Bloodthirst [2023]

Paying homage to late Saturday night horror B-movies, Bloodthirst is good fun and great indie horror night viewing.

The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world where vampires have risen, terrifying the human race. In this incarnation, they can walk around in the daylight, so it puts away with most regular vampire horror lore and does its own thing. Humans struggle to survive, yet unbeknownst to them, the vampires are in the midst of civil war. Enter our hero John Sherpard (Costas Mandylor), a vampire hunter who is out to find The Master (Robert LaSardo), the vampires’ leader, and purge the earth of these evil bloodsuckers.

On his way, he meets a thief named Charlie (Johnny Huang), a biker survivor named Rico (Rich R. Rendon), and the Thompson Sisters, Brooke (Sarah French) and Elena (Elissa Dowling), who take this newly-formed crew to their father Daddy Thompson (William ‘Bill’ Connor) as John shares his mission and recruits the gang to lend a hand. They then seek the help of a ragtag military group headed by Torque (Bishop Stevens), as they seem to have a common cause to join John’s ultimate mission. Meanwhile, the vampire camps are clamoring to increase their flocks of followers with the vampire war brewing closer and John standing in their way.

Produced by brothers Michael Mahal and Sonny Mahal of Mahal Empire, with story by Massimiliano Cerchi, script written by Adrian Milnes and directed by Cinematographer Michael Su, Bloodthirst is pure entertaining fun which quickly draws you in and you get invested in the story. The cast here all seem to have a blast vamping it up. Maybe having the fabulous Tara Reid (Vampire Queen) on the set had something to do with it. LaSardo embraces his role, completely transforming himself into the character, delivering an impressive performance. An actor’s job is to play a role and give the character depth while convincing the audience, within suspension of disbelief, of the character’s autenticity. LaSardo does exactly that to the point that I wanted to know more about the story behind this Master Vampire. Mandylor’s commanding presence adds much coolness to the film, while the supporting cast also do well in their roles and keep the film rolling forward at a pace that keeps us viewers on our toes.

The Mahal Brothers and Michal Su deliver a polished indie horror gem that can surely hit cult status within indie horror audiences.

My rating: 8.5 out of 10.

Bloodthirst is currently availble to Stream on Amazon Prime as well as other various digital platforms. It is also on physical media via several outlets, including Walmart!