Plagued by guilt following the death of his son in a car crash, John Clarke, a brilliant surgeon comes to realize that the only thing that can ease his pain is the taste of human blood.

Losing a loved one can cause anyone to lose their head from grief. When a father loses his young son in an accident, an extremely rare form of PTSD causes him to convulse uncontrollably, that is until a sickening cure is discovered.

“Painkillers” (2018), from the producers of “The Ring” and directed by Taiwanese-American filmmaker Roxy Shih, is a suspenseful vampire film that offers an alternative take on vampire origin stories. The movie departs from familiar vampire tropes, such as no garlic, no sunlight, no seeing one’s self in mirrors. Instead, it goes for the more human-like vampires, similar to those found in the 1980s vampire classic, “The Hunger”. In “Painkillers” universe, vampires can do everything that humans can, except of course survive comfortably without consuming human blood.

Vampire movies do seem to love having at least one club scene – the movie opens with an attractive blond ditched by her girlfriends in an alleyway. We learn that you should NEVER LEAVE YOUR GIRLFRIENDS BEHIND as a pale-faced addict seemingly shivering from withdrawal attacks without warning and drains her of life; a straightforward cold opening to set the mood for this vampire tale.

After a gratuitous title sequence, we are introduced to father and son, John and Brian Clarke. John, a brilliant but busy on-call surgeon, is spending the evening with his young son playing soccer when their bonding time is interrupted by an urgent call to surgery at the hospital. En route, John becomes distracted while driving, resulting in a horrific car crash. When he awakes in the hospital two days later, he learns that Brian was tragically lost in the accident, and suffers a psychotic break leading to PTSD and painful convulsions. Doctors maintain that there is nothing wrong with him physically, however, John continues to suffer the gut-wrenching effects of his changed composition. A small cut on his hand brings him to a horrible realization when he is unable to resist sucking his own wound – he will need fresh human blood to survive. A strange man finds him after hearing about John’s symptoms and offers him a way to get what he needs, however, John soon learns his mentor’s “Dexter”-like philosophy on choosing their victims and he decides to rebel against his new vampiric instincts.

Set for a limited US theatrical release this January 31st, “Painkillers” (2018) stars Madeline Zima as Chloe Clarke, wife of surgeon turned unwilling predator, John Clarke, played by Adam Huss. I was surprised to see Debra Wilson, who I know from the hilarious sketch comedy show, Mad TV, controlling every scene as the caring but careful head surgeon, Dr. Gail Conrad. Comedians often make brilliant dramatic actors, so that should be of no surprise in retrospect. Other familiar faces of thriller and horror round out the cast: Grant Bowler (“True Blood”) as the villainous vampire guide Herb Morris, Naomi Grossman (“American Horror Story”) as Nurse Sheralyn, and a short appearance from Mischa Barton (“Sixth Sense”).

Overall I found all the actors, from starring to secondary, gave authentic performances, dramatic without falling prey to being campy. I liked the look and vibe of this film – it is dark in both content and aesthetic, but unlike other vampire features, “Painkillers” is neither sexy nor steeped in history or mystery. It came off more like a well made indie thriller that happened to have a vampiric aspect to it, but I reiterate that it is well made and I found some of the shot and scene-transition choices interesting. “Painkillers” (2018) is a pretty good movie and worth a watch, but if you’re a hardcore vampire film enthusiast you may find yourself wanting more.

Painkillers arrives in theaters January 31st and on VOD February 4th, 2019.