Viking vampires and the foster care system… if nothing else, Beneath Us All combines two incredibly disparate elements and makes it all flow…
The Gibbs, Todd (Sean Whalen, The People Under the Stairs, The FP) and Janelle (fantastic character actor Maria Olsen, Paranormal Activity 3, Starry Eyes, and many, many more) are foster parents who have a strained relationship when it comes to one of their wards, Julie (Angelina Danielle Cama) who is mortified by Todd putting an injured bird she found out of it’s misery.
This causes Julie to flee to the woods, where surely nothing bad will happen to her…
Well, nothing does happen to her at first, but she does make a rather unsettling discovery in the form of an ancient Viking vampire Frey (Yan Birch) who is more than ready to get back on his feet and rip the citizens of a nearby town a few new assholes!
Frey wastes no time setting up shop in Julie’s mind, and she begins to serve him in his plans to sample the bloody buffet the town presents, but when things begin to strike too close to home, Julie will have to use all of her strength to break free of Frey’s ghoulish grip!
Coming from Director Harley Wallen (Ash and Bone) and Screenwriter Bret Miller (also Ash and Bone) Beneath Us All manages to be both a cool fright flick and rather compelling drama at the same time. Julie’s uneasy relationship to her foster parents (played to unsettling perfection by Whalen and Olsen) makes her all-too ready to become a thrall of the ancient menace waiting in the woods… it’s like a blend of dark fairy tale (which oft-times had questionable parents within their stories) filtered through the oft times labyrinthian foster care system.
Of course you lascivious lot aren’t really here for drama, so to that end I must say Beneath Us All contains some excellent creature make-ups and solid effects work, which when coupled with the moody cinematography Alex Gasparetto, a strong score from
Firoze and Kaizad Patel, and engaging supporting performances from Wallen and his wife/producer Kaiti, results in a satisfying fright flick experience!
Part social drama, part fang bangin’ fright flick, and all entertaining; Beneath Us All is well worth a wicked whirl for lovers of the horror biz seeking a break from the same old same old!
