Night
(Pendulum Pictures Region 1 NTSC DVD)
(2006)
review by Catwalk

Opening with a stand-off as a robbery which goes horribly wrong, detective Michael Jericho (Hardy) and his partner Jimi Cameron (LeTang) take out a robber, saving the day and a hot goth girl in the process.  This is the first glimpse into some of Mke’s recklessness and Jimi’s upbeat manner.

Mike is haunted by the vision of a woman struck by a bullet but seemingly unchanged.  His behavior is getting stranger, and the usually reliable cop is beginning to slip up.  Jimi is concerned and rightfully so, as Mike is beginning to dig deeper and deeper into the mysterious world of dark beings and bloodsuckers.

Soon, Mike is met by the mysterious girl, Tonia (Ginnett), who goes from sweet seductress to arm-chomping chiquita in seconds flat.  Mike is converted to a vampire in a sequence straight out of the Anne Rice Vampire Trilogy.  Now the upbeat Jimi must dig deeper into the underworld than ever before to track down his former partner.

As far as vampires go, Tonia and her clan are pretty damn poor, all sleeping in one tiny room that looks like it’s off the set of Blue’s Clues.  The pack couldn’t find one rich old lady to seduce and get to join the club?

Miller’s direction isn’t bad, but uses a lot of weird angles and quick cuts to keep the music video feel of the film.  While that would be massively annoying in certain circumstances, it helps to keep the tone of Night.  Grady’s performance is steady as he walks Mike down the forced education of becoming a vampire.  LeTang carries his role well, being forced to put aside optimism and hard partying for the anger and resentment at his former friend.  The problem is that he doesn’t really get a chance to deep dive into his character for most of the film, limited to just brooding over Mike’s ties to a murder scene.

The fight scenes are well-choreographed, even if they pause slightly too long and suffer from a few rough cuts and over-the-top sound effects.  Give a big nod to Ronny Vega for his martial arts execution.  There is a very smartly written montage of all the vampires feeding separately.  If the violence had been ramped up there, it would have made a fantastic experience.  In its current form, it’s still very effective.  As with most budget films, the areas where the film suffers most are the action shots and the effects.  Still, Miller’s risk-taking with his direction make the film engaging and entertaining.  Unlike Mike, viewers will care about how Jimi fares in the end.

And as a big fan of goth girls, Sarah (Parrish) is just delicious.

Night boasts a very cool soundtrack, featuring bands like God Module, Hocico, System Syn, CombiChrist, Blutengel, Negative Format and Tactical Sekt.  Jasyn Bangert of God Module is responsible for the film’s very techno soundtrack and original score.

Night is part of a six-pack of DVD releases titled Brutal Blood Suckers from Pendulum Pictures distributed by Mill Creek Entertainment.  Brutal Blood Suckers is a moniker that fits, but Hot Goth Chicks with Fangs would have been more accurate, and probably sold better.

*Image from Brain Damage DVD Release