PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I love film festivals, especially ones like the Boston Underground Film Festival. It’s a great way to encounter short films and full features you may not have come across otherwise. As I settled in to see some short film action, a film called Viola vs. the Vampire King came my way and, holy shit, was it a trip!
Viola vs. the Vampire King is written and directed by Kevin Fermini. It follows Viola (Sarah Schum) on a quest to avenge her sister, Rosalina (Lizzie Freilich) after she is taken by the Vampire King (Dan Levine). The biggest thing that stuck out to me is that the vampire king looks like a cross between Death from Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey and Observer from MST3K, which I enjoyed immensely.
The film was shot in that overly colorful, shaky Grindhouse/ super 8 style. Sometimes it was super 8 and sometimes it was the intro to Saved by the Bell. Despite the confusing style and the “Dafuq am I watching?” feeling I had while seeing this, I actually really enjoyed Viola vs. the Vampire King. The tagline is as follows: “Everyone’s favorite super 8 fantasy horror samurai vampire film.” How can you even say no to that?
Something that especially tickled me was the mysterious appearance of bubbles during the fight scenes. Alongside the colors, the over-the-top Halloween prop style fight scenes and the acting that was ironically way too intense for the film, bubbles would just float around out of nowhere.
The entire film, at a modest eight minutes long, felt like a fever dream but in the best sense of the word. It’s almost like we were all kids imagining a vampire has attacked and we need to seek revenge. These people were adults but almost acting the scenes out as children which made it fun and endearing and so nostalgic.
Viola vs. the Vampire King was a silly and fun way to spend a little under ten minutes. And if you learn nothing else from the movie, remember…stay out of the Spiderweb Forest. Check out the trailer here. And for more BUFF reviews, check out My Monster and The Consequence.
(Featured image courtesy of Kevin Fermini/Facebook)
