Film Review: The Moth Diaries (A Gothic Tale Set in the Present)

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Emma

An Eerie Tale set against the backdrop of a creepy boarding school – I’m in!

the moth diariesRebecca returns to her all girls boarding school at the start of a new term and attempts to leave the tragedy of her father’s suicide behind her. She’s delighted to be reunited with her friends, especially Lucy, and is pleasantly surprised to find the school has acquired a handsome new teacher, Mr. Davies (Scott Speedman). All is going well until the new girl arrives. Ernessa is pale and strange, and she steals Lucy from Rebecca, at least that is how Rebecca sees it.

The Moth Diaries is an Irish/Canadian production. It stars Irish actress, Sarah Bolger. You  may recognise her from The Tudors or as Princess Aurora in Once Upon A Time. British model and actress, Lily Cole, plays Ernessa, the strange new girl.

The teacher is discussing gothic fiction and vampires in literature; he points out the three components present in every vampire story: sex, blood and death. They’re reading Carmilla, and Rebecca soon becomes convinced Ernessa is one of the undead. Is there something supernatural afoot, or is Rebecca simply going mad?

The creepy boarding school is an appropriately spooky setting. The students wear uniforms and for some weird reason wear Victorian style white nightdresses to bed. While the plot may be slow and a little mundane, all the tropes of a good gothic tale are there: the old building with hidden nooks and crannies, the young girl writing in her diary and reading by a window while a full moon hangs outside, and the isolated setting.

Rebecca is in love with her roommate or at least has confused feelings. Lucy in turn seems to fall for Ernessa. Are Lucy and Ernessa sleeping together, or is Ernessa feeding on her, or is Rebecca hallucinating? (I kept thinking of Black Swan when watching this – I never did decide if Rebecca was just imagining things).

I just wish this film had been a little more special. It’s worth watching alone for the setting, creepy vibe and gorgeous imagery. Clouds passing in front of the huge moon, the gloomy setting and the isolation of boarding school life are all very gothic. There is a languid tone to this film. It had the potential to be a great indie drama, but it never reaches those heights. It’s quite slow moving in parts. I was disappointed the teacher didn’t get more screen time and the hints of an illicit relationship between him and Rebecca were never realised. Yes, I like to watch scandalous things! 🙂

I loved the cinematography so much, I’m going to check out the book now. Maybe that will bring the characters more to life than the film does.  The Moth Diaries may be dull in parts, but it’s a visual treat. ***

Are you intrigued, or does it all sound a bit blah? Have you heard of this film or the book it’s based on?

*********************

Posted in Film Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

TV Memories: Kindred: The Embraced (Beverly Hills with Vampires)

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Emma

Short lived, cheesy and lots of fun.

kindredThis used to air late at night when I was fourteen or fifteen. Being a vampire-holic even back then, I had to stay up late and tape it. If I went rooting around in the attic, I’m sure I’d find my Kindred tapes somewhere, though I think I only kept the episodes featuring the Romeo & Juliet type characters (more on them later).

Julian Luna is the Prince of the city of San Francisco. He’s a dangerous but honourable vampire and rules over The Kindred, five vampire tribes. Striving to take the city from him is a group of vampires called Brujah. As far as I can remember, there are five vampire bloodlines/clans. I liked to imagine myself as a Toreador vampire. They’re the creative type: artists, writers, musicians, free to spend eternity honing their crafts and having a damn good time all the while.

The presence of the undead in San Francisco does not go unnoticed by the annoying cop, Frank. Really, I wanted some vampire to rip his neck out every episode – he’s that irritating. He’s a little on the slow side, too, completely unaware his partner is a vampire.

Julian has one last human relative left, Sasha. She’s a wild, young thing who falls for one of Julian’s employees, Cash, a vampire of the Gangrel clan. Julian wants to keep Sasha from his world, but of course, that’s going to be impossible. Eventually he gives Cash permission to “embrace” Sasha, but it’s too late. Sasha is viciously attacked by the Brujha clan and turned. Brujha and Gangrel have long been enemy clans, establishing a Romeo and Juliet type of romance between Sasha and Cash. (I apologise to any Kindred fans if I’m spelling any of the clan names incorrectly).

A little trivia now for you. Sasha was played by Brigid Brannagh who made a few guest appearances in Angel as Wesley’s girlfriend. Cash was played by Channon Roe who appeared in the season three episode of Buffy, “The Zeppo”.  Does anyone remember the big, hulking vampire, Luke,  who Buffy went up against in “Welcome to the Hellmouth” and “The Harvest”? Well, his name is Brian Thompson, and he’s in Kindred, too. In fact, he’s responsible for turning Sasha into a vampire. Jeff Kober of the Nosferatu clan was the vampire who Buffy faced on her 18th birthday in the season 3 episode, “Helpless”. He played another character later in Buffy, Rack, the magic guy who gives Willow her first taste of dark magic.

With only eight episodes airing, we never got to fully explore the wealth of vampire activity going on in San Francisco. Mark Frankel, the actor who played Julian, died in a motorcycle accident. If you ever see reruns of this advertised, sit down and give them a watch. Kindred: The Embraced is enjoyable, television fluff.

Did anyone catch this back in the 90s?

*****************

Posted in TV Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 27 Comments