Step into the Shadows…
Grace’s life has been a series of disappointments. Addicted to morphine, the nurse doesn’t have much reason to fight back when Evienne, a vampire, kidnaps her. Deep below Philadelphia, Evienne has preyed on the city for eighty years from a series of forgotten subway tunnels. Now, with her still-human son Henry dying of cancer, Evienne has nowhere to turn for help but from the innocents who are normally nothing more than dinner. The two women develop a strange bond that caring for the same person can create, or is it just Evienne beguiling Grace as vampires do, twisting realities and lowering inhibitions?
Meanwhile, with men turning up dead and dry in the city above, a lone vampire slayer takes it upon herself to track down the killer. The disappearance of large quantities of donated blood at Grace’s hospital turns out to be the clue that leads to the underground sanctuary where Grace has been confined. But does Grace even want to be rescued? Or does the undead life offer her the power she would never attain as a human.
On one side, Henry has studied his mother since she stole him and killed his parents, and the last thing he would ever want to be is a monster like her. On the other side, Evienne’s ex-girlfriend Tempest has returned to town, unrestrained bloodlust and vengeance, and she wants nothing more than to draw Evienne away from what little humanity she has left.
“Remember, every Vampire was once a victim.”
Director’s Statement
Crimson Shadows is an arthouse horror with all the style of Underground and the sex appeal of Portrait of a Lady on Fire. This is an urban, modern story, full of queer romance and spurting blood. The humor comes from real characters in difficult situations.
Vampires…
Vampires have captured imaginations since news reports of vampire “epidemics” first reached England from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. During the Victorian Age, Bram Stoker’s licentious Dracula spoke against the repression of sex and sexuality that had swept over England and the US. Count Dracula ‘seduces, penetrates, and drains another male.’ Jonathan Harker allows himself to be taken by three female vampires, assuming the traditionally feminine role of sexual passivity. Lucy Westenra wonders why she can’t just marry three men if they all desire her. When she dies and becomes a vampire, she walks the night free of moral restraint.
Crimson Shadows mixes the danger of a human/vampire relationship with the old frightening ‘danger’ of a lesbian relationship. Even though (much of the world) has moved past the old homophobia so rampant in films, there still has never been a great lesbian vampire film. The Hunger’s bi-triangle may be the closest thing. Queer Film is more popular than ever, and queer film, like vampire films, has always focused on outsiders.
In junior high, I started renting all the horror films that looked even vaguely suggestive. Jess Franco, aka 'the most dangerous director in the world' as proclaimed by the Vatican, delivered unto my eyes Vampyros Lesbos, a carnal feast of blood and sex. I think this began a life-long search for a film that was both scary and steamy. Oh, and Queer as Fuck. Eventually I found Jean Rollin. His focus on strong female protagonists, his intentional misuse of horror and exploitation tropes, and his Gothic and occult design all became signposts for my own style.
Vampire films come in two strains, monstrous and romantic. The danger of the romance is what makes vampire films so titillating. TV brought us Buffy the Vampire Slayer and her vampire boyfriend, Sookie Stackhouse and her love triangle of vampires on True Blood, and, much the same, Elena and two vampire brothers on The Vampire Diaries. The crowning ‘achievement’ of this genre is the Twilight franchise, where the vampires hardly seem dangerous at all.
-
Philadelphia, May 2022 & February 2023
-
Crowdfunding - We are raising what it costs to go back and shoot all the stuff we couldn't the first time out, and replenish our bank account from our overages so we can pay for post-production.
-
Stay posted - but we are aiming to make our festival debut February 2024.
