Brotherhood of Blood

Scarecrow-88

Roesch & Scheerer's Brotherhood of Blood is quite a claustrophobic little vampire film, mostly taking place within the congested confines of rooms within a warehouse as vampire Pashek(Sid Haig) fears his powerful brother Vlad Kossei(..for whom he burnt alive many years ago for this vampire's blood-thirst was so intense he wiped out villages in short order)has been resurrected by an artist perhaps having found his remains in a church in Transylvania. Being held captive is the artist's brother, Tom(William Snow)by Pashek's follower Fork(Wes Ramsey)and his vampire minions as they prepare for Vlad Kossei's arrival. A small vampire hunting unit, led by Keaton(Jason Connery)and Carrie(Victoria Pratt, another in the long line of female bad-asses, with a very athletic figure, often grimacing, dead-serious demeanor, with no fear at all as danger presents itself)find themselves almost nearly wiped out by Vlad Kossei it appears. Pashek mentions to Carrie, herself kidnapped by the vampire brood, that if Kossei is able to see his family line successfully killed off by another, the mighty vampire will become all powerful and invulnerable. Cult star Ken Foree has a lucrative role as vampire Stanis who is tortured by Keaton and Carrie in acknowledging who Kossei is and what he's up to.

Very low budget, and given some extra mythology, but overall still follows many of the same vampire customs(..vampire bite turns you into one of them, sunlight burns their flesh when introduced, they crave human blood for survival). Pashek admits that vampires and humans came together in unison to stop Vlad Kossei and that this would be the only way to stop him once again. Kossei's resurrection came thanks to his skull's fangs cutting a certain human's hand. The violence is often cleverly disguised by specific movements and set-ups of the camera with blood scattering throughout(..and the sound effect of flesh ripping), although there is a pretty nasty fanged tooth removed from Foree's mouth as hunters Carrie and Keaton have him bound to a table, starving him of blood, wishing to gather information as to who could wipe out their entire unit. I found the confinements of the action in small, singular locations rather tiring..the film is very dialogue driven, with Haig given ample screen time devoted to telling us about his people's history, specifically about Kossei and his reign of terror. Pratt, as I mentioned before, is a tough broad who is often on the winning side in battles with her enemies. Her character and vampire Fork had a relationship before he was turned into an undead bloodsucker. Pretty neat twist..many will probably see it coming, while others might find it quite a surprise.

score 5/10

Scarecrow-88 3 November 2008

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1970366/