With a cast list that reads like a “who’s who” of B or C list “almost” stars, Nest of Vampires is a classic example of “if you build it, they will come.” A successful crowdfunding campaign, which fully funded the project in under a month, leaves the “producer” section of the credits looking like the roster of a college graduation. I stopped counting after 50 names. While there’s nothing wrong with crowdfunding – and actually I think it’s an excellent way to get a project off the ground – it certainly doesn’t help when the credits of a film look like a jumbled up master list of contacts – and when the film itself is fairly jumbled up, it’s even worse.

When an M15 agent (Tom Fairfoot) travels from London to more rural parts unknown searching for the people who killed his wife and kidnapped his daughter he finds an underground society that dabbles in the satanic.

I’m tired of “sexy vampires,” in leather and lace and silk robes. I am tired of the exhausting sexual jokes and over the top telegraphing of “lust” and “desire.” What charmed me in Fright Night irritates me in the context of 2021. Nest of Vampires, to its credit, tries to flip some of this on it’s head – showing dominating women and submissive men. Refreshing, but not enough to make my eyes stop rolling back in my head- not with pleasure, but with irritation.

I will give credit where credit is due – in spite of my general distaste for the overall gestalt of this movie, there’s some fun special effects, some fun art direction and cinematography, and overall decent acting. There are a handful of stinkers, but overall everyone gives their best, and there are a handful of very fun performances that balance those that are less-than. In fact, without spoilers, you’ll find yourself begging for certain characters to return to the screen – just for the little something extra they give.

Sadly, makeup effects are not a strong point of this film. It’s a fun but little known fact that while werewolves are the most expensive classic monster to make (Hair isn’t cheap!) Vampires are the least expensive. Thankfully, the fangs all look quite sharp and deadly – but some of the other, shall we say, accoutrements leave something to be desired. Makeup effects handled poorly give some incredible cinematic whiplash – one minute you’re “in it” and the next you’re ripped back to reality, staring at a massive edge of a prosthetic or a continuity error switching back and forth between angles. It takes something with potential and cheapens it.

Nest of Vampires was written and directed by polymath Chris Sanders, who also plays a role in the film. His IMDB credits are brief, but layered. A dedicated filmmaker, each credit is multilayered – writer/director/producer/actor seems to be Sanders’ handle of choice in his film career. His dedication translates to intense passion – and ultimately that’s what comes through in Nest of Vampires. Not my cup of tea – a bit of a puzzle of incomplete writing and over the top “aesthetics” – but made with love and passion from the very first frame to the last. And honestly, what more could you ask for from a horror film? Long live the monster kid — may they live forever.

4 out of 10