Blood Relatives (2022)

December 2, 2022 11:41 AM

[TRAILER] Francis (Noah Segan, who also wrote and directed), a 115-year-old Yiddish vampire, still looks 35. He's been roaming American backroads in his beat-up muscle car for decades, keeping to himself, and liking it that way. One day, a teenage kid, Jane (Victoria Moroles), shows up. She says she's his daughter, and she's got the fangs to prove it. They go on the road, deciding whether to sink their teeth into family life.

Also starring Akasha Villalobos, C.L. Simpson, Ammie Masterson, Tracie Thoms, Jon Proudstar, Josh Ruben, Doug Benson.

96% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.

Currently streaming as a Shudder original. JustWatch listing.

posted by DirtyOldTown (5 comments total)

This is by the filmmaker who did Scare Me, which was about ten minutes too long, but still a delight. I am going to be watching this one this evening, most likely.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:44 AM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

I watched this the other night and it kind of defies categorization. It's not a horror film although it does involve some murder and some vampirism. It's weird to say it, but it's a sweet film.

I will say as a Jew that yiddish was painful for me, which is odd because Segan grew up in NYC. He was the writer, director, and star of this as well. I hate to say he needed to do more research but having grown up with a jewish father from NJ, I picked up a lot more yiddish in my short 47 years (compared to his character's 115). I love the idea of a jewish vampire, but if you're going to do it you need to do it well. And I found it disappointing in this respect. I'd add a jewish vampire who likes Wagner?

Segan has a long history in horror films and was one of the stars of the controversial Dead Girl and Follow (a murderous christmas film). He clearly knows the genre well and is very comfortable with it and so crafted this uniquely odd but enjoyable movie.

Also Negan directed a segment in Scare Package, DOT, not Scare Me.
posted by miss-lapin at 12:31 PM on December 2, 2022

Whoops, that is true. The similar titles and similar names (by character length, at least) didn't help, but I think the main thing was that Josh Ruben also co-produced this.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:41 PM on December 2, 2022 [1 favorite]

This was fine. I liked the premise and the characters. But the plot didn't have much momentum.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:11 AM on December 9, 2022 [2 favorites]

Josh Ruben is also in this as a guy who ended up in a mental health facility after Francis only half-converted him.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:31 PM on December 19, 2022