Text © Richard Gary / Indie Horror Films,
2017
Images from the Internet
Bloodsucker’s Handbook [aka Enchiridion]
Written, shot, directed and
edited by Mark Beal
Trenchfoot
Productions / Wild Eye Releasing / MVD Visual
81
minutes, 2012 / 2017
Just
to get it outta da way, an Enchiridion (the original name of the film) is the
Latin term for a primer, or handbook. Personally, changing the title to its
present name was a wise choice. “Bloodsucker” is bound to come up in a genre keyword
search more than that. Hell, I have a Master’s and had to look it up.
 |
| Cory W. Ahre |
The
story, which takes place at the end of the 1960s, is essentially broken up into
two segments. At the first, it’s almost like a joke: “A guy walks into a bar…”
Here we are introduced to the main protagonist, a campus minister (priest)
named Father Gregory (Cory W. Ahre, who looks a lot like Kyle Mooney from “Saturday
Night Live”). He’s a bit slovenly, wearing an oversized gray suit jacket over
his collar and black shirt, and his hair is shoulder length and a bit scraggly.
He also smokes and drinks, so you know he’s going to be conflicted about whatever
is coming his way; after all, this is a genre film. Did you see The Exorcist? But I digress…
A
mysterious Federal government agent enlists him to talk to a prisoner, the titular
bloodsucker named simply Condu (Jeremy Herrera) – perhaps meaning “conduction,”
for the passing along of an evil current? He has apparently been writing the “handbook”
of the history of vampires in Latin (why not Romanian?), starting of course
with good ol’ Vlad the Impaler (aka Vlad Dracul). There is a question of
whether or not Condu actual is Vlad. Gregory
is also asked to translate the book.
As a
sorta sidebar, Vampire teeth seem to fall into two categories: there are the
classic large incisors a la Dracula,
and then the Nosferatu-ish extended and sharp two front teeth. This film plays
with both. While Condu’s lean towards the Nosferatu (though all uppers seem to
be big and sharp), other children of the night have the more Dracula-like
choppers. Mixing it up seems like a smart way to handle that.
As
for the other vampire tropes, well the story wants to keep with the legend, but
bends the rules just a bit. For example, crosses, sunlight, holy water, dirt
from graves, and blood-drinking of course, all are employed. However, what they
leave off is that vampires are shape-shifters, and can turn into animals such
as wolves or bats, or even mist. Of course, that would not work with this story
as Condu is chained up in some dark room, so that’s conveniently (and
rightfully) left out.
Gregory
and Condu seem to hit it off, as we see them in cat-and-mouse dialogues that
actually are quite interesting and decently written. While the acting is
questionable at times (more on that later), the story manages to hold the film
together, along with the other… stuff.
 |
| Jeremy Hererra |
This
interaction leads to the second half of the film where Condu is out has escaped,
and the hunter-hunted takes the storyline beyond the verbal into the physical,
as Condu tries to get his book back and Gregory searches for the mysterious Edie
(Jessica Bell). She is seemingly an ex-girlfriend, though the Father seems to
have conflicting issues between religion and lust.
As polar
opposite stories like to point out, well as conflict we also see that both
Gregory and Condu have some similar issues, mainly with drinking, as one sucks
at hard alcohol, the other the sticky red liquid of life. Both have a strong
desire towards their fluids, but they also have a kind of detachment to it, as
well – even though Condu is probably more self-honest about the need.
What
I meant earlier by stuff is the
framework of the film. Mark Beal makes some interesting artistic choices that
take it to another level. For example, the second half is almost a noir
mystery, with a wild jazz score and a private eye named Valentine. And here is only
part of why I said stuff: Valentine
is a stop-motion dog puppet (literally) in a jacket. He is a “loyal” – err –
puppet (figuratively) of the Gregory side. On the Condu end, there is a
stop-motion puppet baboon (both nicely created by Richard Svennson).
Animals
play a big part in the film. For example, many of the bars that are visited
either are named for them (especially birds), but also have them inside the establishments,
such as a flamingo. Then there is the whole subplot about toad licking (which
we get to witness), reminding me of a Mason Williams poem. This is all part of a surrealism that crops up regularly.
Now,
most of the time surrealism is used, it is so
symbolic that its meaning can get lost. For this film, well, sure you could ask
why a dog or baboon, but generally speaking the surrealism doesn’t get so far
out there that it become opaque, for which I’m grateful. Other examples include
using stop-motion dolls to play out Vlad’s history, or the use of angles and
jump cuts to make it just a bit jarring at times. The use of lighting is really
interesting and stands out in a good way. Yes, it’s a bit distracting, but it
also raises the film to a higher plane. It’s this feature, as well as the
story, that rises above the acting issues I was discussing earlier. But even
that over-the-top-ness seems to work for this because of the sporadic surreal nature. That being said, even with
all the issues, Ahre comes across as likeable, and Herrera makes a compelling
foil, nicely working with the large teeth rather than tripping over them (impressive
for a first film, I might add).
Extras
include about 8 minutes of some meh bloopers
and a feature-length commentary track. Normally I would whine if there are many
speakers on a single one, and here there are the director, four key players and
a crew member. But everyone seems to be respectful of others so there is no taking
over and showboating, and even better is that not only are there interesting anecdotes
about the filming, we get to hear what the actors thought was happening. Better
still, we get to hear the director/writer discuss his own ideas. In a film like
this, that can be crucial in helping to fill in story blanks (I had a couple
that were satisfied).
Filmed
in Bryan-College Station, Texas (about 90 miles north of Houston), we see both
the sunny and darker sides (alleys, etc.) of the area, representing both
Gregory and Condu, relatively speaking. While this is an obviously micro-budget
film, and it certainly has its issues, I do have to say it kept my interest
throughout. A pleasant surprise, I really enjoyed it quite a bit, especially the
interplay between its two lead characters. Worth checking out on a rainy
weekend.
