Like their undead cousins the zombies, stories about vampires will never go out of fashion, but with such saturation comes the problem of how to do anything new with them. Horror comedy Vampires vs. the Bronx, for which a batch of images has been released, might just manage to bring us something fresh, though.
The plot of the film is set in a Bronx neighborhood under threat of gentrification and its multicultural community being obliterated so middle class white people can move in with perceived safety. At the same time, a band of vampires emerge, and it’s up to a group of teenagers to save the borough from the bloodsucking undead. The stills below reveal the trio of heroes: ambitious and confident leader Miguel, the culturally conflicted Bobby, and horror-obsessed nerd Luis, as well as various supporting characters.
Director Oz Rodriguez has principally been behind the camera of comedy offerings, having overseen dozens of episodes of Saturday Night Live and associated projects, as well as the likes of sitcoms A.P. Bio, The Last Man On Earth, Shrill and Sunnyside. He co-wrote the script for this film with Blaise Hemingway, who’s currently best known as a principal writer for the lacklustre Playmobil: The Movie, so hopefully an original creation will result in a more cohesive story.
Rodriguez, who’s from the Dominican Republic, wanted to tell a tale that reflected New York’s multiculturalism, a side of the city often ignored or misrepresented in cinema, and will do so by focusing on young people who, like many who live in impoverished neighborhoods, most of society have likely already written off as being unworthy of expending any effort on as their lives are perceived as directionless and of little worth.
As such, Vampires vs. the Bronx will probably bear more than a passing resemblance to Attack the Block, a 2011 UK sci-fi/horror featuring a London gang of inner-city teenagers battling carnivorous animalistic aliens, the concept acknowledging that people already embroiled in a life of violence would be best positioned to repel invaders.
Vampires vs. the Bronx is set to be released on Netflix on October 2nd, adding to the streaming service’s growing assortment of horror available for the Halloween season.