For me vampire movies have to have gore, this movie has so little gore it could easily be PG if not for someone being killed/dying in it. The budget obviously was rather low but how much does chocolate syrup cost? Some of the outdoor early scenes were just too dark for anything to be seen, so the lighting was likely another place this affected...though it helps the atmosphere.
That being said, I gave this effort a very high rating, as it does an excellent job of setting up the climactic scene in a highly-believable way, sort of a "country-noir" fashion rather than thriller-horror 'cabin-in-the-woods-gorefest' tropes that have recently been so overdone as to make this a welcome respite. A few jarring elements do exist-the main setting bar somehow does not give off the vibe of a truly rural dipsomat, resembling more a Goth or hockey bar one would find in a city's trendy district. A lot of ADR seems to have occurred, which given the close quarters and the likelihood of operating machinery probably was needed to quell background noises which gives a slight echoeysound to the talking and probably led to the one reviewer's perceived "woodenness" in some of the dialog scenes. I concur there was possibly a little too much bar polishing, which is clichéd but is so because it does occur in real life, though if the doer was the owner he would be less likely to do it so often, more often having a flunkey do it. Given the tenseness of the situations(barfight, Police inspection, vampire-slaying) however it did not strike me as overmuch for indicating nervous reactions. The main character was likable if a bit young looking for a vampire, the barkeep a bit moreso if seeming somewhat old for an IraqI vet(Vietnam would be more credible)with very mobile facial expressions despite his full beard. The lady vamp was talented and very sexy and I would like to see more of her acting in it, the sheriff's deputy was perfectly cast as a slightly slimy bureaucrat on the take playing the bar owner for money at 'darts' for his baksheesh, the 2 bar bullies were also well cast and credible. It is hard to see the market aimed for by this, as it is almost like a romance but with a bad/sad ending. But my date got the sniffles at the gal vamp's Pieta-like dying in the barkeep's arms so it might be a good date movie despite the 'relationship goes sour' premise. It also might be excellent as part of several stories in an anthology approach possibly worked around the bar? The ending is ambiguous enough for a sequel.
Highly recommended as a change of pace from the usual.
