If you’re a fan of Fright Night, Lost Boys, Attaack the Block and the classic kids versus monsters movie, Vampires vs. the Bronx is a 2020 comedy horror film directed by Osmany Rodriguez and written by Osmany Rodriguez and Blaise Hemingway will make your day (unless you’re a vampire)…
The real bloodsuckers in this Bronx tale are the real estate developers looking to gentrify the surburbs. They even dress like landed gentry. “The Murnau guys are chewing up the neighborhood,” street proud Miguel (Jaden Michael) warns his crew. The Murnau real estate firm doesn’t even try to hide it, they have a Vlad the Impaler face on their logo.
Osmany Rodriguez, Jaden Michael, Gregory Diaz IV, and Gerald Jones III in Vampires vs. the Bronx (202)
Our reluctant heroes of the neighbourhood are: Miguel is known as Lil Mayor, on a bike two sizes too big for him. He is on a mission to save Tony’s bodega, where he basically grew up. He is the de facto leader of a gang which consists of his two best friends.
Bobby (Gerald W. Jones III) just got kicked out of school for fighting, and the local priest is keeping a watchful eye on him. The son of a slain OG, a gang is also checking him out while cruising for recruits. Bobby turns down a job at the beginning of the episode.
Then we have, Luis (Gregory Diaz IV), or as a member of the gang in question, calls him “Puerto Rican Harry Potter,” is the horror geek with all the answers.
But these residents are all facing the Bronx as it’s changing in front of them, as a realty group is paying them all tons of money for their shops and buildings, all in the name of turning it into the next ‘big thing,’ meant to home to new artisanal shops and cafes that specialize only in different kinds of locally churned butter.
Again, it’s a commendable approach to the storytelling that doesn’t simply find teens going up against vamps, but rather uses the villains as sharp-toothed figureheads to explore a very real issue affecting communities around the country.
The vampires are standard issued, obviously pale and fairly innocuous dressed in black upon black with a brooding substance of charm. And of course, we have a ‘big bad’ who sneaks in under the radar till at least the last quater of the film.
It’s pretty creepy how the vampires in Vampires vs. the Bronx levitate as they bite during a particularly impressive introductory scene in an underground parking garage. And then the fun really starts, and the action-beats pick up as the film slowly unwinds into a fun-filled family adventure.
Even if the unwelcome guests are in too-obvious costumes, Rodriguez keeps the film buzzing like a party, especially when we get to see residents like the live-streaming Gloria (Imani Lewis), or the mature Rita (Coco Jones), who joins the vampire hunters later, armed with knowledge from her Haitian upbringing.
Plus, there’s much to admire about Rodriguez’s approach to the vampire lore and horror filmmaking – especially with plenty of deep reds and neon greens in the cinematography.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
The film has plenty of great jokes and a whole lot of people you enjoy hanging out with. The horror-comedy is agile, charming, and funny and this makes it an excellent family view, everybody wins.
4.5/5 STARS