“Thicker Than Water”: A Slice of SciFi Review

Thicker Than Water: The Vampire Diaries Trilogy, Part 1
Written and Directed by: Phil Messerer
Starring: Eilis Cahill, Devon Bailey, Jo Jo Hristova, Michael Strelow
IMDb: http://imdb.com/title/tt1305766/
Official Website:: http://bloodjunky.com/
Lara’s Blog: http://larabaxter.blogspot.com/

Slice of SciFi Rating: 3.5 out of 5.0

Lara and Helen might be twin sisters, but they’re as different as night and day.

Lara is a broody Goth, a student of the macabre, and a self-avowed Anne Rice megafan. Helen is a picture-perfect high school cheerleader, in with the popular crowd, and a vegetarian. And sisters being sisters, all the love and animosity are continually present. Older brother Raymond, a still in-the-closet medical student hopeful, still lives at home with his sisters and their very religious mother, a former Bulgarian ice skater whose Olympic hopes were dashed by a severe injury.

The family dynamic takes a drastic shift after the girls’ Sweet 16 birthday party, when Lara decides to take revenge on Helen when the boy who she has a crush on prefers Helen’s attentions over hers. When Helen wakes up the next morning with a nosebleed that just won’t stop, the severe blood loss causes her death, and Lara and their mother are inconsolable.

After Raymond has finished studying the blood he collected from Helen’s nosebleeds, and reports his unusual findings to his mother and sister, a surprise return home by a blood-covered Helen leads Lara to put several clues together, and make an announcement: Helen’s a vampire now. But how can a vegetarian vampire possibly survive?

No matter what, it all comes down to family taking care of each other.

The combination of dark humor and a different new/old take on the vampire mythos than we’ve become accustomed to seeing in popular media makes for an appealing and intriguing tale, with several twists that take the film beyond the average B-movie vampire tales. The makeup and special effects are very well done for a modestly budgeted production, and some of the unique choices of angles add to the humor in those shots.

Thicker Than Water is billed as being the first part of a trilogy, and the ending raises the question on which family members’ tales are going to be followed in the upcoming films, but that’s not a bad thing, considering that finding out what happens next is something I want to see.

And don’t forget to check out Lara’s Thoughts, a daily blog written by Lara Baxter, the main character of Thicker Than Water.

Awards for Thicker Than Water:
* Bram Stoker International Film Festival: Official Selection
* B-Movie Fest: Best Director
* IndieFest USA: Best Make-Up
* Action On Film: Best Art Director
* Accolade Award of Excellence