James Corden

(In French, On Cable TV, October 2022) With a title like Lesbian Vampire Killers, it’s clear that viewers should not expect a gentle, sensitive LGBTQ+ issues movie. It’s brash, crude, violent, and unrepentant in being aimed at younger men… and much of the time, it reaps the benefits of this self-awareness. Clearly a ([Lesbian Vampires] Killers) rather than potentially more interesting (Lesbian [Vampire Killers]) movie, it features two young men unwittingly stepping into a centuries-old prophecy when a break-up and barroom luck bring them to a small English village on the eve of a fateful full moon. What they don’t know is that there’s a coven of lesbian vampires in town, and that they can either be the facilitators of an even greater evil being brought to life, or destroy the threat once and for all. Executed with jokey low-budget energy, Lesbian Vampire Killers is an homage to the old Hammer films, a horror/comedy that leans heavily on the comedy, and the kind of film suited for 12-year-old boys who just discovered the word “lesbian.”  You can rag on much of the film for a while—the limits of the budget often show, the pace has a significant mid-movie lull, and James Corden is exactly as annoying as you imagine him to be as the designated annoying character. But as it happens, I’m still on friendly terms with my 12-year-old past self, and I found the film better than I expected. It’s a B-movie in the purest sense, not concerned by respectability as it places all of its chips on the fun factor. It won’t play equally well—I can understand why some reviewers seemed personally offended by the very existence of the film, while others hailed it as a cute little low-budget horror/comedy. I mean—just look at the title. It almost tells you everything you need to know.