85 min/Rated PG-13
Prose (Story): A trio of kids, long-term friends from the Bronx, NY - Miguel (Jaden Michael), Bobby (Gerald W. Jones III) and Luis (Gregory Diaz IV) - find themselves in over their heads when Miguel's activism to save their neighborhood from being bought out/gentrified by a huge corporation unearths the fact that the so-called corporation is actually a front for a pack of vicious vampires ... and no adult will believe them.
Don's (Review): I'm not sure I could gush enough about how much I love - how much fun I had watching - writer-director Oz Rodriguez's horror-comedy hybrid (think "Stranger Things" meets The Lost Boys, set in modern-day Bronx). Jaden Michael is terrific as Miguel, passionate about saving his neighborhood by throwing fundraisers and block parties and rallying everyone together - while his friend Bobby (Jones, also excellent), already on the verge of being lured into a gang, is more cynical and disbelieving ... poor Luis (Gregory Diaz IV, probably my favorite of the trio; he is hilarious), the smallest and least brave of the group who at first just doesn't want to believe any of this is even real. But boy, can these three kids get bad-ass when they have to - even as the vampires do the same when the guy work to both figure out the location of their lair and (hopefully) get an adult to believe them, so they can have some help taking them down. The vamps are suitably bloodthirsty and evil, no glittery romance here, and though the film plays with much-used tropes and the characters are very "stock" to any horror film, it's the heart behind the actors' performances (especially the three leads) and the laugh-out-loud moments - and that rousing, wicked but funny final fight sequence for control of one of New York's proudest boroughs - that had me fist-pumping for not just the good guys on-screen but a city I myself love. If seeking a film that's nothing but pure, plain fun, with the right mix of horror and humor that will make you laugh and feel good, this one is kind of perfect. 4/5 stars
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