Year: 2015
Director: Ana Lily Amirpour

I had several hours to kill in London yesterday so I thought I would take in a matinee. This being the capital I had the choice of more arthouse fare so decided against films starring WWE wrestlers and went for ‘The first Iranian Vampire Western’. The streets of Taft, California stand in for Bad City in Iran, eerily quiet and deserted in best Sergio Leone style, whose only figures are junkies, pimps, hookers, losers and those dying to escape. Arash is definitely the latter, working as a gardener for a rich family, putting most of his earnings into buying a car which is cruelly taken from him by the local drug dealer and the rest to support his drug addled father. The town is haunted by a vicious female vampire who preys on the immoral male members of the community. Arash meets the titular girl walking home alone at night stumbling from a party, coming down from a drug trip and their intense relationship is the film’s heart. Shot in black and white it gives off the air of a classic 1930’s horror with little dialogue exchanged between the two – its all in the eyes, the slight movements, the closeness without quite touching. Sheila Vand, as ‘The Girl’, is so expressive sometimes by doing little more than giving a hard stare. It’s the dreamlike visual touches that stay with you – the shadow of a skateboarding vampire, a wide eyed cat who for my money steals the final shots, a character dancing with a shiny balloon that she keeps just out of reach like her dreams. The mariachi band music makes you think of the spaghetti westerns and the pop music of 80’s Brat Pack movies. Arab dress being adapted to fit in with Western ideas of the classic gothic horror look – it all adds to a fresh twist on a tired form.

Might appeal to people who enjoyed:

David Lynch, monochrome, oddness and Nosferatu style vampirism. Let The Right One In I suppose would be a good reference point