 Thanks for checking out this movie review video This is for the 2020 film at vampires versus the Bronx and it is available only on Netflix because it's one of those Netflix original films And this will be a no spoilers review since it just came out like literally I think within the past week So yeah, so here you go now it first of all Well, let me give you the background information. I'll tell you something else. There's directed by Oz Mandy Rodriguez who goes by Oz Rodriguez in the credits He's mainly the majority of his work has been you know doing you know one or two episodes of show writing here or there But also wrote a lot for Saturday Night Live So you would think going into this and you know hearing the title vampires versus the Bronx You would think this is probably a horror comedy and it is but don't expect that It's gonna be one of those horror comedies kind of like a Tucker and Dale versus evil where it's you know Very are and and big on blood. It's a PG-13 film So it's geared it seems geared a little bit more towards kids Which makes a bit of sense because the main characters in the film are kids. So For that reason you kind of have to view it a bit of a different way It was written by Rodriguez and blaze Hemingway blaze Hemingway has written scripts for Films play mobile the movie The and is working on scripts for the settlers of Catan, which is weird because that's a board game and Clifford the big red dog. So you kind of see where this person mainly resides with their writing So this is a little bit different bigger names in this film include Chris Redd Method man and Zoe Saldana. They don't have huge roles. It's mainly about the kid actors who are relative unknowns But I will say off the bat that the kid actors did a really good job in this I Above average for kid actors for sure. I think they did a good job And yeah, they really sold those characters and really helped with endearing the characters to the actual audience So that's one of the big strengths with the film is that I think the dialogue was written pretty well it feels believable what these kids are saying to each other and what their relationships with each other are like and You know the grown-ups in in their neighborhood as well So I think the writing is pretty well done now where I feel like it comes up a little bit short is being a horror comedy I think it's a little bit light on the comedy for being a horror comedy And especially when you call it out in the title of vampires versus the Bronx it doesn't seem serious and so I get that maybe it's not serious in the sense of you know going more down the kid route since It's PG 13 But if you're gonna do horror comedy you need more of the comedy to it There are some good funny moments in this and there is some good comedy to this I did laugh a few times for sure. So it's there. It just needed more of that now the for the kind of like action portions The actual like horror of it. I think that another thing that I have a problem with is the vampires are very vanilla They're just it's pretty much and any Run-in-the-mill vampire you've ever seen it doesn't really inject anything new into vampires. They don't look particularly scary they're just Blah vampires and the other thing is when you have the PG 13 aspect of it when they get killed It's not super satisfying because it's more of a you know They kind of go up in flames and kind of like fade out as opposed to you know an Agonizing long kill which you would get in an R-rated version. So that's one of the big things is watching this film I wanted an R-rated version when I was done with it now that said like I was saying keep in mind It's PG 13. It may very well been a conscious choice to just really gear it more towards kids and that's okay But just know that going into the film The premise gets established in this film very very quickly with the vampires obviously that's important Just because everybody knows going into this film what you're going to be getting because it literally says in the title You're getting vampires and you're getting it setting a getting a setting in the Bronx. So there you go Now prior to seeing this film I had seen a few people online compare it to the film attack the block Which I can see some comparisons some of the some of the similarities between these films are that They're about kids. They're about the same age. That's covered I think it's maybe a little bit younger in vampires versus the Bronx than in attack the block, but close and One vampires versus versus the Bronx is in the United States attack the blocks and from the UK The acting level is a little bit higher. I think in attack the block I think the script is better and attack the block the overall execution is better and attack the block I mean overall attack the block if you want to film like attack the block watch attack the block this film I feel like it's not fair to compare it because attack the block is so good And by the way, if you're hearing the title of that film for the first time You must see attack the block. It is so good. It is so so good So it's hard to compare this film to that because it is so good The other similarity between the two is that it's set It's it's got these kids fighting for their neighborhoods Basically, and they're coming from neighborhoods that are socio-economically low on the ladder and They're groups of people who are more thought of thought thought of and think of themselves as kind of forgotten Kind of a situation where if something terrible like this is happening in my neighborhood It's it is literally up to me to take care of this because the cops aren't gonna help You know Nobody who could actually help is really gonna care because of where we live and who we are and that is at play in Both of these films and I think that they flesh that out pretty well in Vampires versus the Bronx. So I like that aspect of it. They really do do a good job of playing that up They also do a really good job of kind of developing the the neighborhood and community feel within the Bronx in this film So you really get that sense of kind of a real neighborhood that comes together that has unity and They have struggles and they struggle together, but they're unified in their struggle together so Within this film, obviously that struggle is against the vampires But it does also speak to more and I think another part of it is that they kind of tie a little bit It's it doesn't maintain throughout as being super strong like hitting you over the head with it But they do a quick thing of kind of tying the vampire invasion in the Bronx into into gentrification Because the vampires are all white That's one aspect of it The other aspect is it's tied into some kind of real estate type stuff and that's what happens is when you have a lot of you know white suburbanites coming into a City to revitalize it as they kind of point out in this movie That is gentrification and it's it pushes the people who normally live there out So the vampire is coming in trying to push people out. So it's clearly a tie to gentrification Which I think works well, you know tying the vampires into that I just wish like I said that the vampires were more scary that the vampires were more unique Maybe that there was blood to it. It would just be more satisfying. I Love the interactions between the kids like I said their dialogue is really good. You feel their relationships I love the kid actors. I love their relationships that they have with each other That's the bread and butter of this film and for that reason it actually kind of makes the vampire aspect Not seem as big of a deal because you are very focused on who these kids are and how they relate to one another One of the characters at one point reads the book Salem's lot and another point They end up watching the film blade the first blade So I do like those kind of things dropped in there of homage to vampire stuff that came before them I'm always a fan of that stuff in film In here the real-life dangers of some rougher areas show up in the film as well It's not solely dealing with the vampire dangers, but dangers in real life of you know living in the Bronx so it rolls in real life as well which helps to make it feel more realistic and make the characters feel more real and You know it it creates this good dynamic of not only are they trying to focus on dealing with this vampire situation But they have to deal with other stuff that they're normally dealing with in their day-to-day life It makes it feel more real There is a good amount of cell phone use in this because it is a modern film and it's focusing on a younger generation So just know that I know there are people out there who don't really like much of a focus on cell phones But you really can't get away from that and there's a cell phone usage in particular That that shows up in this film that I thought was clever is kind of a way to tell you some story Without showing you the story, but it's done in an interesting and creative way And I'm not gonna tell you what it is, but you know, you'll see you'll see Also because it is a younger cast and it seems like it's kind of geared more towards a younger crowd They do do kind of the rundown of like this is what vampires are and these are the rules about vampires And this is how you kill them and you know all that stuff. So If you're a seasoned vampire Film watcher, you'll you know kind of just check out a little bit during that But it's kind of necessary if it's geared towards a younger crowd because you know, maybe they don't know that much about vampires Do a strong deterrent for the kids trying to save their city is the pressure on them to not do something To get arrested and end up like other people who have grown up in their community And that's an interesting aspect that I don't see injected into vampire films Typically it does have its unique take for that reason like the setting is unique in that sense And this is this is very much a new type vampire thing thing I just feel like the vampires aren't a big Important part of it. You could easily just take the vampires out and substitute in like anything So really what are you looking for in the film? Like are you looking for the story of the kids and their community and how a community comes together and fights off bad bad elements or Are you looking for a vampire thing because if you're more interested in the vampires? I would say this film is not for you if you're more interested in the kids and their neighborhood and stuff It is for you and the vampires, you know, you could deal with the vampire stuff if you're if you're not big into horror It's not a big deal. It's PG-13. So They work in some drama amongst the kids Which you know typically ends up happening with films like this think things like stranger things It also happens and attack the block You know the Goonies to a degree as well, you know, these types of movies There's a moment where one of the bad guys is persuaded to do something that is out of character for his character And it really does not feel believable and it is something important in the film So that is one thing that really got me in this that I was like, that's that that's poor writing It seemed like a Convenient thing to put it in there. It didn't feel believable at all and it is towards the end of the film So you may pick up on what I'm talking about if you see it. There's a message in this of sticking together to pull through and Unite as a neighborhood and when that kind of message is really, you know Shown as strongly as it can be shown It's a cool kind of like moment where you you at least me as an audience member I felt kind of like charged when it happens and you're just like, oh cool. So they did that pretty well The little I'm sorry the title construction in this is very important to note So think about it vampires versus the Bronx Usually in a versus scenario, whatever you put first is kind of the is kind of viewed as the underdog So vampires being viewed in the construction of this title as an underdog is a very cool statement about the Bronx about the film about The unity and the neighborhood that is in that unity that are the unity in that neighborhood there So I think it's really cool where it's like vampires taking on the Bronx as the Bronx being more of an established thing. They're stronger The vampires don't have a great chance of taking it down type deal. So a Lot of the times, you know, we see a title like that and we're just like, oh, yeah It just sounds fun, but there is some meaning in the way that that title is constructed so I just wanted to point that out and Overall, I would just say that you know for being a horror comedy like I said before I wanted more horror I wanted more comedy to it, but it was a decent film. I enjoyed it enough There's a fun aspect to it for sure and it's like I said, what are you looking for, you know? So overall with possibility of five stars With half stars in play for me personally I'm gonna give it two and a half stars because I really do feel Split in the middle on this like did I really like it or did I not like it all that much? It's like I got to put it in the middle because I realized there's there are some decent things about it But there are some things that are definitely Missing and that I wanted more of but that said I would like to hear other people's opinions on what they felt about this film You know if you agree, you don't agree totally fine We can talk about that down here and go ahead spoilers in the comments if you want to that is totally fine Let's do that do me a quick favor though hit that subscribe button If you like this video or any video that I do I greatly I greatly appreciate it when people do subscribe it really gives me an actual like Charge when I see a new subscriber Because hey it means that people are enjoying some of the stuff. I'm putting out there feels good The other thing is hit that notification bell if you're gonna subscribe or you have already subscribed Because that way you know when I'm putting out a new review video or an unboxing or doing a live stream Yeah, so regardless though, thanks for checking this out and until next time keep it brutal