Drained

This story line is more than just blood sucking vampires. When the one you love drains the life out of you how far will you go before you drain the life out of the person you love. What will you do when you have nothing left to give.

What will you do for love.

Filmed in and around London, great to see some iconic locations.

This film is moving and relatable. With the micro budget, the music used in the film really adds to the thrill. Love the choice of artists used in the film.

Great cast, great story line. Drags a little towards the end. There is space for a sequel l. Let's hope there's more to come.

I really enjoyed this modern take on the vampire genre. None of the stodgy-old-Count- Dracula-in-a-far-off-castle tropes. The "young" vampiress is just trying to keep going - yep needs blood - finds her victims in a nightclub - they get hooked on her, all set against a London landscape. The actor who played Thomas was phenomenal - his torture was well handled in his soulful, suffering eyes. Gritty, romantic, fab acting, humor, that fabulous indy film vibe. How can you go wrong. A MUST WATCH. Only downsides: wish the mom had more story, and a tad more subtlety with the copious bloodsucking sequences (a bit "overkill" :-) )

Given my life-long love of the horror genre, of course I opted to sit down and watch the 2024 movie "Drained", here in 2025, as I had the opportunity to do so. All I knew about it was that it was a vampire movie of sorts. So I didn't really have any expectations to the movie. So in a way, I suppose that directors Peter Stylianou and Sean Cronin had every opportunity to entertain and impress me with their movie.

Writer Peter Stylianou put together an adequate script and storyline. It was definitely a different take on the vampire genre, in comparison to many generic and formulaic vampire movies out there. I will say that I was definitely adequately entertained throughout the course of the movie.

While I was not familiar with a single actor or actress on the cast list, I will say that I found the acting performances in the movie to be good. I was especially impressed with leading actor Ruaridh Aldington, because he carried the movie quite well.

The effects in "Drained" were fair. It was not a movie that relied heavily on a galore of special effects in order to tell its story.

While "Drained" was a watchable movie, it hardly is a movie that warrants more than just a single viewing, though.

My rating of "Drained" lands on a five out of ten stars. I enjoyed the different take on the vampire genre that directors Peter Stylianou and Sean Cronin went for.

This was a film that I got the chance to see thanks to Kim from Dominion3. Level 33 Entertainment is putting this out and I tend to at least enjoy the films from them. I'll be honest, I was leery when I saw that this was a horror/romance film. I had an idea of what creature would be from the title. I did come into this one blind aside from the information that I shared here. I've also given this a second watch to see where I sat with it.

Synopsis: unemployed artist Thomas (Ruardidh Aldington) is captivated by alluring Rhea (Madalina Beallariu Ion), who conceals her nature. Their intense affair takes a sinister turn as he becomes gravely ill.

We start this by seeing a guy in bed and he looks sickly. There is a person sucking on his arm. It is from there that we shift to our main character, Thomas. He still lives with his mother, played by Angela Dixon. She is calling out to him, which annoys him. She needs his help. An exterminator is coming over, John (Craig Conway). His mother has something for him. This escalated to Thomas hearing the two having sex. This forces Thomas to go out. His friend Dano (Andrew Lyle-Pinnock) is a bartender at a club. It is while he's here that he catches a glimpse of Rhea. Dano forces him to go talk to her, causing Thomas to fall in love.

Thomas then learns of a difficult blow. John is moving in with his mother. Thomas is kicked out, given the flat that John was living in. Something wild that I've never seen here in the United States. He is given a little battery where he can load money on it to provide power to his apartment. The amount he puts on doesn't keep the lights on long. It doesn't help that he doesn't have a job. He also can't find information on Rhea. He is just waiting for her to return to the club. When she does, Dano calls him and he sprints to get there.

His life gets turned upside even more. He falls madly in love with her. She is interested in him. What he doesn't realize though is that she is a vampire. He lets her feed on his arm which gives him a euphoric feeling. He can't get enough of her. This drives him to ask her to move into the flat with him. There are complications on her end and he also needs to get a job to support them. The consequences of this decision are more than just that, as his new girlfriend does as the title of the film says, drains him.

That is where I'll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. Where I want to start is with something that made me leery, this being a horror/romance film. It is in that order. This isn't a romance in a traditional sense and I appreciated that. We have a guy who finds a woman at the bar attractive. He shoots his shot and she comes over. What is different here is that she finds an easy target, using her sexuality as a weapon. He's an easy meal. I'll bring up what I did at the end of my recap, the title is a good double entendre. Not only is she draining him of blood, but it is also financially and physically draining. He is wasting away and that adds a good touch.

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let me then shift over to the monster itself. Vampires are creatures that have an oversaturated market. It has been used since the beginning of the film. What you must do is something different because of it. Since the 1990s, we have seen the idea of using vampirism as an allegory for drugs. It feels good in the beginning and then it takes over your life, cursing it. We get a variation on that here. What is different is there's another layer. He is infatuated with her. He enjoys her feeding on him, but it is more that it is her doing it. When things turn bad, his withdrawals seem more that they're no longer together. This was something that I could connect with. I also like using this idea with the vampire concept.

There is another layer to this. I'll need to go through the acting performances first. Adlington does a solid job at being an artist who is coasting through life. His father passed away so he came home to take care of his mother, but it is the point where she is taking care of him. This causes Thomas to buttheads with John. I like the fact that he's challenging Thomas, because he needs it. The decisions for the mother to allow John to move in are parallel with Thomas and Rhea moving in together. This strains all the relationships involved as well. Conway is good as this outsider who upsets Thomas but makes the mother happy. I also like Dixon as a mother torn on what to do as well. Ion also works here as she has an accent and darkly good looks. She is alluring, so I can see how she entices Thomas. Adlington and Ion are good with the other two pushing them to where things end up.

I'll also credit Lyle-Pinnock as Thomas' friend. He is the reason the two met. Dano also helps his friend with a job. We also get two police inspectors later in the film, Linda Rathbourne played by Natasha Patel and her partner is Edward Finch by Andrew-Lee Potts. They complicate Thomas' life. This also pushes the story to a resolution. I dug where this goes. I also like a subtle reveal as well, almost to the point of gaslighting Thomas. That was small but solid idea to the overall concept.

All that is left then is filmmaking. I thought that the cinematography and framing were good. We are capturing that this is all taking place in a blue-collar neighborhood. Thomas has good things and then he ventures into the dark side. They're able to capture that. The blood we get looks good. I do like the vampire effects. Those seemed to be done practically. My only issue here is that the computer effects we use don't look great. They also don't ruin this. There are just a few things that take me out. I do also think this runs too long. It meanders a bit near the end and I think trimming would help. Other than that, the soundtrack fits what was needed.

In conclusion, I'm glad that I took the chance to do this one. We get conventions here that we've seen before. I like doing something slightly different with vampire lore. Seeing how someone can become infatuated with the dangers that come from that. The acting was solid across the board. They bring their characters to life. This is made well enough. The cinematography, framing and practical effects lead the way. My biggest issue is with the CGI and it runs just a bit too long. This is still an independent film that I'd recommend to horror fans for 2025 lists. I don't think this will be a high-end contender, but a back of the list one potentially. It also held up with a second watch, where I picked up on little things that missed originally.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

While not a fan of the genre ,this Vampire film was different, in that there was a gritty 21st century suburban realism brought to the genre. Parallels with addiction and mental health issues are very prevalent in this film which is shot in the sickly half light of an addict looking to score, it is as if Trainspotting had met the Vampire movie and had a kid which was raised by Ken Loach and this movie is the result. Not many vampire movies show the vulnerability of their protagonists or show them pissing or struggling with the electricity bill. Ruaridh Aldington gives a very nuanced believable portrayal of Thomas, the struggling 20 something graphic artist wannabe living with his Mum who is wonderfully brought to life by Angela Dixon. Madeline's Bellariu Ion portrays the reluctant Romanian predator trapped by her own condition, again more allegory, in a very sexy but scary way and Craig Conway's John brings relieves the tension with down to earth comedic skills as the sarcastic Northern boyfriend of Thomas's mother. When he says "welcome to the horror show" referring to the unaffordabilty of modern life in London we all get that. Kenton Lloyd Morgan adds to the grimy realism with his portrayal of homeless man on the streets. Peter Stylianou has written and edited a film about 21st Century London where the protagonists just happen to be Vampires. Sean Cronin and he have crafted a vampire movie for grown ups with a nod to the pitfalls of youth and the clubbing world in an urban environment. Daniel Patrick Vaughan's chiaroscuro lighting gives the ambience of what it should feel like to be a vampire in contrast to the bright colours of Hammer and Amicus productions of the 60's and 70's . Stylianou's script revises the vampire myth to the point of pisstake where Rhea, Bellariu Ion's character screams when the sun shines on her, and then bursts out laughing to let us realise that what we have believed about Vampires all this time, that they die if exposed to sunlight, is a myth, perhaps referencing the myths we believe about Eastern Europeans or indeed all foreigners . Then he has her saying that her and her husband moved to London because of the cloud. While making all these socially relevant points the Cronin and Stylianou never drop the pace of the film or the suspense or horror. It is after all a Vampire film, but one with a new more realistic bite.