Breaking Glass Pictures presents an Impulse FX production. Written, edited, and directed by Dan Lantz. Produced by Michael Conroy, Susan Helfrich,Jake Hershman, Marc Helfrich, and Michelle Cain, Matt Dye, Amanda Rae Simon, and Dan Lantz. Cinematography by Francesca Basile.
Stars Shelby Hightower, Graham Wolfe, Breanna Carnuccio, Rachel Aspen, Danielle Muehlen, Aaron Dalla Villa, Chris James Boylan, and Xavier Michael.
A woman’s shot at redemption leads to insane consequences in this horror comedy from Dan Lantz.
Alice Oldman is a culinary expert whose leaving an abusive relationship landed her in prison. However, now that she’s out, she finds herself working at an old diner where she is harassed by the boss and quits when he goes too far. On her way out, Alice meets Charles, a mysterious stranger who makes her an offer. Knowing of her culinary skills, he offers her a head chef position at his boss’ new restaurant. At first, she is reluctant, but she soon accepts after learning of the pay.
Upon her arrival, she soon becomes shocked to learn that Charles’ boss is Isabella, the Vampire Queen and the customers in the restaurant are also vampires. Despite her reluctance, Alice wows Isabella and the customers with her take on steak tartare. However, as Alice gains a reputation amongst the crowd, she soon comes to a few realizations. One involves two vampires who want to get rid of the Queen for their own purposes and she also becomes worried that she could end up on the menu if she doesn’t continue to make the customers happy. What will Alice do?
It sounded like a good idea, one that is quite intriguing. Another food-inspired comedy but what if the chef in question caters to vampires? Dan Lantz came up with this concept and there are some good parts in the film. However, there are pieces of the film that tend to make this a bit of a bore but let’s face it. We’ve seen movies much worse than this in our lifetimes. That’s not to say it’s not a completely bad film, thanks to some pretty comical moments and pretty decent special effects.
Shelby Hightower makes the film completely watchable as Alice. At first glance, we see she has a scar on her cheek and we see her working as a burger chef at a greasy restaurant. We can see she is clearly suffering and she shows a tough exterior. However, we also learn she was an ex-con who was imprisoned after finally taking care of her abusive partner, who like her, was a culinary genius. We see Alice go through the wringer and forge some bonds despite the fact she could end up becoming food if she isn’t careful.
Graham Wolfe brings in some pretty good support as Charles, the recruiter for the Vampire Queen, played with such charm by Breanna Carnuccio. What’s really strange is that we see the opening scene involve the transformation of the Queen’s latest moll, Madeline, played by Rachel Aspen. These are the pros of the films along with Xavier Michael’s Frederick, who serves as a loyal member of the Queen’s court if you will.
What’s interesting is that while some of the vampires are seen as good folks who only want a chef to make them some great food, there are some evil vampires who’d rather feast and cause trouble. Notably, Danielle Muehlen’s Sofia, who has been alive for centuries who has a modern day partner in the insane and wild Kieran, played with a hilarious over-the-top performance by The Wrath of Becky’s Aaron Dalla Villa.
The second act was the con of the film as despite one twist with one character, felt kind of bland and boredom. However, once Alice explains her situation with Charles about what she did to her partner after being abused for so long, which lands her in prison, I got engaged once again and the end is a bit of a mixed bag but not a complete waste of time.
Alice and the Vampire Queen is not completely bad, but it’s not completely bad at all. It’s a mixed bag, but Shelby Hightower definitely drives the film and makes it very watchable. Worth at least a one-time watch.