Apology of a vampire story

Remember Bram Stoker’s creation of Count Dracula creeping down the walls of his Transylvanian castle at nightfall to terriorize women? And though we do not meet Dracula, his vampirish traits are carried on by others in ‘Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters’.

The Morvis are an ancient tribe that possesses vampire traits and these are controlled Dhampirs but our story concerns two girls from St Vladimir’s Academy who have been banned for secretive practices. Read digging their teeth deep into the neck of their partner.

One immediately gets a hint of this activity with the early lines “that’s why good bad girls do it so well.” Rosie Hathaway (Zoey Deutch) and Princess Lissa Dragomir (Lucy Fry) are the two friends who later are allowed to get back to the Academy.

But Rosy is soon attracted to her Russian Dhampir Dimitri Balakov (Gabriel Bryne) much to the detriment of her girl-friend Lissa. In the meantime, the girls and boys mingle under the guise of doing their martial arts. Cupid lurks around corners, not eerie terror.

The screenplay by David Waters is weak and director Mark Waters doesn’t help by racing through incidents without the much needed pauses. It doesn’t work as a spoof either. For me the best part was an ‘ol Blue Eyes Frankie Boy Sinatra’s clip of “Flay me to the moon” which is sure to warm the cockles of some old hearts. Like most fading heroes, Gabriel Byrne had to wade through a pathetic role and though Zoey Deutch and Lucy Fry are just average, there’s little to offer in this apology of a vampire story.-EEM