A group of twenty-somethings who all come from billionaire families and go to elaborate lengths to amuse themselves (I mean, they’re not gonna work, right?) may have bitten off more than they can chew in this sexy, stylish take on the genre. The good looking cast and Taipei locations help the intermittent lapses in the pacing.
At the start, we learn that these five jet-setters have devised a game to occupy their time and to help them burn their plentiful cash: they take turns setting up pranks and adventures that are occasionally cruel, but always seem to succeed in tricking the others in the squad.
There are several key spoilers which will go unmentioned by me. I’ll only reveal what the synopsis does: one of their misadventures one night in a jungle leads to them all waking up the next day as…well, apparently as vampires, they have the fangs and all. And when the sun rises and they don’t turn to ashes, it’s explained that vampire stuff isn’t really like you see in the movies.
The cast are mostly Taiwanese actors who speak English and the film is probably 80% English with some occasional sub-titled Chinese. Written and directed by David Verbeek, the colored glow of city lights bouncing off the glistening streets of Taipei give the flick plenty of atmosphere and while the actors are not meant to be “likable,” there is, perhaps, a wee bit of redemption for some of them to be had.
Things do get a bit draggy at times, but the tight running time helps and the 3rd act twists were cool and something I hadn’t thought of – nice to see something a little different from a genre that can be all too familiar.
Dead & Beautiful streams on Shudder, starting November 4th | 2 ½ out of 4 stars
