VAMPIRES vs THE BRONX
US, 2020, 85 minutes, Colour.
Jaden Michael, Gerald Jones III, Gregory Diaz IV, Sarah Gadon, Method Man, Shea Whigham, Coco Jones, The Kid Mero.
Directed by Os Rodriguez.
There could hardly be a more direct title for any film. And yet, there is a difference here. This is, in fact, a 21st-century New York Boys’ Own Adventure story, three heroes in their early teens. And, while the film is geared to this audience (and probably needs some Parental Guidance because of the theme and ways of getting rid of the vampires), it is engaging enough for some adult audiences. (Including this reviewer.)
In fact, the film is something of a fable, the gentrification of a neighbourhood and the consequences for the inhabitants as businesses and homes are bought out and the more exclusive inhabitants take up residence. But, in this case, it is age old vampires looking for a secure home where they can be themselves and get rid of any unwanted locals with impunity. And the fable has racial overtones because the age-old vampires are white and the Bronx people we see are African- American and Hispanic. (And, in a touch of gender equality, the supreme commander of the vampires is a white young/ageless woman, Vivian, Sarah Gadon.)
We see at once what the vampires are up to when a young woman who runs a beauty salon sells out but then is overcome by a vampire. But, then it all moves to something cheerier, the three boys, Miguel, Bobby, Luis, are busy putting up posters for a celebration for their local hero, Tony, who runs the Bodega, the general store. Actually, the impact of the film is very strong because of the screen presence of the boys, Jaden Michael as Miguel, Gerald Jones III as Bobby, Gregory Diaz IV is the bespectacled Luis, rather short and nicknamed by others as Potterpuerto. Miguel is a determined leader and Jaden Michael makes him most credible. There are also some girls in the neighbourhood, especially Rita, from Haiti who says her upbringing has prepared her for vampires!
Audience emotions are sad when Vivian comes to Tony’s Bodega and he realises that she casts no image – and she returns, destructively.
Vampires look sinister, have bought up the local courthouse to form their nest (and the boys find them suspended from the roof!). When they realise the threat of the vampires to their families and to their livelihoods, Luis provides them with background information and so they collect all the means to destroy them. This includes going to Mass – with a strong Fr. Jackson who keeps an eye on the boys (Method Man) and, while no offence is intended by the filmmakers, the boys add a host and holy water to their resources of stakes, garlic, and garlic powder.
Ultimately, the community support the boys and it is Fr. Jackson who strikes the final blow against Vivian.
The screenplay owes much to a number of vampire films and there are quite some resemblances to the 1987 The Lost Boys. Only 85 minutes, serious material, the light touch, and we are on the boys side in their own adventure!
1. The title? An exact title? The arrival of the vampires in the US, the searching for a place to stay, unobtrusive, eliminating the inhabitants? The use of real estate? Buying up buildings? Killing owners?
2. The title and the plot as an allegory, white oppression of black and brown races in the Bronx?
3. The picture of the Bronx, the streets, apartments, shops and buildings, businesses, the court house and interiors, lanes and darkness? The musical score?
4. The focus on the youngsters? An entertainment for the younger audiences? The vitality of the screen presence of the boys, their characters, ingenuity, action?
5. The prologue, Becky and her doing Vivian’s nails? Frank Polidori and the deal? The vampire?
6. Tony’s bodega, a refuge for the boys, his friendship, the sales, the boys and their plans for the celebration, the posters around the Bronx? The boys watching Blade with him? Genial, Vivian coming into the shop, her purchase, friendliness, Tony seeing there was no reflection, her return, the fight, destroying him?
7. The three boys, their ethnic backgrounds, African- American, Hispanic, Puerto Rico? Their ages? Their bonds? Their families, their mothers? The absent men? The local gangs and their influence?
8. Miguel, leader, putting up the posters? The friendship with Bobby? His tough connections? Luis, the Puerto Rican background, his glasses, Potterpuerto? Their working together? The encounter with Father Jackson, his story, keeping an eye on them?
9. The discovery of the vampires? Their presence, appearance? Frank and his being the agent? Miguel and his knowledge? Luis and all the information? Rita from Haiti and her knowledge?
10. The visit to the office, the receptionist, Frank and his donation? Their taking his bag with the USB? The plan for the vampire nest? The court house and the sale?
11. Trying to tell people? Tony believing them, watching Blade and Wesley Snipes’ techniques? The police laughing?
12. Going to Mass, Father Jackson and the Mass, Luis taking the host, filling the bottles with holy water, getting the crucifixes, the garlic, the garlic spray, getting pieces of wood, sharpening steaks? Going into the nest, the vampires hanging, the various devices for destroying them, the holy water boiling to indicate their presence? The garlic spray, impaling? Luis putting the host in the mouth of the vampire?
13. Frank, getting the gang to do the dirty work, getting Bobby, but his escaping, their trying to mug the vampires, their deaths?
14. Frank wanting to become a vampire, doing all the deals, the boys warning him that he will never get immortality – and the vampires killing him?
15. The people eventually arriving? Vivian and her confrontation? Father Jackson and his final destruction of Vivian?
16. People happy in the Bronx, the girl who continually did the monitoring online and her summing up, Rita joining the group, mothers very happy, a rising up against oppressors?
