Blood Relatives (Shudder) Review

4 star good natured and well thought out horror/comedy.

From the imagination of Noah Segan (Knives Out, The Pale Door) who writes, directs and also stars, comes a surprisingly heart warming and thought provoking film about learning how to be a parent. It is a Shudder Original, available on the streaming service from 22nd November 2022.

“She worked at the only bar in town. She heard a recording of Gotterdamerung coming from your car when you pulled in. Wagner.”

Francis (Noah Segan) is a 115-year-old Yiddish vampire, who still looks 35. With his family long gone, he travels around the backroads of America in his outrageous muscle car, blasting out opera and looking swanky in his biker jacket. This is exactly the way he likes it, feeding when necessary (but only on bad guys) and sleeping in his car during the day.

His chilled out, zero responsibility life style is shattered one day with the arrival of Jane (Victoria Moroles – Plan B, Down a Dark Hall), a fifteen year old girl who claims to be his daughter, the result of a one night stand in Idaho. He is skeptical, but when she shows him her fangs, he is forced to concede it must be true. Her mother has passed away, leaving her alone and looking for stability.

Since he lives in his car this is not something Francis can offer, so they set off on a roadtrip to see whether or not they can work something out. They are helped out along the way by various people including Roger (Josh Ruben – Scare Me, A Wounded Fawn) a victim of Francis’s brainwashing and Ms. Shelling (Tracie Thoms – Jerry and Marge Go Large), a school councelor.

“What do you think this is? You think that I’ve got someplace that I can take you? Like a secret hideout, like the batcave? No.”

Blood Relatives is a really good watch. For a horror film, is it very introspective, looking at the difficulties of becoming a father, vampire or not, The performances are excellent, Noah Segan is a generour director and often allows Victoria Moroles to steal the scenes, content to be the awkward Dad character in the corner.

There is also plenty of comedy, but quite gentle and although the horror isn’t too in your face, it underlines the growing relationship between father and daughter very nicely. This is a totally new take on the vampire genre and very much worth a watch.

“May the corpses we burn light the way.”