Blood and Donuts (1995)

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nTitle: Blood and Donuts (1995)

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nDirector: Holly Dale

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nCast: Gordon Currie, Louis Ferreira, Helen Clarkson, DavidnCronenberg

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nReview:

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nBlood & Donuts is this very strange kind of film, I caughtnit on VHS back in 1995 when it was first released and immediately fell in lovenwith it because of this strange sort of vibe that it exudes. I mean, I don’tnknow what it is, maybe it’s the fact that it’s one of these films that takesnplace entirely during the nighttime, there’s something about movies that takenplace during the night; they have the weirdest characters and this eerie sortnof vibe to them that I enjoy a lot, the dark empty streets, the dim glow of thenstreet lights, the fog, the shadows, the moon. Two movies come to mind that arenlike this: Martin Scorcese’s After Hours (1985) and Sam Raimi’s Crimewave (1985),ncue ‘The Freaks Come Out at Night’ by Whodini. These type of films focus on thosenunique individuals who enjoy the wee hours of the night; I am one of thesenindividuals, in fact, if it was by me, I’d work during the night and sleepnduring the day, just like a vampire. There’s less of a hassle to life duringnthese hours, less people out, no scalding hot sun, no traffic jams  and no stress. The downside of course is thatnthis is the time for the ghouls to emerge; in the case of Blood & Donuts we’rentalking about vampires, taxi drivers with thick New York accents, 24 Hour DonutnShop employees and wannabe gangsters who work for David Cronenberg; welcome tonthe strange world of Blood & Donuts.

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nThe story focuses on an age old vampire named Boya. When wenfirst meet him, Boya is sleeping the sleep of the undead, when suddenly, a  golf ball breaks through the window of thenbasements where he rests and awakens him from a 25 year old slumber. He is thennfaced with having to adjust to the 90’s. He knows no one, and for a time is allnalone in the world. Thankfully he has some clothes and money buried inside ofnan old tomb which he unearths. Later he befriends Earl, a taxi driver and fallsnfor a Donut and Coffee shop employee named Molly. He now has to protect thesentwo friends from a pair of gangsters who have unfinished business with Earlnwhile at the same time dealing with a vengeful ex-girlfriend, it’s not easy being a vampire!  

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nFor me the main attraction with Blood & Donuts is hownoffbeat it is. The performances are quirky and unpredictable as is the rest ofnthe film which by the way is very low-key. This isn’t a film about legions ofnvampires fighting werewolves or a film with an emphasis on gore or action.nNope, this film is more personal and minimalist in nature, it’s an artsy fartsynsort of vampire flick, which of course makes it unique in my book. The scope ofnthe story centers on these two gangsters who want to use Earls taxi to  conduct their gangster business. If they have someonenthey want to go and kill, they want Earl to drive them there. Of course, Earlnwants nothing more to do with these guys; he just wants to be a regular oldncabbie; but not these two guys, they want to carry corpses on Earls cab!  And so, since Earl and Molly are entwined,nBoya ends up having to protect the both of them, that’s about as far as thenstory goes. Basically, it’s a film that’s really all about friendship and selfnsacrifice, same as The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), this film is about anmonster looking for some friendship in this big bad world; more than anythingnwhat Boya wants is love. And this is the one element that Blood & Donutsnshares with many vampire films, that rampant romanticism, that love obsessionnthat vampires are known for.

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nThe character of Boya, played by actor Gordon Currie is onenof the most interesting elements in the film. He is the reluctant vampire, hendoesn’t want to be one, yet he is, so he relies on feeding on rats and pigeonsnto survive. He tries to hide his vampirism, yet vamps out whenever he truly hasnto in order to protect his friends and loved ones. He is a humanist, henbelieves everyone is special; everyone deserves a day in the sun, a shot atnhappiness. Boya’s and endearing sort of character, you’ll get to like him evennthough he’s a vampire. He muses on things like the sadness he felt when humansnfirst walked on the moon, when they corrupted it by walking on it. When henwakes up from his slumber, he looks like Jim Morrison just woke up from hisngrave to roam the modern world;  a hippynout of the 60’s and into the 90’s, so in some ways this films plays a bit likena fish out of water story. Most of the performances are solid, for example wenalso get a great David Cronenberg playing a gangster called Stephen. Cronenbergncan really play a psycho extremely well.  Cronenberg’s character radiates a controllednsort of evil. He says clever lines like: “Am I employing retards? I havennothing against retards myself, I just can’t afford to  employ them” Unfortunately, the only downsidenin terms of performances is the character of Earl played by Louis Ferreira. Henspeaks in this bad Christopher Walken impersonation that can get a bit annoyingnat times, but it’s not so bad you’ll want to stop watching the film. In fact,nEarl kind of grows on you with his dim wittedness.

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nBlood & Donuts is also a film that explores the ins andnouts of relationships. Boya falls in love with Molly, his new love interest,nbut an old girlfriend named Rita has a grudge with Boya and follows himneverywhere he goes, searching for revenge. Boya is afraid of relationshipsnbecause they always end somehow, he knows this because he’s lived far longer thannany human and all of his previous lovers have died. Will this knowledge stopnBoya from letting love into his life again? Should we be afraid to love becausenit might some day end? These are some of the ideas the film explores. Innconclusion, Blood & Donuts is an offbeat film; it won’t go where you expectnit to in terms of vampire lore. Performances are quirky and different, Boya isnlikable and the film has an eerie, dream like vibe to it. The film was madenwith very little money, which is probably why the story is so simplistic innnature, but it is saved by decent performances and originality. It has cultnfollowing written all over it, honestly don’t understand why this film hasn’tnmade its way onto dvd yet. 

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