39) VAMPIRE BOYS

Director: Charlie Vaughn

Stars: Jason Lockhart, Christian Ferrer, Ryan Adames, Dylan Vox, Tanner Acord, Jess Allen, Zasu

Year: 2011

Rating: UR

Vampire Boys is one of those guilty-pleasure B-movies of so-so quality ... that is, in its way, highly entertaining because the one thing it doesn't do is take itself seriously. The acting and writing are both a bit all over the place, but director Charlie Vaughn holds it all together nicely (especially on the tiny budget the film had), and a very handsome cast led by Jason Lockhart (actually quite a good actor) do their best with the material, for sure.

Lockhart plays Jasin, a centuries-old vampire who travels with his brood of fellow vamps (Dylan Vox, Tanner Acord, Jess Allen), killing and drinking blood around Los Angeles - and yeah even during the day, as these vampires can not only be out in the sun ... but actually tan quite nicely.

Jasin has a problem, however; his time is running out on this earth unless he finds a special companion to spend his life with; one who will willingly allow his or her being turned into a vampire, in order to spend eternity with Jasin. No companion, and not only does Jasin croak but so do his bloodsucking buddies. Jasin's boys have the perfect prospect in mind, a buxom blond named Tara who is more than willing to be vamped up and become Jasin's one and only - but Jasin, however, has found and chosen young male college student Caleb (Christian Ferrer), a fresh-faced kid from the midwest, new to town, who has captured both Jasin's attention and heart.

Jasin starts to woo Caleb, much to his brood's dismay, and even Caleb's roommate Paul (Ryan Adames) - also crushing on Caleb - proves to be an obstacle in need of overcoming so that Jasin can have "The One" he needs in Caleb, in order to continue to survive.

That's the plot, the rest of which consists of Jasin's revealing to Caleb who he really is and what he wants - but also Jasin's having to deal with dissension among his own group of boys. The film is nicely shot, and I thought it a fairly okay B-movie ... until I watched the extra features on the DVD, and realized 1) just how small a budget the film had; and 2) the respect and love the actors obviously had for their director, as well as the fun everyone had making the movie.

Which gave me a whole new perspective on the film. Knowing what the director and actors had to work with, Vampire Boys still comes off as no epic - but I definitely have a new respect for the film, and its "midnight movie" appeal that has made it fans all over the world. Probably not of much interest for anyone outside the gay or gay-friendly community (there is one brief full-frontal male nude scene, but other than that the film could be an easy PG-13); otherwise an interesting and unashamedly fun B-movie vampire film worth a view. *** Reel Cool