Requiem For The Night

Another vampire film, currently in pre-production, hopes to make its mark on cinematic history before too long.  Requiem For The Night has its own fundraising page, described as "...something brand new, something that has genuinely not been done before. It’s a dark vision of the world on the verge of an apocalypse with geopolitical alliances and prophecies that hearken to thousands of years past."

Will Blesch, an American/Israeli film director and writer, hopes to make the first Isreali vampire film.  That nation has already given us a unique take on the undead on television via Split, but Requiem for the Night would be something different.  I asked Mr. Blesch a series of questions and what he said certainly sounds intriguing.  Understandably, he prefers to keep some matters close to the chest, but here are some salient details gleaned from his answers:

• The story takes place in the near future, virtually pre-apocalypse of some kind.  So at least the context of it all has more in common with The Strain than The Vampire Diaries!
• Vampires in this flick harken back to before Bram Stoker, even before Polidori or European folklore.  He spoke of Sumerian and Middle Eastern mythology, which immediately brought the stories of Lilith and the Lilitu to mind.
• Given that such legends associate vampires with a kind of "dark mother," the opposite of what we sometimes think on as Mother Nature, I wonder if it is significant the artwork presented (so far) depict female undead?
• Although he said the vampires and plot have nothing in common, he did point to the movie Interview With The Vampire as a quality standard he hopes to match.
• He specifically listed some films they are seeking NOT to emulate:  Bloodrayne, From Dusk Till Dawn, Vampire in Brooklyn and Embrace of the Vampire.  From this, it would seem any human/vampire love story probably won't feature in the story with a focus on drama rather than action scenes per se.  Which is not to say there might not be any love interest or fight scenes.

One thing that pops up from the pages and emails and videos is a certain enthusiasm.  I'm reminded just a little bit of the buzz that slowly built among the creators of Babylon 5 until it finally on the air.  The tagline "Bold, Powerful, Without Regret" harkens away from the angst-driven vampires of Twilight or Dark Shadows, or at least seems to.  Currently Blesch and his fellows have set up a fund-raising page (link above) rather akin to that of Styria (who managed to raise well above their target by the deadline, incidentally).

Keep in mind this remains in pre-production.  Funds raised will go to completing the screenplay, for example, as well as hiring an attorney (a very wise move) to set up the legal entity that will oversee the whole project.  All of which sounds wise to me.

If anything, this film feels ever-so-slightly akin to Underworld (minus the werewolves presumably) with a few shades (maybe) of Blade Runner and/or The Omen.  But is just my impression--one that has me mightily intrigued.  What do you think?  Does this seem to offer some possibilities?  If so, please feel free to share this article!

Related posts:

Coming Soon to Theaters ‘Dylan Dog: Dead of Night’ Review of German Film ‘We Are the Night’ Review of Dylan Dog: Dead of Night Review of ‘Fright Night’