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Cast: Erika Rainey, Kevin M. Costello, Danielle Paccione
When a young woman takes notice of her neighbor, she has a plan to make him hers. Only problem is, she's a vampire.
First off I want to send out a thanks to Writer/Director, Phil Thomas for sending me a screener of his new film. The story is about Jude who is depressed over his girlfriend dumping him. He lives with his sister who does her best to cheer him up and encourage him. One night Jude begins to feel a presence around him so he goes down stairs to check everything and to his surprise there is a woman standing outside his door. We find out her name is Anatasia who just happens to be his neighbor. She invites Jude over for a drink which seems a bit odd since it's well past midnight but he agrees anyway. Anatasia asks him out the following night and when Jude arrives at her place he spots a picture of a man who looks eerily like himself, Anatasia seems to just change the subject but we do find out the man's name was Eddie who was killed during WW1 in 1918. It doesn't take long to figure out that Anatasia is a vampire who wants to become a "Watcher" so she can change Jude because her past never let her truly be with Eddie and she feels this is a second chance she can't pass up. Eddie seems to be clueless about what is going on but Anatasia's plan seems to be working well after she convinces him to spend the night. The next morning Jude awakes to find Anatasia gone, after going home and hearing his sister scream at him because she was worried about him he goes upstairs because he is not feeling well. After looking in the mirror he notices bite marks on his neck. Jude's sister and her girlfriend become suspicious about their neighbor but it is her friend that has other plans, she decides to black mail the new neighbors because she wants to become a vampire but she ends up dead instead. Now it is a matter of staying alive for Jude and his sister.
I am not going to go into details on what happens from there so not to ruin the story for those that want to see it. "Always From Darkness" is a Independent film written and directed by both Matt Brooks and Phil Thomas. You can tell it was done on a very limited budget but the filmmakers take good advantage of what they have to work with. Don't expect a bloody, action-packed film here, this is more a horror/drama that is character and story driven. The story is simple but it is well-written and the pace is deliberately slow but it moves at a good pace. The characters are also very well-written and well developed. The cast including, Kevin Costello as Jude and Danielle Paccione as Anatasia did a terrific job playing their characters in a realistic and believable way. Production wise the film looks good and the musical score and lightly-lit rooms add a nice Gothic feel. For those that enjoy more mainstream movies the film might get a bit tiresome but I think you Independent film lovers are going to appreciate the effort on top of finding the film to be very entertaining. Over-all I found the film to be both interesting and enjoyable with characters you care about and villains you hate, the ending is well done and it tosses a bit of a twist in as well. My final thoughts are that "Always From Darkness" was a very well made Indie film from a couple very young filmmakers that show a ton of promise. The story was original and engaging so I highly recommend checking this one out when it is released. As of right now I do not have a release date on the film's release but will update this spot when I have more information
Released Filmzero Productions/R2 Films
*** 1/2 Out Of *****