Maggie Grey
OK, honestly this is my first review ever, and I'm glad I'm doing it for a rookie film-maker. I think 5 is a honest middle, for there was as much mistakes as there was promising choices. (ok, I really loved it regardless). Without reading the summary of the film, I was of course expecting a vampire movie. The title suggest it. The first 60 seconds suggest it. And yet. After a ethereal shot of a policeman with bloody hands, we are back to a more natural neutral light, and to the understanding that we were in fact living in a motion picture version of the comic book created by a young boy. Transition adjusted, we quickly grabs that the boy and his friend are suffering from the well-known bullying of the popular kids, presented here as bleached blonde A-Team 'American-ish' teens. The shots are quick, adjusted to a nice electronic soundtrack, slightly ghostly, taking us back to the vampire policeman, and interpreted by young actors in learning. We quickly get that the main character lives in his own fantasy and drags his friends with him in being free of the bullies. They plain an unexplained revenge (putting glitters all over the jock's belongings). Glitter here seems to have a special meaning, as important as blood (vampires? The odd burgundy makeup of the cheerleader lead me to think maybe she was one...). A late night shaky shots of the two friends meeting at their school followed by a shot of the A-team couple making out, suggest that they are not the only one to be nocturnal. We quickly understand that they will be busted in their vengeful plot. The jock comes being our main character, beats him up like expected. But here's the twist which was for me the best part. As suggested previously, our main character has creative mind and tend to get lost between reality and his own creation; enough to be relieved of his beating by his own fictional main character, an undercover vampire policeman, here to rescue him and his friend from the bullies. A girl running in the stares, A bite mark on the jock neck and on the floor next to him, glitter, significantly more significant than blood. The short is concluded by a very nice graphic end title, made with the art of the main character probably. Overall I hope this review was of any use for the bright and sparkly (not in the Twilight way) idea, yet left with the little budget and experience beginners are left with, that is Undercover Vampire Policeman. Maybe after a few more experiences and a better budget found, this short will get a quirky 'halloweenesque' indie remake à la Suburban Gothic!
