Drained
Directed by Peter Stylianou and Sean Cronin 
Written by Peter Stylianou
Starring Madalina Bellariu Ion, Ruaridh Aldington, Angela Dixon, Craig Conway
Runtime 1 hour and 53 minutes
Los Angeles Premiere on October 11 at Screamfest

by Vannah Taylor, Staff Writer

“You and me. Always. Forever.” 

Vampires are alluring mythical creatures that have become one of my favorite staples of the horror genre. The bloodlust of these creatures of the night can create stories that are everything from erotic to melancholic, while also exploring the various ailments that plague a human existence. Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) injects a brutal beast like Count Dracula with the sincerest of romances–love being the most enigmatic yet universal human experience. Blatantly queer vampire stories that were on the rise in the 1980s, like The Hunger (1983) or The Lost Boys (1987), made no secret of the connection to the time period’s very real fear of the transfusion of bloodborne viruses. The sexual prowess and control vampires often have over their victims also lends itself to a reading of vampirism, at least the act of stalking a victim to steal their life force, as a breach of consent. The thematic depth of these bloodsuckers is as everlasting as the cold blood that pulses through their veins. New generations of filmmakers are able to make their mark on the genre, bringing new perspectives to what vampirism explores and how. The newest addition to the vampire film canon hit screens at this year’s Screamfest LA. Flipping the script on many of the vampiric romantic thrillers that have flooded the space in the last decade or so, Drained takes a look at the life of a young man looking to escape an unsatisfactory life but finds that his new vice is far from the answer he was looking for. 

Thomas (Ruaridh Aldington) lives at home with his mother while he escapes into his art. Unemployed and focusing on building his portfolio after finishing university, he finds any excuse to pull his attention away from moving forward. When the safe haven of living with mum is infiltrated by the pest control technician with whom she has taken a liking, Thomas feels exponentially more insecure and pathetic as he defends his status as a “fully grown man” to John, who hopes to rid the place of anything or anyone he considers vermin. Thomas’s only solution is to do what he does best: escape. He finds himself at a club, meeting up with a friend who bartends. Music pulses in the air and neon lights flood the senses when a mesmerizing woman who looks as if she could have peeled herself off the pages of Thomas’s sketchbook waltzes in and steals his attention. Rhea (Madalina Bellariu Ion), however, fades away just as quickly as she storms in. 

Weeks later, after tensions have continued to rise at home now that John has moved in and effectively kicked him out, Thomas finds himself reunited with Rhea. Completely enthralled by her mysteriousness, and simply excited someone has finally taken notice of him, he lets Rhea stay the night only to wake up to her fangs latched onto his wrist. Frightened and confused, he still finds himself drawn to her presence, and their relationship spirals into a toxic codependency. When lost in life, with the pain of feeling like a failure eventually leaving you numb, danger can find its way into your life. The inability to cope can turn into letting a stranger into our beds because hey, at least something is finally happening, even if that something could be deadly. Like flies on a carcass, certain people and the vices they introduce will cling to this vulnerability. The emptiness left when that adrenaline finally wears off can have us going back for seconds of the thing that left you feeling drained in the first place. 

Thomas is left dissociative, malnourished, and addicted to Rhea. He is unable to see that she only takes and takes and takes, allowing himself to be slowly killed. This is not to say that Rhea herself is not a sympathetic character. As with any vampire story, there is pain inflicted by this curse, both for the monster forced to roam for eternity and for the victims they leave in their wake. When the genre is full of women like Mina, Elena, Sookie, Bella, and many more whose lives become forever disrupted by their inability to free themselves from their love and lust for forever young Romeos, it is refreshing to see the tragedy deconstructed and refigured onto a pathetic man ravaged by an elusive woman. After lamenting that he dislikes feeling “like a meal ticket,” Rhea responds that “now you know how I feel all my life,” both cluing you not only into the sadness that she may have experienced in her long life simply because she exists as a woman, but the way her narrative pushes back against the damsel in distress archetype and forces Thomas into that role. In the footsteps of Jennifer Check, she’s just eating boys. Ruaridh Aldington and Madalina Bellariu Ion prove themselves as captivating leads for us to sink our teeth into. Aldington fully leans into the role, able to express both the humor that comes with Thomas’s carefree life and the palpable pain he begins to experience, especially in the moments when he eagerly reaches towards the safety of home.

Drained is a bloody good time. While expertly using the conventions of the genre to explore codependency, addiction, cycles of abuse, and all of the horrors that pile onto vulnerable people just trying to find their place in the world, Peter Stylianou’s script never loses its ability to evoke the full range of emotions that should come with a fun horror flick. Stylish and humorous, yet dark and twisted, Drained will take a bite out of the hearts of those who have had their share of unhealthy coping mechanisms–but it will have you coming back for more.