Kicking Blood

Directed by Blaine Thurier, Kicking Blood follows a vampire named Anna (Alanna Bale) as she begins to question her bloodsucking lifestyle after meeting a suicidal alcoholic (Luke Bilyk’s Robbie). Filmmaker Thurier, along with cowriter Leonard Farlinger, delivers an exceedingly (and often excessively) deliberate drama that benefits from its moody atmosphere and novel approach to a familiar genre, as the picture, which also boasts compelling, appealing work from its various actors, generally comes off as an introspective vampire movie that rarely unfolds as one might’ve assumed based on the premise and setup – with the perpetually watchable vibe heightened by a smattering of unexpectedly engaging (and affecting) sequences and subplots. (This is especially true of Anna’s intriguing, touching friendship with Rosemary Dunsmore’s dying librarian.) And although the picture admittedly does feel a little long even at 80 minutes, Kicking Blood is, for the most part, an accomplished and compulsively watchable endeavor that hits far more than it misses.

*** out of ****