I am not a huge horror/thriller movie fan. I'm a big wuss, and I mean, BIG WUSS. I watched Ju-on (The Grudge) during daylight, and I still had daymares (nightmares during daytime hours). I watched Nightmare on Elm Street, knowing full well that Freddy's not real, and I still screamed, jumped on and clung to my other half when I realized that the closet door was open. I still can't watch any of the Chucky movies, and I'm still terrified of clowns from my viewing of Stephen King's IT at a young age.
However, after struggling to keep my image of vampires afloat after Twilight, I cracked. I'm a big fan of True Blood, Blade (all three) and of An Interview with A Vampire, so I figured Night Junkies wouldn't be too scary.
In all honesty, it sounded more like a drug addict documentary to me. I started the movie and noticed - right off the bat - He (Vincent) is a vampire, but why the hell does he not have the vamp teeth? Or the pale skin? He answered my question just as I asked it in my head: "What if vampires are just humans with a different kind of addiction?" My grin right now is the exact same one I had when I heard him say that line! O.M.G. Vampires are pretty much humans with an addiction... to blood. (shiver)
As the movie introduces Ruby Stone and what her life of hell is like, I figured she had to be Vincent's next target. Turns out, she targeted him to get away from a horny kid, and she wasn't a target to feed on. Instead, he turned her. I do have to give major kudos to this movie for the bite marks: human teeth all the way. The marks left me wondering: Could we humans really bite and leave such perfect teeth marks like that? I really don't want to find out, but (shrug) I'm curious. Please don't be tempted to bite me! Any way, this movie played out as a love story more than a horror/thriller. Kind of ruined my expectations of it, but the storyline was great! All the way to the bittersweet end, if you ask me.
Backtrack! Why the hell did I choose to watch this movie? Besides the whole "must find vampire movie to revive my love for the immortal blood suckers after Twilight," the brief synopsis that I read stated:
Against riverfront London’s sordid backdrop of seedy nightclubs, winding streets and dark alleyways, a modern-day Jack the Ripper stalks his prey - Crackle.com
I'm a lover of anything Jack the Ripper. If that makes me weird and freaky, oh well. With Night Junkies turning out to be more of a love story between Vincent and Ruby, I started questioning the whole "modern-day Jack the Ripper" thing. Sure, they showed a few women brutally beaten to death, faces all bloody, but the whole "women are being killed" was just a passing thought throughout the movie, UNTIL about 3/4's into the movie when Psycho (played beautifully and artfully by Rene Zagger) goes stalking into the streets, searching for Ruby, the one that keeps slipping away from his grasp. When I say that Zagger performed beautifully and artfully, it is simply because he made me believe that if he didn't die by the movie's end, he'll be kicking down my door by midnight! Also by the way he grotesquely licked his victim's face after he beat her dead. Yea, that was so awesome of him.
The last - ooooh let's say - 3 minutes kind of made me whimper as I'm a woman and feel the need to do so when a handsome character gets hurt/killed. * Spoiler Alert * Psycho is about to shoot (oooor do some more damage to) Ruby in Vincent's apartment when Vincent - in his gallant, brooding way - barges into the room to save his damsel only to get shot in the chest by Psycho. This is where I gasped and whimpered and turned all sorts of feminine. After my three second woman phase, I started cheering and felt like I was getting ready to fight. Why? *Spoiler Alert * After Vincent is shot and after the camera follows him down to the floor, the camera swings to Psycho, holding the gun, and Ruby lunging onto him, teeth bared, and bit the shit out of him! Like every new vampire, she sucked Psycho dry before crawling to Vincent and sacrificing herself to bring him back to life. The whole "keep going, it's okay" was applaud worthy in my book, as she was 100% against being a vampire and loved Vincent.
I'm torn whether to talk about the final shot of the movie. Do I want to say something about it? Do I even have anything to say about it? I actually do have something to say about it. I applaud Mr. Lawrence Pearce for being so artistic in opening and closing the movie with Vincent and the bea-u-ti-ful line: "You can never forget your need for that next fix."
So, do I think this is viewing worthy? How do I rate this movie? Night Junkies is wonderfully artistic in cinematic shots, and the main actors - Katia Winter (Ruby), Giles Alderson (Vincent) - and the supporting actors - Rene Zagger (Psycho) and several others - gave excellent performances. There was enough thrilling, suspenseful moments (thanks to the music), and there was enough bloody moments (between the bites and the kills), so I will have to say: Yes, Night Junkies is worth watching at least once... perhaps twice, as I feel I missed a few important details to the stories. I give it 3.5 stars, thumbs up, donuts, whatever you feel comfortable with in the rating images (out of 5, naturally).
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