Children of the Night [Review]

Local journalist Alicia is invited to investigate a secluded orphanage where children suffer from a strange skin disease that prevents them from being out in the daylight.  Taken under the wing of the orphanage’s leader, ex-nurse Erda, Alicia soon learns that these children are actually vampires ranging from 4 to 120 years old.  Erda is determined to find these ‘lost souls’ and raise them in her sanctuary, Limbo.  But the vampires’ safety inside Limbo becomes precarious when a group of men plot to destroy their refuge.

In this darkly funny Argentinean horror tale, director and writer Ivan Noel explores vampire mythology through children.  To Alicia’s eyes, they all appear to be innocents ranging from 4 years old to pre-teen, yet the more she gets to know them the more their true age reveals itself. It’s this strange blend of child-like glee with the jaded wisdom of age that makes Children of the Night so intriguing and comical.  Pre-teen Siegfried instantly fixates on Alicia, hinting strongly at knowing her from her past, and their exchanges increase in awkwardness and humor as the film progresses.  Siegfried’s youthful appearance belies his adult age of 33 years, and when he makes inappropriate requests of Alicia, such as requesting to penetrate her, it’ll make you spit take.  The older the vampiric children are, the more hysterical they reveal themselves to be.  Perhaps the most amusing of all is the vampire who fancies himself a sommelier, both in wine and blood.  To watch a boy of no older than 10 sniff and swirl a glass of blood from a nun while explaining the balance of acidity due to age is one of the film’s highlights, and makes the film’s budgetary constraints seem less glaring.

The low budget is, however, obvious throughout.  The editing is choppy and the camera work is uneven.  There are moments where the sound recording is atrocious.  In a film where most of the cast comprises of children, there are a lot of inexperienced and inexpressive performances.  While vampire leader and protector, The Count, is adorably gothic and sullen, Lauro Veron’s portrayal often comes across as monotone.  His monotony sometimes works in his favor, though, especially in moments of expressing extreme vampire powers.  Even the adults come across as awkward, namely the cultish group of men hunting the children.  Scenes between vampires and evil men clad in all black are frequently absurd, which only heightens the comedic effect.

Those who prefer their vampire films polished and vicious will not find much to appreciate here.  The style is a strange mix of arthouse and amateur, which is initially jarring.  The tone is also difficult to decipher at first.  But the more the story settles into place, the more attached you become to these gleeful vampires who are simultaneously innocent and cynical; who play leap frog one moment and sit off to the side to smoke a cigarette while sporting a pensive expression the next.  Even if the basic premise may not be the most inventive, or the filmmaking errors and budgetary limitations hinder, Ivan Noel perfectly captures children being themselves on screen.  That these children also love to drink blood, smoke, get high, and appreciate many finer things of adulthood makes for a very bizarre film watching experience guaranteed to elicit laughter.