Night Junkies (2007)

What if blood was an addiction?

Well, the world would be an awful lot stranger, I imagine. Nonetheless, that's the basic premise of Night Junkies: vampires exist, but they're not any kind of supernatural monster. They're just people, infected with something or other, needing blood in much the same way as a, er, traditional junkie might need heroin. 'Night junkies' look like stereotypical junkies, too, and hang out in the same sorts of places, so it's easy to see where some sort of confusion might arise.

Using London as a rather stunning backdrop, Night Junkies follows the budding relationship between established addict Vincent and fledgling junkie Ruby; a couple who, on top of everything else modern living throws at them, also have to deal with their addiction and the trouble it causes, and the fact that there's a crazed killer on the loose. The body count is into the double figures already, and the psychopath has his heart set on getting to Ruby...

The slightly unusual approach to vampirism sets Night Junkies apart from other vampire movies, though the real strength of this movie is just the fact that it looks stunning. Looking at it, you'd never guess how much it cost (a meagre £50k), nor would you guess that it's director Lawrence Pearce's first film. The direction is assured, though it doesn't feel over-directed; the visuals are glossy and gorgeous, with lots of time lapse photography and brilliant use of location. The dark, sleazy mood of the movie never falters...

For fear of this review coming off a little too gushing -- but really, an independent horror movie that doesn't suck just feels like a treat right now -- I'll say that Night Junkies isn't entirely perfect. There are a couple of plot threads that aren't tied up in this film, though the sequel or comic book adaptation may follow up on these; occasionally the pace feels ever-so-slightly too slow, and the European-sounding accents of the two leads can be a tiny bit jarring. Though that's about the only criticism that can be levelled at them; Katia Winter is gorgeous, while Giles Alderson vamps about looking for all the world like a less brick-shaped David Boreanaz. The film's villain is suitably unhinged and frightening, and did I mention that it looks amazing, even by real-budget standards, let alone the shoestring budget it actually had?

Well, it does. Really bloody amazing.

IMDB link