Night Junkies, a small independent horror film, is about a vampire named Vincent who accidentally turns Ruby, a stripper, into one of them. Normally, this would simply mean she becomes a vampire, but in this film vampires are more like addicts (interested in blood instead of something like drugs), and Ruby vows to break her addiction with Vincent at her side.
The movie knows how silly it is, since it opens up on a discussion of vampires and how they are all about sex. Sex is actually one of the last things this movie is about, since it makes the connection between vampires and drug junkies, which is a nice change of pace from the usual stuff audiences associate with vampires. She meets a vampire, not in a club, but in a cafe. Vampire Vincent eats a muffin.
Vincent, played by Giles Alderson, is delightful creepy and slightly awkward, sniffing the air. He has this weird nostril thing that would never work on any other character but a vampire. The chemistry between him and Ruby (Katia Winters) is prefect. It's nice that these actors aren't afraid to look like crap, with Ruby's makeup and sweat mixing in that gross way that girls are all too familiar with. These actors actually do look like people who are coming off of addictions.
There are some weak parts of this movie, including the monologues of Vincent, which would be fine if it was just to introduce the movie, but it gets used too often. He also has a strange lisp that makes him sound more like a Muppet than a vampire. Also, there's no need to be listening to the Boss carry on and on about unnecessary metaphors; just get to the point. The villain of the story, one of Ruby's old pimps, wastes our time creeping around her apartment building, harassing old ladies. He's one of the least scary villains, being almost all campy, and not, sadly, in a good way. The villain even gets a monologue, one that is boring and only stalls the obvious conclusion, which is drawn out and corny in its own way. And if that weren't enough, several bits of dialogue that are meant to be funny fall utterly flat.
From such a promising beginning and such subversion of the genre, it might give you the impression that this film is worth watching all the way through. You'd be wrong. The film loses much of its momentum about mid-way. It's an interesting idea, and certain parts of the film work, but what doesn't work ruins the few successful things about it.
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