Directed by Catherine Taylor
Review by David Carter


Released by Vicious Circle Films
Running Time: 85 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Color format: Color
Audio/Subtitles: 5.1 Dolby Digital Stereo or 2.0 Surround English
Region Code: 1, NTSC
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen1.85:1
16:9 Enhanced: Yes
Special Features: Cast & crew interviews, photo gallery
Trailer Online: Yes

Short Version: Excellent British vampire film

A filmmaker’s first effort is usually a rocky endeavor. Film school, research, and even working on other productions can only help you so much – preparing for all the eventualities of helming your own film can be nearly impossible. That it could all go wrong makes it all the more impressive when a first-time director has a success, as with the case of Catherine Taylor and her film TEMPTATION. In addition to this being her first film, TEMPTATION also takes on the incredibly popular vampire genre. Rather than wallowing in genre convention or latching on to popular themes, Taylor is both impressive and admirable in her ability to craft something new from familiar subjects. TEMPATION will soon be available on DVD from Vicious Circle films.

Beautiful young Isabel surprises her friends when she shows up for their planned “girl’s night.” The ladies didn’t expect to see her since she left work early after a row with her boyfriend, a matter which she refuses to talk about. Isabel doesn’t refuse any drinks, however, and quickly drowns her sorrows in a seemingly endless amount of wine. She’s still depressed about the issue with her boyfriend when she stumbles out to the street to call him and find her way home. She has no luck doing either but a kind stranger in a van offers her a lift. Unfortunately for Isabel, the man is a recently paroled rapist, something she doesn’t discover until he chases her down a darkened alley. A pale, red-haired beauty kills the rapist and reluctantly complies when Isabel cries out for help.

A terribly hung over Isabel has only faint memories of the previous evening. Her younger sister Kylie urges her to go to the police but she refuses and skips work to sleep it off. She has recurring visions of the redhead, who, unbeknownst to Isabel, is actually Aurelie, a powerful vampire. Aurelie saved Isabel because of her resemblance to Margot, Aurelie’s lost love. Her salvation came at a price – Isabel is now in a state somewhere between human and vampire. Torn between disgust for a vampire’s life and the hunger growing inside her, Isabel is forced to confront the reality of her situation when the police begin to suspect she’s the one behind the vampire killings. She thinks of escape but Aurelie isn’t going to let her go without a fight.

TEMPTATION bucks the current trend of vampire-philia by portraying vampirism in a more traditional manner, that is, that being a vampire is a horrible way to live. One could easily see the film taking a different – but more expected – direction by having Isabel embrace her newfound powers and seeing vampirism as the solution to all of her problems. That’s not the case with TEMPTATION, as Isabel does everything she can to retain her humanity and the film keeps the vampires firmly on the villain side of its binary morality system. So many modern vampire and even general horror films are obsessed with moral ambiguity that it was refreshing to see a film where evil is seductive but inferior to good. It allows the audience to get behind the main character and share in their victories rather than sharing in their confusion over what to do.

How the “seductiveness” of evil is presented is another admirable quality of TEMPTATION. One current trend in vampire films is, of course, the TWILIGHT school of “vampires are awesome” but the other is the low-budget horror staple of lesbian vampire exploitation. Despite the bloody décolletage of its cover, TEMPTATION stays fairly chaste given the fact that most films on the subject devolve rather quickly into softcore nonsense. That’s certainly not the case here as the film stays focused on Isabel’s internal conflict. TEMPTATION is mostly a character study of Isabel that is well-done enough that it will resonate with viewers and make them question their own behavior in the same situation. Kudos to Caroline Haines (Isabel) for making a woman dealing with her transformation into a vampire a real and believable experience.

Vicious Circle Films is releasing TEMPTATION later in the month so we were provided a screener copy that lacked the extras that will be included on the official release. I’m assuming that the print of the film will be the same and I was very impressed at how polished the film’s look was; TEMPTATION could easily pass as a studio release. Fans of classic vampire cinema will find a lot to like in the film as it deftly avoids what have become the major clichés of the genre: emo teens, rampant nudity, and gore for the sake of gore. TEMPTATION is an entertaining and interesting film that bodes well for director Catherine Taylor’s future.