Fist of the Vampire
Directed by Len Kabasinski
Brain Damage Films

Fist of the Vampire is a low budget action horror film that tries to do a lot and for the most part succeeds. The action is steady as is the bloodshed and overall the film is a somewhat original take on the vampire genre. Sure there have been gritty and urban based vampire films, but this is the first to my knowledge to bring the world of underground MMA fighting into the mix. The low budget doesn't allow the film to be as effective as it could have been, but the director shows a lot of potential and for what I assume was a very small budget manages to make a visual appealing fast moving film.

The film opens in 1977 with a man walking down an alley where he stumbles upon a group of vampires attacking a young woman. After we get to see her throat ripped out in gory detail, the man runs from the group and manages to make it to a city bus. While it is a small complaint, I did find it a bit funny that the city bus he gets on does look brand new and the cars on the street are obviously made much later than 1977. When he makes it home he phones the police, but the vampires have followed him home. Without giving away the gory details, it seems like the entire family is killed by the vampires and then the house is set on fire.

The rest of the film, set in the present, centers on the group of three vampires introduced in the beginning of the film and an undercover DEA agent, played by Brain Anthony, trying to bring them down for underground fighting. The fact that the group is vampires is of course not known at the beginning of the film to the cop, but is later revealed, after a police woman witnesses one of the vampires ripping out another womans throat. The film has some interesting ideas, but some of the fight scenes are a bit hit or miss. The initially scene that introduces the DEA agent, is a lengthy gunfight and while it is an effective scene some of the CGI does fall a bit flat. Squibs would have looked much better, but might not have been in the budget.

The underground fighting is handled well but moves a bit too slow to be convincing. Certain fights look much better, but some look very choreographed and lack the unpredictability that this type of fighting would undoubtedly have. There is no shortage of violence and the fighting is handled by professionals, but maybe quicker cuts would have helped it look a bit more convincing.

Overall Fist of the Vampire is an enjoyable film that manages to be entertaining despite its flaws and budget restraints. The film has enough nudity, gore and action to keep your attention throughout.