7/10
Summer of Blood is easy to describe - Woody Allen doing a vampire movie.
Writer/director/producer Onur Tukel stars in the central Woody role and shares a lot of his traits, particularly paranoia, aimlessness, and a fear of commitment. The movie is even set in New York, as if to hammer the point home. "Playing Woody" is a dicey game, but I have to admit, Tukel does a good job. The writing is crisp and funny and not without cringeworthy moments that are closer to what you might get from Larry David, Ricky Gervais or Louis C.K.. The acting is extremely natural (from Tukel and the supporting cast) and the conversations have a slapdash, quasi-improvised feel to them that feels authentic.
What drags the movie down a bit is that Tukel probably doesn't recede into the background as much as he should - he's in virtually every scene (almost always talking a mile a minute) and there's a lot of soapboxing in the movie that feels unwelcome at times. With all the dialogue spouted, his character inevitably grates and it makes a short movie (86 minutes) feel longer than it should. The ending is also a letdown. It felt like Tukel ran out of time or ideas and the movie departed with a lot less steam than it rode in on. Nevertheless if you're looking for a horror comedy that's a little bit more brainy than, say, Piranha 3D, Summer of Blood is a good one to check out.
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