Strigoi (2009)

Strigoi (2009)
Director: Faye Jackson
Writer: Faye Jackson
Cast: Constantin Barbulescu, Camelia Maxim, Catalin Paraschiv
When the villagers killed Constantin Tirescu, they thought it was justice. Vlad Cozma thinks it was murder. Now Constantin thinks pickles might go nice with blood.

Vlad a would be doctor but he's got a fear of blood. After working away in Italy he returns to his small Romanian birth place, only he finds that the village has got a few secrets, its become cursed with a vampire like disease. We learn that the villagers killed a couple they believed had murdered one of their own residents. As the tale moves on Vlad needs to overcome his fears, in order remove the hearts of those who die, so they won't return from the dead.

Odd feeling story that never really gives away what it wants to become. Its got elements of being a thriller yet Vlad at times doesn't seem that interested in uncovering whats going on. There's bursts of comedy and drama with various Romanian social and political views put across. Then you've the horror angle with the strigoi, who are troubled souls usually of the dead that have risen from the grave, yet the living can also become one (the strigoi are very much Romanian vampires without the supernatural issues like growing teeth or walking in the sun). Strigoi myth is never really delved that much into either other than giving the central character Vlad something to do in the town. Even with its ambigious style and slow pace I still enjoyed it, its filled with interesting characters and if the film offers nothing else at leasts its different.

(7 out of 10)