In the meantime, Netflix's Vampires vs. the Bronx offers delightful diversion.
There have been black vampires and black horror films, but not so much vampire films with human protagonists of color. Or many colors. Enter Vampires vs. the Bronx, a welcome addition in the open vein of comedy-horror.
In Vampires, a quartet of talented youthful stars (Jaden Michael, Gerald Jones III, Gregory Diaz IV, and Coco Jones) are residents of a Bronx neighborhood resisting a clandestine vampire invasion. The characters casually comprise kids of African-American, Haitian, Puerto Rican, and Dominican descent. Their cultures are not conflated as we get glimpses of their home lives.
The film collects stars and boasts a few subtle send-ups to classic comedy and horror. An opening cameo by Zoe Saldana is especially apt, as her heritage includes all of Dominican, Haitian, and Puerto Rican roots. Cliff "Method Man" Smith plays the local priest, who doles out the Eucharist with a steely glare to his troublesome young congregants. Bronx-native, Dominican-American comedian, Joel "The Kid Mero" Martinez drives the narrative as beloved bodega owner-operator Tony.
Saturday Night Live actor-comedian Chris Redd and another Bronx-native, Dominican-American comedian, Vladimir Caamaño, get a few of the film's top comic lines as observers of the action in the tradition of Statler and Waldorf, or Jay and Silent Bob. Director Oz Rodriguez also directs Saturday Night Live and is a native of the Dominican Republic.
Vampires vs. The Bronx is built not so subtly on a storyline of urban gentrification. The Scandinavian-blonde vampire brood seeks to seize local businesses and convert the likes of Tony's bodega to high-end retail and craft coffee. The vampires are aided by their human familiar, Frank Polidori (Shea Wigham), who brings Italian-mob-style tough tactics to persuade property owners to sell. Acquiring a building has the spooky side effect of allowing the vampires to enter without asking permission.
The theme carries through as vampire leader Vivian (Sarah Gadon) stops by the bodega to peruse Tony's growing inventory of new-age super-foods and settles on a purchase of hummus. If you can't have a sense of humor about cultural stereotypes, this isn't the film for you.
At the same time, don't expect pedantic messaging on race and gentrification to run too deep. PG-13 Vampires vs. The Bronx means mainly to make fun. At that, it succeeds.
Here is the trailer.
