What happens when you strip away the sexy, demonic things we usually associate with vampires over the years from both film and literature? You get Kicking Blood, a movie from director Blaine Thurier (who co-wrote with Leonard Farlinger), where vampirism is stripped bare of its gloss and cliches.
It is a welcome change. Addiction and being immortal are thrown together, giving the sub-genre a new look. Unfortunately, there was just not enough meat on the bones regarding character and plot, holding the film back from being truly special.
Kicking Blood mostly centers around the character of Anna (Alanna Bale), who is tired of needing blood and is completely bored with the immortal vampire life. Sure, she still enjoys the rush that comes from drinking blood, but she is tired of the chase.
Enter Robbie (Luke Bilyk), an alcoholic who wants to get clean and beat his own addiction. Instead of killing him, Anna decides this is as good a time as any to try and beat her need to drink blood as Robbie battles his addiction, making them a very unlikely pair. However, Anna’s bloodsucking friends don’t understand this need of hers, and so the fight to break the cycle becomes that much harder.
At only 80 minutes long, there is not much time to get too deep into the story. This is disappointing as Kicking Blood lacks plot and character development, where an extra 20 minutes might have made a huge difference. However, that also could have changed the feel of the movie: Anna’s bleak, in-your-face indifference toward the ‘drink blood and live forever’ concept she now utterly loathes.
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Alanna Bale is as wonderful as Anna, a vampire who is more than a simple killing machine. Make no mistake, though, she shows on more than one occasion that she is certainly capable. Her bond with Robbie and their strange relationship, grounded in trying to beat their own addictions, is interesting and different. Bale gives Anna a very human side, while still reminding the audience what she can do if she needs.
Here, the director Thurier and Bale work well together, crafting a unique character that yearns to break free from the cliched life of a blood-drinking immortal vampire.
I love 80-to-90-minute movies. They seem to be a lost art these days, but this is one of those rare occasions when I was hoping for more. Kicking Blood is well-executed and effective at giving us a different look at the vampire subgenre. The film shows how this can be nothing more than a very long fight to beat a very strong addiction, something different for fans of vampire lore.
Kicking Blood had its premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.
