Thralls

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.

Looking at the cover I completely expected to see Julie Strain in the credits. I expected this to be another low-budget, sexploitation film casted by some guy asking a couple strippers if they wanted to be in a movie... I couldn't have been more wrong.

The movie opens as I would have expected: a half dozen very attractive women in lingerie chained by the ankle. As soon as Lorenzo (Renegade) Lamas enters the movie, everything changes.

The majority of the movie takes place in a nightclub holding a Halloween rave. It made me think more of the club in Hellraiser III as opposed to the Blood Raves in Blade.

The special effects were rather weak but the plot was actually well developed and creative with a new addition to the world of vampires in film, "Thralls".

Several of the beautiful women in the film (and Lamas) have some respectable acting credits to their names and it shows. While this will certainly not get a nod from AMPAS, for the genre the acting was really good.

Fans of vampire movies (especially ones who enjoy the beautiful, female vampire twist but are tired of really bad movies) will certainly enjoy this movie. If that sounds like you it's definitely worth a rental.

Note: there is only one scene in the movie with frontal female nudity, it's very brief and does not end in a good way (no spoilers here).

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.

"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

First, there is the word Beli-al, the name of a demon. The word is transformed into the Necronomicon, a powerful book of spells, but then it disappeared. Mr. Jones (Lorenzo Lamas) is a powerful vampire with his minion Rennie. He keeps six beautiful women prisoners as thralls or semi-vampires. Roxie, Leslie, Lean, Brigitte and Buzz manage to escape. Leslie's sister Ashley arrives in the big city. The girls are running a hot local club. It's the winter solstice. Jim falls for Ashley. His cousin is an idiot. Ashley realizes that some of the girls are vampires.

The dialog is god-awful. The acting is even worst. Lorenzo Lamas may be the best actor in the lot which says everything. Beautiful women kicking butt can go a little way but it doesn't alleviate the movie's many problems. Lamas is the big bad but he doesn't have enough screen time. The story is more complicated than it needs to be. The exposition comes too late. It is a mess and not scary as a vampire horror.