Byzantium

You would think that after making Interview with a Vampire, Neil Jordan would have been done with vampires. But here he is again with Byzantium, a far more low-key vampire story, and though low-budget and without big stars, is very stylish and creepy.

We meet two women. One, Saorse Ronan, writes down her story every day, but then crumples the papers and throws them away. She is watched over by Gemma Arterton, who is introduced to us as a stripper. A man chases her down, but she manages to turn the tables on him and decapitate him. The women burn their apartment and head for a resort town on the coast.

Slowly it becomes aware to us that they are vampires, and have been alive for 200 or more years. Arterton is Ronan's mother, and she earns money mostly by turning tricks. She seduces a pathetic fellow in order to use his hotel (called the Byzantium) to use as a whorehouse. Ronan, who does not participate, meets a young man who falls for her. She becomes tempted to tell him the truth about her.

With every vampire movie, we must come to terms with the rules. Byzantium doesn't preserve most of Bram Stoker's, such as avoiding sunlight. But they do drink blood (but don't have fangs--they grow an extended thumbnail, which they use to puncture their victim's arteries) and have to be invited in. But they don't have super speed or strength, and aren't turned into vampires by the bite of another vampire. Instead, they must go to a mysterious island off the British coast and visit "the saint with no name."

All of this works pretty well. The island, which is visited three times in the story, is a fascinating addition to vampire lore (the source is a play by Moira Buffini), as the waterfalls turn to blood whenever a new vampire is created. There are also some playful winks at previous vampire literature, as Arterton at one point calls herself "Carmilla" and another character is named Ruthven (the vampire from John Polidor's story "The Vampyre").

Aside from a few gushings of blood and a few beheadings, this film isn't a gore-fest, but instead uses a spooky quiet to generate its thrills. I liked it quite a bit.