Suck: A Funny Vampire movie that doesn't

Starring: Rob Stefaniuk, Jessica Paré, Malcolm McDowell
Category: Horror, Comedy

What do you do when you are part of a struggling band that's competing with other similarly struggling bands for attention from the record companies? You're playing one night gigs in dives and bars that aren't paying you anything because they know how desperate you are to attract attention. Well, you will do anything to outdo the other bands. Use any advantage you have in the search of fame and the fortune that supposedly comes with it.

Suck is the story of one such band. They are pursuing the rock and roll dream and seem to be getting nowhere. They play in places they think record executives will be in the hopes of "being discovered". Their luck changes when their bassist, Jennifer, is bitten and becomes a vampire. At first, she accidentally eliminates a competing band. This works to their advantage. She then ropes in her band-mates, one by one, to help her cover her feeding frenzies. They help her dispose of the bodies of the other bands that she fed on. As the competition begin thinning, they seems to be getting more fans and start becoming more famous. However, a vampire hunter is also hot on their trail.
The movie came out more or less after Twilight. Some would be tempted to say it's an antidote for that movie, an example of what a real vampire movie with "real vampires" should be. I wouldn't go so far. The vampires in this movie do follow the accepted vampire conventions. However, horror isn't what the movie is about.
And it shouldn't be confused with Vampires Suck, the Twilight parody. The movie is a comedy but it's a black comedy. If you are expecting laugh-out-loud moments, you'd be disappointed. Much like you would if you watched Vampires Suck. If you are laughing-out-loud in either movie, you could be just high on something...

Suck is low budget fun at it's best. Shot in 20 days with a budget that rivals a big TV movie, it's charm lies in the balance it strikes between black comedy and indie horror. It does not pretend to be anything else. The actors take their work as seriously as they can and you can see that they are making do with what little they are given. With a little more time and camera-work this could have been a more polished movies. But that isn't it's point. It's designed to explore that uneasy area between comedy and horror by going the route of black comedy. The challenge is to push it closer to horror while still being unsettlingly funny. They made a good effort although it did border on camp at times.

The greatest trick of this movie is the "stunt" casting. How they got people like Malcolm McDowell and rock legends Alice Cooper and Iggy Pop, Moby, Henry Rollins, and Alex Lifeson from Rush to join the movie is intriguing in itself. Ok, it really wasn't stunt casting as each of them played a meaningful role. Iggy Pop's turn was the best because I totally forgot that it was him until someone pointed it out. Alice Cooper played to his image to the hilt and I guess that could be called an attraction to the movie.
So is the movie watchable? Definitely rent Suck for yuks and if you are fans of Jessica Paré.