lesbian-vampire-killers-20090212051246652_640wBefore you think we’ve gotten into porno reviews here at IoM, let me be the first to tell you that Lesbian Vampire Killers is a horror/comedy in the vein of Shaun of the Dead, Fright Night, Idle Hands, and similar goretastic comedies.  With its premise incorporated into its title, Lesbian Vampire Killers joins this year’s Dead Snow as a double feature of horror/comedy that we get pretty rarely nowadays.  It’s not a parody, but a wholly new tale that pays homages to past vampire tales, without falling into the usual trappings, and without feeling like a retread.

Check out the trailer below, and the rest of my review after the jump!  (warning: trailer is NSFW, but it’s probably blocked at work anyway because they have something against lesbian vampires)

Jimmy (Mathew Horne) has just been dumped for the eighth time by on-again/off-again girlfriend Judy (Lucy Gaskell).  His buddy Fletch (James Corden) has been fired from his job as a birthday clown for punching a seven-year-old in the face.  After getting trashed at the local pub, they decide that what they need is a vacation, to get out of town for a bit for some R&R.  As it turns out, they end up in Cagwich, an old town where, thousands of years ago, Carmilla the Vampire Queen cursed the residents of the town so that, on their eighteenth birthday, all the girls of the town would turn into lesbian vampires.  The resident vicar’s (Paul McGann) daughter (Emer Kenny) is due to turn eighteen in a matter of days, and with these two new visitors in town (along with four hot young lady students doing research on the town’s folklore), thinks that now might be the time to take down Carmilla and her troupe of lesbian vampires once and for all.

Lesbian Vampire Killers begs comparison to Shaun of the Dead from the very beginning.  You’ve got a skinny lead and another heavier one, start it off in a pub, the skinny guy has just been dumped…you see where I’m going with this, don’t you?  However, despite its similarities to Shaun, it really is more like Shaun by way of American Pie.  The humor here is much raunchier, the characters hornier and sleezier and, of course, there’s all the lesbians.

Lesbian Vampire Killers is a hell of a lot of fun, with a ton of laughs, some great gore effects and kills, and characters that you actually like.  Corden’s Fletch is great fun, and is responsible for most of the film’s laughs.  This guy is hilarious, and there wasn’t a scene he was in that I wasn’t at least smiling. Horne as Jimmy, the straight man, is serviceable, but nothing out of the ordinary.  Paul McGann as the foul-mouthed vicar is great casting – he chews up the scenery every time he’s on screen.

And not enough can be said about the cinematography and editing.  With a visual style that incorporates elements of 300, Creepshow, and keeps the energy moving fast and furious, this film would not be the same were it not for the excellent camera tricks.

The whole horror/comedy genre has been pretty anemic in recent years – there have been attempts, but so many fall flat (like Black Sheep and Drag Me to Hell) that I was beginning to wonder if we had seen the best the genre had to offer.  But with Dead Snow (review here) and now Lesbian Vampire Killers, it shows that there’s tons of life in the genre…even if we have to look overseas to find it (maybe Zombieland later this year will change my mind).

Haven’t seen a US release date for Lesbian Vampire Killers just yet, but check out the official site for more info!

And now, just to make Joe happy, I will give a PAS of….

Paul's Awesomeness Score - 7 out of 10Paul’s Awesomeness Score – 7 out of 10!

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