Entering the vampire genre is fraught with problems for any filmmaker. Do you subscribe to well known conventions or attempt to construct your own mythology? Will your vampires be romantic, misunderstood artisans or ruthless, bloodthirsty killers? There are many, many more questions that demand answers and each new film must deal with every one given audiences familiarity with the subject following Hollywood’s unwavering love of this mystical creature. Unfortunately Chad Zuver’s New Blood Rising doesn’t satisfactorily deal with any of them but still remains an interesting attempt.
Jade (Kayla Elizabeth) and her siblings Ophelia (Vanessa Leonard) and Bryce (Nathan Pelland) are the last three vampires in the world. Searching for someone with pure and innocent blood in a small American town they find Brie (Dana Furlong) who Jade decides is exactly what they are looking for. Their plans come under threat when they realise The Hunters, a group of vampire killers led by Archer (Zuver), are on their trail and pledge to protect Brie at all costs.
Respect should always be given to anyone who takes the time and makes the huge effort to produce a feature film but sadly those attributes do not guarantee success. Yes, New Blood Rising is low budget to the extreme but the issues come more from performance and direction than lack of funds. There are times when the action appears strangely disjointed as if the scenes have been awkwardly cut together and this poor continuity seems to extend to the cast. There are periods of dialogue that just don’t seem to flow and this gives the impression of last minute editing or even of afterthoughts. Action scenes are badly pieced together and are almost naively unconvincing. Combined all this contributes to an amateurish production that never really draws the audience in.
OVERALL SUMMARY
It does seem embarrassingly condescending to consider New Blood Rising to be a good attempt given these criticisms but that is exactly what it is. There is little originality to the ideas here but given the genre that is perhaps harsh judgement. The real problem comes in the implementation of those ideas and that is unfortunately where the films falls down. This is a film that is worth watching if you are a completist of all things vampiric or a real fan of small, independent filmmaking, but it will ultimately disappoint casual viewers.
