Main cast: Drew Fuller (Roderick ‘Rod’ Justin Ferrell), Alex Breckenridge (Charity Lynn Keesee), Timothy Lee DePriest (Howard Scott Anderson), Marina Black (Dana Lynn Cooper), Kelly Kruger (Heather Ann Wendorf), Richard Gilliland (Sgt Ben Odom), Larry Dirk (Sheriff Mike Dane), Mimi Craven (Ruth Wendorf), David Wells (Rick Wendorf), and Stacy Hogue (Jeni Wendorf)
Director: John Webb
Oh Holly Marie Combs, who would have expected the dull and monotonous whitelighter Chris on Charmed would end up so hot, hot, hot on this low-budget small time crime drama? Drew Fuller, who more often than not acts like a walking zombie on Charmed and Black Sash, really turns on the bad boy charm here really good until I have to check my toes to make sure that they are not curled permanently.
Based on a true story, this movie has him playing Roderick Justin Ferrell, the teenage leader of a bunch of teens that really believe that they are vampires and they will have to make their way to New Orleans where they will form a coven and “transform” into their full powers. “A bunch of idiots” describe these teenagers perfectly, but they aren’t so funny anymore when Drew murders the parents of their latest recruit Heather Ann Wendorf in a brutal cold-blooded act of impulse. Heather wants to flee the coven but she is afraid to. This movie details the moments from the murder to the police finally arresting these teenagers, where they confess everything. Their confessional flashbacks become the backbone of this movie.
Vampire Clan is a surprisingly well-paced and compelling movie. But the script is problematic: nowhere in this movie is the viewer given a glimpse as to why these teenagers will even believe that they are vampires waiting to come into power. I have no idea why these teenagers turn out the way they are or how Heather gets involved with them in the first place. Heather comes off as a normal young lady compared to the rest of the Coven, so I am really confused as to why she will believe in their talks of being vampires.
This movie however is held aloft and carried to the finish line by its cast. These actors and actresses are unknowns, but not only do they look good in too much black mascara and white facial powder, they can actually act. Kelly Kruger’s portrayal of Heather Wendorf is very effective as she manages to convey her character’s increasingly distrust and later fear of her Coven with ease. Mr Fuller really turns on the heat, imbuing his character with a charismatic grace in every word and action until it is very easy to see why someone would want to follow Rod around. He’s a really effective bad boy, that Rod, and the fact that he looks really good in that dark gear and white facial powder ensemble doesn’t hurt much either. If on Charmed he has no chemistry with any of the cast at all, he has enough here with both the male and female cast to fill up enough test tubes all over the place. Gosh, that sounds dirty.
Maybe someone should get Drew Fuller and Wes Bentley together to star in a movie about homicidal dark-haired bad boys with beautiful eyes.
On one hand, this movie has fundamental problems in its script that makes watching this movie a frustrating experience because the underlying motives of the Coven are never made clear. On the other hand, this movie is a very watchable, tightly-paced, and well-acted drama starring two people that manage to make their characters very memorable. Now let’s hope that the idiots behind Charmed will make Chris turn evil for once so that Drew Fuller can really, really bring it on.
