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Living Among Us shows us why Brian A. Metcalf is a multi-award winner. [Review]

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Vampires. Everywhere…Living Among Us. Our deep-rooted suspicions were right, all this time. Brian A. Metcalf’s latest horror movie presents us with this very scenario. However, there are some elements of the folklore that we have wrong. Mainly, Vampires aren’t bothered by holy water or crucifixes, and they don’t want to kill. In fact, all they really want is to be accepted as normal people like you or I. Sure, they may have a genetic condition that requires them to consume blood, however, they only drink what has been willing donated to them. They are also highly intolerable to direct sunlight, but other than that, our longstanding hatred of them is nothing short of racism.

The vampires have at last decided to reveal themselves and finally rid us of our prejudice against them. In order to do this, a small crew of documentary film-makers is given permission to stay with a family of modern-day vampires to observe how they live, and most importantly, how they can co-exist with humans. What could possibly go wrong?

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Andrew (John Heard) and Elleanor (Esmé Bianco), are the parental figure-heads of a rather dysfunctional family of vampires trying to integrate into a local community. They have jobs and try their best to fit in. In an effort to dispel the firmly held prejudice against vampires, they happily open their home to three documentary film-makers, who are free to interview and document all they see. There is just one house rule – don’t go into the cellar.

SPOILER ALERT – Turns out the vampires lied. They really do want to murder us and drink our blood, they were just pretending. Doh!

Living Among Us is shot documentary-style, from the perspective of Benny, the cameraman. The three crew members interact and chat whilst Benny dutifully records everything he can, even to the annoyance of his colleagues. This means that we get sneaky candid peeks at secret conversations not meant for public consumption. Although Andrew and Elleanor try to stick to a sincere and compassionate story, evading incriminating questions about the darker side of vampire life, their wayward son, Blake, is much more open about the truth. He is proud to be a bloodsucker and is more than happy to show off his true vampiric nature. His careless actions, however, result in Andrew needing to change his game-plan. He is compelled to confiscate the video footage by force and put a permanent end to the troublesome three.

Living Among Us is written, directed, produced, and edited by the multi-award-winning Brian A. Metcalf. This one-man-band even sticks his fingers into the cinematography and visual effects, and all with great success. Metcalf has created a fun and entertaining script, and most importantly, gathered together a group of very talented and experienced actors to bring it all to life onscreen. Did I mention Metcalf also has a brief acting role in the movie? This man does it all.

[Related: The Living Among Us teaser trailer warns you to be careful who you interview.]

The main cast includes Esmé Bianco (Game of Thrones) who is enchanting as Elleanor, the wife. Andrew Keegan is the wonderfully cock-sure and fame-hungry son, Blake. The exceptionally experienced William Sadler is the Vampire leader and spokesperson, and Thomas Ian Nicholas (American Pie) is the frustrated yet skilled interviewer. Living Among Us also marks the last feature movie starring the undeniable talent that was John Heard (Big, Beaches, Awakenings, Home Alone), who unfortunately passed away in 2017.

Although this movie at times feels more like a voyeuristic FMV video game from the 90’s than it does a horror film, it is completely enjoyable to watch. Some of the special effects and dialogue are ropey, but it all just makes this film that much more endearing. It’s not scary, it’s not serious. It’s a quaint, spoofy vampire mockumentary. Predictable and familiar, but in a very good way. The whole cast does a fantastic job – the acting is over the top sometimes, but so enjoyable and melodramatic it becomes compulsive viewing and before you know it, you’ll be at the end credits.

Living Among Us is a fun, and entertaining addition to the horror mockumentary genre, made all the more enjoyable because of its familiar and talented cast. The big question I know you all want answering is, what is in the cellar? Well, you will have to watch the movie to find out.

Living Among Us is available now at places like iTunes and Amazon.

 

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