Bogieville Review
It takes around two minutes into Bogieville to get a clear idea of what mayhem and chaos to expect throughout this engaging vampire tale that rarely drifts off into anything beyond blood-soaked creativity.
The quizzical plotline follows recently let-go hard-working mechanic Ham (Arifin Putra) and his dedicated, unpredictable, loving partner Jody (Eloise Lovell Anderson) and their exploits after a car accident, followed by randomly discovering what looks to be an abandoned trailer park. Looking more like a remote compound or circle of wagons, the caravans on-site seem to be occupied, but with whom, or what?
An armed caretaker appears and the lovebirds seem threatened at first, however after introducing himself as Crawford (Jonathan Hansler) the brother of the park owner and offering them a job, Immediately the situation Ham and Jody have fallen into not only seems weird, it gets weirder when a set of unique rules are spoken laid out within the offer of employment. To save their lives, the duo are told by Crawford to go visit some of the trailer park occupants so their scent is familiar, thus protecting them from death.
Bogieville, named due to references within the film to the golden years of Hollywood icon, Humphry Bogart, but there’s no ruffled trench coats or fedoras to be seen, these protagonists are of the ghoulish and bloodthirsty kind. Excellent director Sean Cronin also made the equally obscure and effective vampire dossier, Drained, he is also an established actor starring here as Madison, the undead owner of the aforementioned trailer park. His career spans decades, including appearing as a Bond 007 henchman in The World is not Enough during the Brosnan era, to more recently, as a despicable sex trafficker in the underrated survival thriller, Escape.
Chrome dome Cronin is a dynamo on and off the screen, and Bogieville has an edge that lovers of the grotesque will enjoy. It also establishes that these particular vampires are attached not just by the blood they drink, a family. The final stanza is best experienced with an open mind, atmospheric locations and indie filmmaking techniques are brilliantly conveyed into a genre standout.
An all-too-brief cameo from exciting star Sarah Alexandra Marks (The Caller, 2022) is a fun moment. For fear factor alone, Poppy Jae Hughes as Lily is frightening, with sharp blood-soaked teeth, scowling and hissing, her vampire-acting is chronic, while Putra and Anderson as the couple in the centre of everything, are portrayed by two in tune actors of proficiency with obvious chemistry. If there’s a sequel, get them back without question.
Out in the UK now on Digital Download / Arifin Putra, Eloise Lovell Anderson, Sean Cronin, Sarah Alexander, Jonathan Hansler, Angela Dixon/ Dir: Sean Cronin / Reel 2 Reel Films / 15
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