Saturday, August 3, 2019

Blood and Donuts (1995) directed by Holly Dale

I didn’t know that I wanted a 90’s slacker hangout/crime/vampire love story centered around a donut shop, but I really did. An online friend described it and I was intrigued. It has David Cronenburg as a weird crime boss running his operation out of a bowling alley. It has a vampire who moves at times in a way reminiscent of Vincent D’Nofrio in Men in Black (though he’s far handsomer than a giant cockroach wearing an Edgar suit). It has a cabby who seems to be doing an exaggerated Christopher Walken imitation with an Eastern European accent. It has a donut shop cashier who reads philosophy, automotive repair books and conspiracy theory. This is a weird mix but it is charming and has a few great moments.

There’s a typical setup where the love interest comes across the vampire in situation where it looks like he killed someone; this is often the obstacle that has to be overcome in the third act of a story. But the cashier is much smarter than that. She knows the vampire well enough to trust him and doesn’t freak out. She brings her esoteric knowledge to bear as a sort of amateur Macgiver-esque EMT.

It is low budget and largely unavailable. I watched it in 10 minute chunks on YouTube, and it is apparently also available with commercials on some random Roku channels. It’s a very fun movie that does a lot with a little. Seek it out!

Recommended.

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