Bloodsucking Bastards channels the feeling that every 9-5 office worker has had at some point, that perhaps everyone you work with might be mindless monsters of the night. It’s just in this case, that actually turns out to be true.
Office go-getter Evan (Fran Kranz) is working tirelessly to get a promotion and move up in the office. To do that he feels he needs to nail a big sales presentation which would land his company big money. He needs the help of his reluctant friends who, between them, just about make up a sales team. There’s his spacey best friend Tim (Joey Kern) and two slacker buddies Andrew (Justin Ware) and Mike (Neil W. Garguilo) and the three of them just seem to half-heartedly take calls, play video games and watch porn. Seeing a need of change, branch manager Ted (Joel Murray) brings in corporate shark and long-term rival to Evan, Max (Pedro Pascal) to be the new full-time sales manager. On top of this Evan is going through a rough patch with his girlfriend Amanda (Emma Fitzpatrick) who just so happens to work in the office too, in HR. If things weren’t bad for Evan it turns out it’s going to get a whole lot worse, because Max is actually a vampire intent of turning all of the employees into Bloodsuckers. It’s up to Evan, Tim and energy drink guzzling security guard Frank (Marshall Givens) to save the office before it’s too late.
Bloodsucking Bastards might not go down as a classic. It can sometimes try a little too hard and overshoots its mark, but it’s also incredibly funny at times and sets a consistent and fitting tone for the actors to play off. The characters are all easy to understand and, while they’re all exaggerated and cartoonish, it works. The over-reaching style of the vampire death adds to the campiness of the film, which, depending on which side you’re on, adds to it or hinders it. The final act came about a bit too quick and doesn’t really bite as hard as it could and should really, but it still does enough to garner a few laughs and ends fairly well.
Bloodsucking Bastards could have been a better film under the right circumstances. The cast is certainly there and the script was mostly there and with a few added touches could have been propelled further, but it has that cult-status vibe appeal that is sure to help carry it forward over the next few years as being on those “hidden gems to find on Netflix” sort of lists. The overall vibe you get from it is that it’s a little Office Space with Vampires, which isn’t a bad thing at all.
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