So Vam
Another day of high school hell for Kurt, bullied in class with teachers turning a blind eye, bullied in the corridors, bullied on the way home, the anger and aggression of his tormentors increasing with each encounter when all he wants is to be left alone with his music and his makeup; fortunately outsiders stick together, and though they are strangers to him April and Harley intervene on his behalf, Kurt’s harassers never to be seen again.
Unfortunately, they are too late to save him from Landon, a more power vampire who sees in Kurt little more than an appetiser; with April finding him dying and having no choice but to turn him Kurt’s transition to vampire is both emancipating and awkward, now able to protect himself but forced to keep the new aspect of his identity from his few friends and family.
A micro-budget Australian production directed by Alice Maio Mackay from a script co-written with Benjamin Pahl Robinson featuring a cast of unknowns, So Vam is determined to make a statement, so earnest in its profoundly felt intentions that any idea which might have worked better as subtext or metaphor is written on the mirror in red lipstick, dusted with glitter and posted on Instagram.
The characters conveniently split without ambiguity into two camps, on one side are Kurt (Xai), out at school but ostensibly closeted at home, transgender April (Grace Highland) and bitchy sidekick Harley (Ethan McErlean), and on the other are the predatory Landon (Chris Asimos) who takes advantage of Kurt, the homophobic bullies as “the Three Stooges,” and the zealots of the New Dawn Club who instead of prayer prefer to beat the gay away.
Operating on the dubious belief that whatever wrong has been done to Holly justifies deadly retribution, April leads the way in killing and feeding without qualm, Kurt following her without second thoughts or guilt, Old Testament vengeance which leaves a nasty taste in the mouth, the characters bathed in transgender friendly pink and purple light but operating in dubious absolutes of black and white; they like to think being vampires makes them better than their victims, “taking blood from those who don’t deserve it,” but they’re not.
Dubious morality aside, despite Kurt hoping to make it to the big city to become a famous drag queen So Vam is unable to escape its bargain basement awfulness, inept fight scenes looking like a squabble at a school disco, the whole directed without the style or imagination needed to overcome the shortcomings of the performers and edited as though insufficient coverage was shot, not so much destined for eternity as lying in the gutter having had the life sucked out of it.
So Vam will be streaming on Shudder from Thursday 25th August
