God Of Vampires (2010) ***1/2

Full disclosure: I'm partial to God Of Vampires (2010) because my friend Rob Fitz directed it (I've also done theatre with cast/crew members John Sefel and Kurt Bergeron). Anyone who knows Rob would find it hard to hate on anything he creates. That being said, despite its low budget and any related shortcomings, GOV is a well-made and unique action horror thriller. It was shot on (16mm) film (at a time when almost no one, especially indie filmmakers, were doing that anymore), over many years, and it's clear that it was a labor of love. 

Fitz took elements of John Woo, Sam Raimi, John Carpenter, Quentin Tarantino, Lucio Fulci, Italian Westerns, yakuza crime dramas, wuxia, Chinese vampire/ghost films like Mr. Vampire (1985), Encounter Of The Spooky Kind (1980), and A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) (review) (plus a De Palmaesque split screen montage to boot), mixed them in a blender, and made a movie that manages to do its own thing.

It was a treat to see this at my weekly film night with Rob and star Dharma Lim in attendance, doing a Q&A following the screening. GOV deserves a home video upgrade and to be seen by more people!