Written and Directed by Geoff Ryan
Starring Vanja Kapetanovic, Gabriella Toth and Nika Khitrova
Running time 1 hour and 56 minutes

by Victoria Potenza, Staff Writer

Most people can relate to the moment that a relationship hits its expiration mark. However, that can be more complicated when the person you are with turned you into a vampire in the hopes of spending eternity together. This story is at the heart of Blood from Stone by writer and director Geoff Ryan. While the typical vampire story these days can feel stale or geared towards more of a young adult crowd, Geoff Ryan finds an interesting tale to tell with some effective world-building. This fresh take also adds plenty of interesting social commentary on masculinity, identity, and how survival means changing with the times.

Vanja Kapetanovic stars as Jure or Joe, to his living acquaintances. He is on a fool’s errand, following his ex-girlfriend Darya (Gabriella Toth) to try to get back together. He follows her to Las Vegas where she has tried to build herself a normal, quiet life. Jure’s presence leaves a trail of bodies and destruction upending the life Darya has created for herself. It has also brought out the worst in Darya, as the urge to hunt grows stronger the longer Jure is there. In a last-ditch effort to stand her ground and keep her life, she calls upon Jure’s sister Viktoria (Nika Khitrova) to take him away.

It was surprisingly easy to fall under the spell of this film. It has a feel of Leaving Las Vegas with vampires, and a little more dark humor sprinkled in. Jure’s thirst for blood becomes a problem as he tries to get his victims intoxicated so he can get drunk off of them once drained. There is a hilariously dark scene in which Jure realizes using Uber is a fantastic way for him to pick up drunk, unknowing victims. On the other hand, Darya diligently tries to give the impression that she is human and even tries to go on normal dates with men. She carries around hand warmers to make sure her ice-cold skin is less noticeable and covers up her white skin with as much makeup as she can.

The two main characters are rarely together so the story does feel very split, even though their influence on each other is very much present in either story. Sometimes having these split stories can be hard to follow, or one naturally finds one story more interesting than the other. Blood from Stone manages to stay engaging no matter which character we are following; Jure on his blood-soaked bender or Darya going on dates and repressing her urge to drink their blood.

Much of what works is due to the acting from all of the leads. They all feel like very different types of vampire stereotypes. Jure has his cowboy look to try to “Americanize” himself. Darya rocks her pixie cut and modern-day party dresses. But the big hitter is Viktoria who looks like a new wave rock star. Every look she has is amazing and she is one of the most fun presences in the film. Being the older sister of Jure she is able to make his typically scary and violent front look more like a sad puppy dog. All three leads are incredibly engaging especially Khitrova and Kapetanovic who would be a pleasure to see in future productions.

While there is a lot of fun, acting, and costumes that help to drive this story there is also the world-building and messaging that ultimately made this film work so well. Jure is such a nihilistic toxic man, he is given immortality and yet complains constantly about the good old days and how tough things are for him now. When trying to discuss his relationship with Darya he is very focused on himself. “It was the only way I could have you” and “let me make this relationship work” all feel like self-centered sentiments commonly heard. Little is thought about her and the consequences of their dysfunctional courtship that she must live with for eternity. It also has a central theme of how essential changing with the times is, something many people are struggling with in our current social and political climate. The world will find a way to squeeze those out who are inflexible to change, a hard lesson for our leading man. Jure displays big colonizer energy in this film whether he is aware of it or not.

Watching the struggle of these characters to find healing and freedom within their situations helps the viewer feel empathetic even when they do truly horrifying things. On the whole Blood from Stone is a fun 2021 B-movie with plenty of interesting vampire lore and original content that adds to the vampire genre in a fun and interesting way.

Blood From Stone is currently on Amazon Prime.