The Sins of Dracula

"THEY NEVER HAD A PRAYER"

The Sins of Dracula is a new film directed by Richard Griffin. Griffin has spent over a decade making his mark on the horror scene. His efforts have shown strong promise since the very beginning. Feeding the Masses and Raving Maniacs certainly show signs of a director getting his start, but these flicks also display a distinct style he has been sharpening throughout his career. Griffin already proved that he can do vampires well with his 2006 film Pretty Dead Things, so I was excited to see him back to deliver another flick with some bloodsucking villains.

Billy is a young man who's entire life revolves around his relationship with God. His sheltered lifestyle starts to collapse around him when his girlfriend convinces him to join the local theater for their next play. Billy has a very hard time adjusting to the diverse group working on the play. When he left his secluded bubble of Christianity, he wasn't anticipating encountering drug addicts and homosexuals among other things. Being around all of these sinners gets him thinking about committing a sin of his own. This temptation comes to a head when Billy has a very intimate conversation with God about his urges to beat his meat into amputee status. Meanwhile, there's a much larger problem occurring back at the theater. The head honcho of the theater department has plans to raise Dracula. Billy's concern about what to do with his junk will soon become the least of his problems.

The Sins of Dracula is essentially a cross between a Hammer horror film and a satire of Christian scare films. The movie is pretty heavy handed with the comedic elements but never really goes into full on parody mode. Many of Griffin's films walk this line. Over the years he's really managed to master the craft of finding the perfect balance between the two. The effects throughout are solid. The flick goes from great, to fucking awesome when the finale comes around. Billy ventures back into the theater to kick some vampire ass, and it is by far the highlight. That being said the first third of Sins is a truly excellent satirical setup. The movie also sports an awesome theme, although I must admit it sounds extremely similar to the training cut scenes from the NES classic Punch-Out.

Overall, The Sins of Dracula is a stellar low budget horror flick. All the jokes in the movie hit their mark perfectly and during the finale it packed some genuine surprises. I've come to the point where I expect quite a bit going into a new Griffin film and he's yet to deliver a disappointment in my book. When I've had a bad streak of indie horror flicks, I can always dig back into his filmography and find a reminder of why I fell in love with movies like these in the first place. If you're looking for a fun vampire flick this is it. GET IT!

The Disco Exorcist

The Disco Exorcist follows Rex Romanski. A young stallion who bags more ladies in a month than you probably have in your life. Unfortunately he picks up quite a foul lady (Rita Marie) who is not so fond of his "hit it and quit it" behavior. Rex is a big fan of fuck flicks and his main attraction is certainly actress Amoreena Jones. Eventually Rex ends up with the actress he idolizes and they bump into Rita at a club. Upon seeing Rex with another woman Rita breaks down and puts a curse of Amoreena. Things only get worse for the couple from there.

In a world where the act of digitally aging a new film to make it look like an old "exploitation" film seems to be all the rage, the almighty Richard Griffin has come to save the day! Finally someone has created a film that actually comes close to offering us fans the feeling that those classy flicks had. This is not a way of saying that I hate all of these "Grindhouse" style movies. Most of them are enjoyable. The fact of the matter is that I never once find myself saying "this actually seems like it could be from that era". That is what separates The Disco Exorcist from these other films. It simply works. Everything. The acting, setting, plot, all the way down to the soundtrack. Richard Griffin really hit the nail on the head with this one. While I have been a fan of all his other work in the past this movie certainly wins its spot as my favorite.

The acting in the film is not necessarily award winning. Although, considering the budget this film had, there is a great amount of talent here. The entire main cast does an excellent job throughout and it is actually pretty impressive. The gore is good when it pops up and there is plenty of sleaze crammed into the short runtime (trust me, PLENTY). The Disco Exorcist knows its audience and has found a solid balance of story, nudity, and blood. There is not one moment in the film that failed to entertain. There is also a great deal of humor injected into The Disco Exorcist. Romanski's sidekick Manuel provides comic relief practically every time he is on screen. When the club janitor comes into play some hilarity assumes as well.

Overall The Disco Exorcist is the perfect example of what these throwback style films should be. All of these other flicks try so hard to be "edgy" and "old school" and meanwhile this low-budget film leaves them all in the dust and makes it look easy. Highly recommended to any fans of this throwback style movies, horror, sleaze, or just independent film in general. Richard Griffin just keeps hitting the horror community up with great flicks so consistently. He is quickly rising on the list of my favorite filmmakers. GET IT.