father to slowly come to the realization that he has become a vicious bloodsucking vampire and sets out to find the one responsible for turning him before his bloodlust takes over.

This here wasn't all that bad of a low-budget vampire effort. One of the more enjoyable elements of this one is the fact that it builds a rather fine atmosphere about the sons' eventual change. From the beginning, when we have the early scenes of the kid being picked on and the abuse he suffers to the sudden and drastic changes the follow his release, cause the film a rather dramatic energy that is quite enjoyable at times. That is brought up nicely with the scenes of him out in the school attempting his new powers or the explosive sequence of the full reveal about what he has become which manages to really enhance this one greatly as the resulting brawl and action gives this some nice bits to really move this along nicely. The scenes of him now fully enjoying his powers and the quest to stop it are rather nicely handled as well, keeping this one moving along somewhat nicely enough with the encounter with the bully and the ravenous attack on the chained-up policemen which is quite nice for the inclusion of some frantic action within this one. With the finale rushing into some nice action as it explains the action and a potential cure for the affliction, this one manages to generate some rather fine work into putting the cure forward which gives this a nice finale. These here manage to hold this up enough over it's few minor issues. The film's main problem is the same central issue so commonly found in these types of stories in that it's way too downbeat about the events at hand. The central scene where it's plainly revealed what he is and what dangers he poses are handled with an incredibly underdeveloped air, making the shocking scenes go by without any kind of emotional resonance at all which severely undercuts its dangerous feeling. As well, the fact that it's so early into the running time that it just jumps out of the story without any kind of impact which really does this no favors by letting the big payoff come out of nowhere in a rather short amount of time and that all makes its big scene rather problematic. Likewise, the film does cause the investigation into the guilty party responsible for it all to drag out so slowly that it really doesn't make much of an impact here since it's basically just dead ends being brought about by the sudden inclusion of the vampire priest which is rather oddly handled from the sake of essentially being brought up simply so that something makes sense if the film wants to go with a twist for his creation. The other big issue here is the aforementioned changes to accepted vampire lore which manages to really make this feel cheap rather than original as they attempt to be different. That is a big factor here, as these manage to be the issues that hold it back.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.

When the hemophilic twelve year-old Tate (Trevor Stovall) is bullied at school, he breaks his nose and is sent to the hospital with internal hemorrhage. His father Aaron (James Martinez), who raises Tate alone since his mother died, is desperate since his son needed a transfusion. Despite his lack of faith, Aaron seeks out Father Kane (David Castellvi) that stays at the hospital chapel and they go to Tate's room where Father Kane prays for the boy. During the night, Tate recovers and improves his vision and senses. Further, he has no appetite and becomes sensitive to the sun. Soon Aaron learns that his son turned into a vampire and seeks for help to f ind the blood donor and to save Tate from his fate. Will he succeed?

"Aaron's Blood" is a decent and original low-budget vampire movie by the unknown Tommy Stovall. The story is indeed a father and son drama and fans of gore and horror will certainly be disappointed. The acting of the Latino cast is reasonable and the screenplay is not bad considering the budget, keeping the tension but with a quite disappointing conclusion. The use of nightmares to keep the tension is repetitive, but in general the film works on video. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

Was really interested in the concept, which was a great and remarkably original one and that it was better received than a lot of films with similar budgets and from the same genre. Will admit that there was some apprehension, having seen a lot of wastes of good ideas. Either by really interesting ones executed amateurishly, or close to it, or original ones executed too ordinarily with predictability and blandness.

'Aaron's Blood' thankfully was not executed amateurishly. Nor was the originality on the most part. 'Aaron's Blood' could have been better, it is a patchy affair, but to me it was definitely watchable and had a good deal to like. There is definitely flesh here and 'Aaron's Blood' is certainly not bloodless, meaning that it didn't feel bland and there was a degree of substance. Would have liked more of both though, which would have happened if the execution was more consistent.

Beginning with the merits, 'Aaron's Blood' is a competent looking film. There is style and atmosphere in how it's shot and lit, without trying to do more than needed, the scenery is also atmospheric and it doesn't look sloppy or slipshod. The music fits well, is haunting and doesn't intrude or make things too obvious.

There is tension, suspense, creepiness and emotion in 'Aaron's Blood', with the relationships far from un-investable or dull. There is a real effort to approach any familiarity from a different angle and trying not to fall too much into predictable genre tropes, that was appreciated having seen so many films recently that failed badly at that. 'Aaron's Blood' starts off very well, the first half was engaging and maintained intrigue. The characters didn't bore or annoy me and the acting on the most part is quite reasonable.

David Castellvi though does have some pretty terrible moments, especially early on. The dialogue does have a tendency to be ropy and in desperate need of more flow. The nightmares initially were eerie and suspenseful but later came over as repetitive and not always necessary padding.

Although 'Aaron's Blood' started off very well and engaged for the first half, some of the second wasn't as tight in pace and as clear or focused in storytelling. The big reveal not only too abruptly introduced but is revealed too early, and on the whole anything to do with it does feel underdeveloped and jumpy and clarity becomes a bit muddled. One of the biggest faults is the ending, which came over as a rushed anti-climax.

In conclusion, watchable though could have been more. 5/10 Bethany Cox

This is a pretty original vampire film, and it was refreshing to see Latino characters.

The movie is less about becoming a vampire and more about a parents intense love for his son, who just so happens to have been turned into a vampire. Finding himself in this very unreal and unusual predicament, he endeavors to figure out how it happened and what to do next to help his beloved son, who is turning into a monster. There are few "action" scenes. It isn't your typical "horror/Vampire" movie. With that....you can tell if this movie might be up your alley or not.

The acting is relatively well done and the pace is steady, with a nice smooth rise in tension. This story was so original I just didn't know what to expect next, and that kept me interested and engaged.

The cinematography/camera use, lighting,score, and editing, were all done very well. Not only for an independently made movie, but for any movie made even with much higher budgets.

This movie isn't about gore and blood but does show some. The main difference here is that it is done to further the story and not to illicit shock or to gross out. It isn't overly done, and it's done well.

The make-up effects are simple also, but effective.

There are a few dream sequences that add to the tension, but honestly I felt like after one or two of them, they were used more to add "creepiness" and "scares" then to impart any value to the unfolding of the story.

The ending was a bit of a let down, but still worth the ride the film took me on.

I actually found myself reviewing this movie a lot more harshly then other independent films, but it is a testament to the QUALITY that I saw in it. It was a film I enjoyed for it's originality and subtleties and for it's smoothness and classiness.

I don't recommend this to people who are strict horror fans. But if you are like me, and do enjoy (good) horror/thrillers, and appreciate originality AND enjoy delving into the human condition.....You may want to give this movie a chance.

Im glad I did.