Bloodsucker’s Handbook: Written Review

Bloodsucker‘s Handbook

Written Review

Hi everyone and welcome to MyIndie Review Vlog, the show that gives you spoiler-free reviews of indie films. My name is Asaf Angel from MyIndie Productions.

Today I’ll be reviewing 2012’s drama-horror feature film Bloodsucker’s Handbook, written and directed by Mark Beal and picked up for distribution in 2017 by Wild Eye Releasing.

Thank you, Mark for sharing your film with us.

Noah, a young priest, portrayed by Cory Ahre is asked by federal agents to assist with regard to questioning a person they have in custody named Condu, played by Jeremy Herrera.

Condu, who claims to be an ancient vampire, had written a book completely in Latin. The agents ask Noah to transcribe the book, as well as engage Condu in conversation in the hope of extracting some information from him. The name of the book, according to Noah, directly translates, means The Bloodsucker’s Handbook.

The agents persuade the priest to meet with Condu and get him talking. Following a couple of meetings, Noah goes through reality-challenging experiences which inevitably cause him to question his faith.

As the plot progresses, Condu is said to escape captivity and go after his book, which Noah held onto for further research. Condu kidnaps Noah’s mysterious girlfriend, Edie, played by Jessica Bell and uses her to lure Noah in order to retrieve his book.

On his quest to save his girlfriend, Noah is aided by a private detective called Valentine. As they go deeper into their investigation of the Vampire scene, Noah is confronted with alarming revelations that may change his whole perspective.

Although the film starts off on a normal keel, as the plot progresses, Mark unveils a weird intricate world that differs from the reality initially associated with the story. One can almost describe the actual reality of the film as being a spectacle viewed under the effect of a strong and long-lasting hallucinogenic.

Valentine, the private detective mentioned earlier, is in fact an animated stop-motion dog wearing an overcoat. Other such characters are shown from a certain point during the film, as part of its reality.

The first thing we, the viewers are likely to notice, is the brave and noteworthy diligence in the periodic world Beal built, as the story is set in the late 1960’s. Most notable are the cars, buildings, wardrobe, hairstyles and interior scenes, which are all fitting with the time period.

Mark uses stop-motion animation, both in isolated sections to tell a sub-story, which are relevant to the plot, and in live-shot-scenes, interacting with real actors. The stop-motion element in the film seems to be a normality with its reality, as all the characters, including Noah are comfortable around to the presence of animated characters around them.

Although it is in high contrast colour and has a distinct gritty look, Bloodsucker’s Handbook oozes Noir influence. It also uses a dominant score exclusively comprised of Jazz music. This might work for some, but it mostly felt out of place and interfered with the viewing experience for me.

From a certain point during the viewing experience, the narrative felt to be revealed as designed to emphasize an experience rather than stay loyal to a classic structure.

Even though there are noticeably incoherent sequences and inconsistencies in the cinematic language that felt to be deliberate but I cannot be sure, in total, this is a fairly decent film that shows great diligence and holds perfectly well in its eighty-minutes run-time.

Cinematography felt to be executed in an erratic rhythm, but it works well in service of the story. According to some reviews written about the film, including one from Taliesin Meets The Vampire review, Bloodsucker’s Handbook was initially shot in black and white and went under a different name: Enchiridion.

I have to say that, in my opinion, it would have been better off staying in black and white for various reasons, but mostly that it would have given the noir feel more prominance and thus strengthened some scenes.

Despite it’s fairly ultra-low budget of US$4,000 according to IMDb, it certainly feels Beal did wonderful work in incorporating an impressive amount of interesting locations and characters while still, I say again – paying close attention to the 60’s period theme throughout the film.

All in all, I was mostly entertained and quite impressed with certain facets of this film.Bloodsucker’ Handbook gets a 7.5/10 on the Look At Me, I’m a Film Critic Scale!
The film is available for viewing through Wild Eye Releasing, and on Amazon, links above.

Until next time, keep supporting indie film. Watch, share, spread the word. My name is Asaf Angel, I thank you for tuning into MyIndie Review Vlog. I’ll see you next Thursday!