Byzantium

Neil Jordan declared his credentials in the vampire genre in 1994, when the stylish, sexualised thrills of Interview With A Vampire transformed a horror story into a superb, hormone-fuelled romp. In a post-Twilight age Jordan’s back in the vampire game, this time via-a moody, gothic and very serious offering.

Gone are the cloves of garlic, silver stakes – even the fangs. A decaying seaside town becomes the perfect hideout for angst-laden vampire Eleanor (Ronan) and her brassy, prostitute vamp mother (Gemma Arterton). Byzantium follows their present day struggles, including a romantic interest (Caleb Landry Jones) and a mysterious stalker (Sam Riley), while lengthy flashbacks reveal their 19th century origins.
Make no mistake: visually, Byzantium is stunning, with Jordan finding unique, occasionally heart-stopping beauty in cabbage fields and shabby guesthouses, before bringing out the big guns with phallic thumbnail fang-replacements and waterfalls of blood. And yet despite this wealth of imagery of sexual empowerment, I was not entirely convinced. Near obsessive footage of Arterton’s cleavage and mixed messages about prostitution were more confusing than liberating.
The essential problem for me is that the characters aren’t compelling enough for you to care about them. Eleanor feels like a timid variation of a too-familiar role for Ronan, and though Arterton oozes dangerous sexuality, her EastEnders accent feels caricatured. The 19th century sequences featuring bats, brothels and an overacting Johnny Lee Miller detract somehow from the more intriguing modern story. Overall, there’s simply too much vampire ennui for my taste.