Director/Writer : Scott Lebrecht
Cast: Zak Kilberg, Maya Parish, Jo D. Jonz, Arlen Escarpeta, Larry Cedar, Juanita Jennings
USA 88mins Vampire Drama
Director Scott Lebrecht bills his debut Midnight Son as a “thinking man’s horror film”. I wonder what impact he’s hoping his film will have on female audiences? Well it’s certainly not aimed at the teenage market but hopes to approach the genre in a mature and sensitive way while appealing to the “monster-movie-loving kid inside us all”.
And he’s certainly picked an excellent male lead in ZAK Kilberg; a Robert Pattinson lookalike with acting skills honed in TV’s ‘Lincoln Heights’, ZAK (a sobriquet for his initials) possesses a haunted, gap-toothed frailty that’s perfect for the role of Jacob, a vapid security guard with a congenital skin condition that prevents him from spending time in sunlight.
Mostly shot at close range with a grainy feel and bleak urban locations, this unsettling but not overwhelming modern vampire story is unmistakedly indie fare. From the clanging opening sequence (scored by Kays Al-Atrakchi) we meet Jacob scoffing down the contents of his ‘fridge with a hunger that clearly indicates some kind of illness or mental aberration. But it’s not until he drains the polystyrene tray of his supermarket steak that this signifies blood-lust. Very soon he’s hanging around the clinical waste bins at the local hospital and decanting blood products offered to him by a crooked hospital orderly called Marcus (‘Everybody’s got their thing’) into Starbucks paper cups for his journey to work.
Jacob hooks up with Mary (Maya Parish) and develops strange physical changes when her nose starts to bleed during love-making. But there’s nothing rapacious or outlandish about his reactions and, on her part, it sparks off a desire to care for him. The chemistry between them is subtlely played but meaningful and Maya Parish brings a sexy sensitivity to her role as a hobo with a kind heart that echoes Let The Right One In. Less successful is the twist involving hospital crim Marcus (Jo D. Jonz) and the FBI but don’t let this put you off what’s otherwise a worthwhile and watchable addition to the Vampire genre. MT
MIDNIGHT SON IS ON GENERAL RELEASE FROM 11TH JANUARY AND COMES OUT ON DVD THROUGH MONSTER PICTURES ON 11 FEBRUARY 2013 (£13.99).