In this week\u2019s low-profile VOD releases, grieving women travel the multiverse and conjure a monster, corrupt cops engage in corrupt behavior, and lesbians make ill-advised romantic overtures to a DJ and a vampire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Night Is Young<\/em><\/strong> (VOD April 18):<\/strong> It\u2019s awkward enough for lesbian content creator Nora (co-writer Sarah McGuire) to bring her brother Jake (Jake Jackson) along to document her dates, but things get even more uncomfortable when Nora\u2019s latest meet-cute turns out to be a vampire. That sounds like the premise for a comedy, but McGuire and director\/co-writer Patrick Rea deliver a surprisingly gruesome horror movie following the lighthearted set-up. The tonal inconsistency makes it difficult to fully engage with the movie, and it doesn\u2019t help that Rea strains to stick with the found-footage format, which fits for a dating influencer but loses its purpose as the story gets more intense. Bloodsucker Amelia (Valeri Bates) hits on Nora after she\u2019s been stood up at a bar, but they barely have time to get acquainted before they\u2019re being pursued by a group of vampire hunters (who conveniently have their own videographer). McGuire and Bates have strong chemistry, but The Night Is Young<\/em> doesn\u2019t entirely work as either an unlikely romance or a gritty vampire movie. Grade: C+<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Killgrin<\/em><\/strong> (VOD and select theaters April 25):<\/strong> It\u2019s become a clich\u00e9 for horror movies to reflect personal trauma, but there\u2019s something mildly distasteful about the way that writer-director Joanna Tsanis turns her protagonist\u2019s depression and anxiety into a literal deadly monster. Tsanis spends far too long leaving the grief-stricken Miranda (Konstantina Mantelos) in a state of uncertainty, and there\u2019s no catharsis to her eventual understanding of the dark presence that seems to be killing people around her. Following the suicide of her boyfriend, Miranda initially believes that she\u2019s being stalked by her abusive ex Damien (Ted Lasso<\/em>\u2019s Cristo Fern\u00e1ndez). Although Miranda spends much of her time in group therapy, this isn\u2019t a movie about dealing with domestic violence or PTSD, and it\u2019s tough to tell what exactly Tsanis is trying to say. Cool name aside, the belatedly appearing Killgrin looks quite silly \u2014 like a bloated member of Slipknot \u2014 and both its function and abilities are so nebulous that it\u2019s essentially meaningless, much like the muddled movie that bears its name. Grade: C<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n