Originally posted: 20 March 2009
12 Days: 12 Movies
Day Nine (Part 1): LESBIAN VAMPIRE KILLERS
(2009, 86 mins, Dir. Phil Claydon)
Put Simply: Very funny. Not a lot else, but what what were you expecting?
Stars: James Corden, Mathew Horne, Paul McGann
I'll get the obvious and obligatory comparison out of the way now; Shaun of the Dead set the bar way too high for comedy/horrors that were to follow. Seriously. As well as covering the comedy and horror bases, it has a lot of depth that's very easy to overlook. It hardly warrants saying that this isn't as good as SotD. Nothing would be. The initial plot setup for LVK is as close to SotD as dammit, so it's hardly surprising that everyone's going to compare the two:
The two male leads from a hit/cult sitcom play a skinny guy who gets dumped by his girlfriend, and a fat guy who swears a lot. To get over this, they go down the pub and get trolleyed. Shortly after this, undead carnage ensues. Luckily, the harsh similarities end there. This film is primarily a comedy. Actually, it's completely a comedy, because if it's trying to pull any other strings, it's failing miserably.
What will disappoint a lot of viewers is the apparent lack of sophistication. Personally, I enjoyed it as an homage to the Hammer Horror breed of vampire films; it's as blissfully clichéd and tacky as those, only with more swearing (to be precise, there's a fuckload of swearing for a 15 cert). It's not trying to be clever, it's not trying to put a new spin on the genre, and it's not trying make you think too much about the subtext. It's there to entertain, and if you like hot vampires, swearing and knob gags, you will be entertained.
James Corden (the fat one) steals the show here, being eerily natural as a bloke who only wants to get drunk, chase women and swear a lot. Matt Horne does his resigned/sighing-face in return, and there's not too much room in here for any other performances. Paul McGann's swearing vicar wears thin a little too soon, and MyAnna Buring is largely "adequate" as the female lead. Like I said, this movie's about the blokes, and anything else takes a back seat. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, mainly down to Corden. This will be a good movie to watch with mates and beer.
For pure, brainless entertainment, this is a winner... if it's your type of humour. The movie will disappoint many, but it made me laugh so my 86 minutes weren't wasted. That's all I ask. I went in with low expectations, and the movie surpassed them; I advise you to do the same. To quote the 'Blossoms...
"and if you don't expect too much of me, you might not be let down"
I reckon: 6/10
Tomorrow: Love Actually and 30 Days of Night
DISCLAIMERS:
• ^^^ That's dry, British humour, and most likely sarcasm or facetiousness.
• This is a personal blog. The views and opinions expressed here represent my own thoughts (at the time of writing) and not those of the people, institutions or organizations that I may or may not be related with unless stated explicitly.
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