The Murnau company is sweeping into a Bronx neighborhood and buying up a lot of property. One of those businesses at risk is a local bodega that is beloved in the community. The rent is raised and the owner can’t afford it anymore, so one of the teen kids in the neighborhood, Miguel (Jaden Michael) is putting together a benefit/block party to help save his friend’s bodega. During his promoting of this event, he discovers a more awful, terrible secret behind the gentrification of his neighborhood: the gentrifiers are vampires! Banding together with his two best friends, Miguel must find a way to stop the vampires after first convincing his family and neighbors of this undead infestation. Of course no one believes him; it’s bad enough the area is being invaded by chic, coming-soon restaurants, coffee shops, and butter stores (!), but literal vampires, too? Can Miguel and his friends convince their families and their neighbors before it’s too late?
Vampires Vs. The Bronx is a fun little scary movie that never takes itself too seriously and doesn’t expect you to, either. This is supposed to be a YA-thrill ride and it is exactly that. Yeah, it’s maybe a little too on the nose with its references (Murnau, a kid reading ‘Salem’s Lot, the obvious whiteness of the vampires and the parodying of the gentrification process) but that’s part of its charm, as well. This little movie wears its heart on its sleeve and makes no apologies for it. This is a love-letter to neighborhoods that have been destroyed and torn apart by gentrification. This is a love-letter to the friendships of youth. This is a love-letter to family and what it means, both in terms of blood-relations and as a community. And all the while, it never loses touch with the horror aspects or the action. This movie moves, not wasting any time, and gets right to the good stuff. If you’re the kind of fan that’s only into hardcore horror and gore, you won’t find much here to make you happy. But if you remember back to when you were a kid and first discovering this wonderful genre, you’ll find a lot here to wax nostalgic about.
Mostly this is a movie for the YA crowd, and for those young at heart. The violence and horror are a threat, but it never gets gory or too explicit. This is a loving tribute to what community is and should be, whether in the inner-city or in the deepest rural areas, and portrays the very real effect of rich corporations who take this community, wad it up, and consume it for their profit. The vampires here are both metaphoric and literal and both are equally terrifying.
★★★☆