365 Days- Day 31

movie: The Forsaken  aka   Desert Vampires
starring: Kerr Smith, Brendan Fehr
 genre:  Thriller,
year: 2001
format: DVD

plot: A young man who is driving cross country in order to get to his sister's, picks up a hitchhiker  who ends up being a vampire hunter. They then come across another vampire victim and the vampires that bit her.  Soon, the three are in a personal war with the group of vampires.

This is one of my favourites.  It's inline with Lost Boys and Near Dark, but still manages to have an identity all it's own.
It's also one of the few "modern" vampire movies that manages to make good use of a Renfield type character.  Which has been lacking in recent years.

I love the fact that this film creates a new vampire mythology and legend for itself as well, going beyond the typical Vlad Dracula storyline, and into a history more akin to Vlakyrie myths. (I know that this movie uses Greek and Hebrew mythos with the mention of Abaddon) Where in this film, the origin of the vampires starts with 8 knights who make a deal for immortality, slaying the 9th member as a sacrifice to Abaddon,  then run and hide from self loathing.  It also pulls from some of the vampire role playing games about covens and clans.

This film uses the vampire as a metaphor for blood disorders and virus.  The main way in the film to keep control over it, is to ingest a mix of drugs that were originally designed to battle AIDS.

I'm actually surprised this film has not been given a sequel, given the cult status it's gained in the last 12 years.

what do i think i learned from this film?
You should be careful who you party with.