Manhattan Undying (2017)
Matt Boiselle
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Starring Luke Grimes, Sarah Roemer, Daniel Kash
Directed by Babak Payami
Everlasting love to some is pure fantasy – the kind of stuff your lady reads in romance novels, or finds in Twilight movies, but to director Babak Payami, it’s the emphasis for a modern-day vampire film titled Manhattan Undying, for in this city, the only sleep will be eternal (cue ominous music).
Max (Grimes) is a very talented painter with the brush and canvas, and his adept skill with his tools of the trade are merely secondary to his hard-partying, rock-star like ways – sooner or later, this stretch of hedonism is going to catch up with him. Oh wait, yep…I neglected to mention – seems that the big C has already infiltrated his life – he’s been diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer and his time is extremely limited. His defiance to his doctor’s suggestion for aggressive radiation treatment is followed by a new found urge to come up with that one last piece of art that will cement his place in the hall of history. On the other side of the dirt is Vivian (Roemer), an absolute bombshell of a vampire seductress that’s been making her way through the city, bedding and bleeding out men as fast as her stilettos will take her. She’s looking for that one true meal…I mean “love.” – I really shouldn’t be so insensitive but this chick is a killer, plain and simple, regardless of her inner emotions. The day will come when she and Max will cross paths, and the results might surprise you more than you’d think.
Now for all intents and purposes, this film is listed as drama/mystery/romance – very few horror overtones are dusted over the top of the presentation, so if you’re not in the mood for a dark, gloomy soap opera-like investiture, then I recommend you bypass it and look for something a little sharper in the teeth. However, if these kinds of forbidden-love type flicks are down your dark alley, then by all means take a bite. Me? I found this far too slowly paced and moody for my likes, and aside from the extravagantly enchanting gaze of Roemer as the bloodsucking siren, there really isn’t much more to drag out about this one. Overall, I’d recommend this one SOLELY to those who need a little dark romance in their lives, as for the remainder of us evil souls, we need something a bit more hardcore to satiate our lust for passion…whew, I’d better slow down – I’m getting a little hot under the collar.
EMBARGO ON THIS ONE UNTIL AFTER 6/5.
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Film
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