THE MOVIE PAGES presents JAMES CORDEN & MATHEW HORNE in LESBIAN VAMPIRE KILLERS lesbianvampirekillers.htm

What Do The Critics Say?

"The tone is brashly entertaining, as the filmmakers borrow shamelessly from 50s horror conventions such as the font in which the various advisory captions are displayed on screen, and the faux gothic touches of floating, chiffonned vampirettes, prancing to overstated music cues: among other things. The humour is deadbeat British, which jangles fearsomely with the vampire theme, but that's exactly the effect director Phil Claydon seems to be after. A bit of Hammer horror with a bit of contempo, deconstructionist humour and some Benny Hill breast gags, too."
Andrew L Urban URBAN CINEFILE
A title like Lesbian Vampire Killers is more than just something catchy to go on the poster, it’s a promise. A title like that is a guarantee, like a warning label slapped on every film reel which says "This film contains lesbians, vampires, and the killing of lesbians who have turned into vampires." Grab your holy water and your wooden stakes, you'll have a good time."
Joshua Tyler CINEMABLEND
"Lesbian Vampire Killers stars James Corden and Mat Horne as perpetual slackers Jimmy and Fletch, who decide to go on a camping holiday after Jimmy gets dumped by his girlfriend. They wind up in the village of Cragwich and their delight at meeting a van-load of party-happy Swedish girls (including MyAnna Buring as Lotte) quickly turns to horror as they realise that Cragwich is full of bloodthirsty lesbian vampires."
Matthew Turner VIEW LONDON
"Vampire movies are ripe for spoof and this doesn't stray far from the path of modesty trodden by Hammer House. Impish Swede Myanna Buring and Paul McGann as a vampire-hating vicar both play it brilliantly deadpan. Other reviewers will say that "Lesbian Vampire Killers" is another British comic flop, but 'The Sneak' won't be driving that stake into its heart. By the end of the movie your critic had lost control of his funny bone."
THE SUN (UK)

"Brilliant! Just brilliant! What a surprise this score was, particularly after watching the trailer. It is not what I expected at all and it’s a gem! This is by far the most positive surprise of the year so far and I hope it get’s some praise from the critics and soundtrack fans out there."
Jorn Tillnes SOUNDTRACK GEEK
"The film itself stylistically looks brilliant: it's slightly drained of colour on screen and has a comic book feel (right down to titles plastered over the screen in parts) which suit it perfectly. It also doesn't appear to take itself too seriously. Paul McGann as the vicar delivers a great performance, full of pomposity and occasional swearing (much to Fletch's mirth). LVK won't shake the vampire genre on its head, but if you're willing to check your brains at the door and just have 90 minutes of fun, this is a perfect night out."
Darren Bevan TVNZ FILM REVIEWS
"Surprisingly, "Lesbian Vampire Killers" exceeded my expectations. I had anticipated a desperate attempt to hold the audience's attention by dealing spades of bland, predictable lesbian action, with gore and vampires accompanying the mess. Despite all my criticisms of the movie, I did manage to laugh at the slapstick, as well as some well-timed punchlines."
20/20 FILMSIGHT
"Directed by Phil Claydon, written by cult Brit writers Paul Hupfield and Stewart Williams, the film’s visuals are very much a throwback to the comic book style zombie films.There are some absolute laugh-out-loud moments. A light-hearted, tongue in cheek, laugh out loud film that is simply just not to everyone’s taste."
Rachel Baglin REEL REVIEWS
"If you’re prepared to let go and just enjoy, then you will experience Lesbian Vampire Killers for the fantastically fun experience that it is. The one liners, the timing, the great support cast and even the excessive squelching sound effects all combine to make this a fantastic movie that will have you giggling to yourself long after you leave the movie theatre. Lesbians, Gore, and Lots of Laughs."
Kate Dunlop MTV

The Inside Story James Corden and Mathew Horne star as Fletch and Jimmy, two hapless lads who venture to the countryside in a bid to escape their failing lives in London. "They end up, they think coincidentally, in this strange town, Cragwich," explains James Corden ("The History Boys" & "Starter for 10"). "And when they get there, they end up being chased by lesbian vampires, they then end up becoming lesbian vampire killers: killers of lesbian vampires that is." A bawdy comedy, written by Paul Hupfield and Stewart Williams ("Dude, Where's My Movie Quiz?"), the film joins an already established subgenre, populated by lesbian vampire films like "Vampyros Lesbos" (1971), "Vampyres" (1974) and "The Hunger" (1983). "I guess the vampires in our film have the same traits as normal vampires," says Corden, "in that they like to suck blood from people and they come out at night, but they are the most vamped up vampires you’ve ever seen! They can be killed in the same way, with silver bullets, holy water, staked through the heart. We’ve got a great scene with holy water coming out from a shower. That’s a favourite!" In fact the film came into being thanks to a wager. The writers were asked to come up with the most ridiculously commercial title, ever! With a teeny, weeny, budget it was desingned for DVD. "The film’s writers penned a script that played to their own sensibilities: gags, girls and gore. "We know that when we were fifteen yearold lads, if there was a film that had the threat of some nudity and the threat of some gore, we were going to rent it," Hupfield stated. "There’s still a teenage boy lurking in all of us so it pretty much wrote itself!" Williams added: "We wanted to write something like Withnail & I accidentally walking into the middle of a silly Hammer Horror film." Director Phil Claydon ("Alone") says that the title was one of the draws. "When I was told about a script called "Lesbian Vampire Killers", I thought, 'Great title. Done! Deal! Whatever, it is going to work.' It was also an extremely well written script." Hupfield ("The Kevin Bishop Show") says that they tried to shy away from traditional vampire lore, after all, a modern-day lesbian vampire is a long way removed from Nosferatu! "There’s no point trying to write a film about vampires in the twenty first century that’s straight down the line; that’s just sickening. First of all we all know they don’t exist. Secondly, if they do exist they’re not two thousand years old. That would not be cool." That said, the film is littered with references to iconic horror films, and Claydon, says he drew inspiration from a whole host of classics. "You can see a load of influences from "Evil Dead 2" to "Fright Night" and "The Lost Boys", all the way back down to Hammer with "Dracula", from "Twins of Evil" to "Prince of Darkness". We didn’t want anything too obvious though, because we didn’t just want to become a parody of something." Claydon notes that horror and comedy can be difficult genres to splice together. "This lands itself more in Ghostbusters territory, because Ghostbusters was sold as straight comedy but it has pretty cool horror elements in it. And I feel that this is more of a straight-up comedy with horror elements in it. Hopefully, that’s good for an audience because if they are laughing, I think it is easier to take the frights. They enjoy being scared, because they know when they are having a good time. It’s like 'I want to jump now', whereas if it’s a straight horror and it’s not scary, it is," he says, 'Right, come on, scare me. You haven’t done it.'"

"I’ve almost been eaten three times tonight by some of the hottest women I’ve ever met, and frankly, it’s starting to be a bit of a bind."Fletch, Lesbian Vampire Killer. "The whole thing for us was that the characters are really normal,"says Williams, "and we see how real people react in the middle of a stupid fantastical film. It’s also a very chatty film: everyone thinks it was written for James and Mat because their whole screen persona is built on two mates having a laugh. But really, ever since the first draft the banter has remained unchanged." Williams revealed that the characters were named after the writer's favourite TV characters. "He’s called Fletch because of Ronnie Barker from Porridge, and then Jimmy’s named after Jimmy McClaren in Grange Hill! I can even tell you the actor who played Jimmy McClaren was a guy called Gary Love (Director of Sugarhouse, actor in Stoned and The Krays) who was in "Soldier Soldier". That’s the level of nerdery that we have!" Horne, who plays Jimmy, sees his character as "a rather hapless and somewhat wet behind the ears excuse for a man, who is given his big opportunity to be a hero." He was drawn to the project because of the script. "The script was funny and the part was great too." For Corden, the role of Fletch seemed a perfect part. "I went and read for it and while I don’t mean this in any arrogant way, I read it and thought, 'If I don’t get this, I should probably give up' because it just feels the sort of part I want to do. It’s the sort of comedy that I really like. It requires energy and enthusiasm that I love doing, a complete commitment. My comedy heroes I like are people like Jim Carrey, Jack Black and Will Ferrell, men who make you laugh through sheer no-holds barred kind of humour. Instead of jumping over hurdles, they simply run through them!" The casting of Corden and Horne was a dream pairing. "We cast them both before Gavin and Stacey came on TV. We actually turned Mat down first, because he came in to read for Fletch, James’s character," Claydon explained. "Then we got James in for Fletch, and when Gavin and Stacey became colossal, they sent me a DVD of the show. And James had written on it, "“If you build it, he will come." Obviously, that was referring to Mat Horne. So it was perfect timing all round. Those guys are on top of their game. They know what they are doing. Those guys know what’s funny so the idea was right from the beginning. If the cast it right, you are half way there. Then you just have got to surround these two with a Grimm’s fairy tale world full of iconic temptresses, the vampires, some really hot, attractive girls." Corden and Horne revealed they were excited when 2006 Torino International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival prize winner Paul McGann ("Gypo") was cast as the Vicar. "Paul is a real hero of Mat’s and mine, and when we were told that he was playing the vicar we were so over the moon," says Corden. "I work with James all the time and it never feels like work. I didn't work too much with Paul, but it was a pleasure to meet such a legend," Horne added. McGann decided to come on board because of the script which he says is "original in its content. Sometimes comedy can repeat itself, but this script was different, contemporary and attractive to a wide audience." McGann, who played Lieutenant Bushin TV's "Hornblower", enjoyed working with Horne and Corden, noting "I think that it’s time for the UK to have new talent and it’s always great when a package comes along that works and I’m delighted to be part of it all."

MyAnna Buring joined the cast as 'Lotte', lesbian vampire killer and Jimmy’s love interest. "I play a Swedish tourist. We’re a group of girls who end up in the same town as Fletch and Jimmy. The other girls are much more girlie-girlie but Lotte, she is a bit of an academic, she’s the feisty one. She’s got a big heart and she’s been saving herself for someone special." Buring ("The Descent") says that when she first saw the title, she thought her agent was playing a joke on her. "When I heard the title, I was like, 'Fuck off! No way. You’ve got to be joking.' They said, 'You’ll be playing a Swedish girl' and it sounded just ridiculous. And then I read the script and loved it. Absolutely loved it. Lotte’ starts by killing her friends when they become vampires. This is the thing though, the vampires look amazing and every time one gets killed Actually you’d quite happily be killed by some of these vampires rather than kill them!" "Her vile crusade was to destroy all mankind and enslave all womenfolk. Carmilla was a murderous butcher, taking rapturous pleasure tearing men apart with a gargantuan scythe." From the book of ancient folklore. One might think that auditioning an army of attractive potential vampires world prove a young man’s dream, but director Phil Claydon says that this part of the process was among the challenging aspects. "Honestly, it was actually really difficult," he said. "You know when you are in a pub and there are a few unattractive girls and then one good-looking one? She’s the focus of attention, but when you have a day when twenty actresses come in and they are all hot, after ten, it’s terrible. My next film will probably be a prison drama with a load of guys." His reaction if it is, will be: "Fucking hell! I should have enjoyed myself more on that last one." The most important vampire is Carmilla, the queen, who draws her roots from Joseph Sheridan le Fanu's novella "Carmilla" (1872), about the predatory love of a female vampire (the title character) for a young woman (the narrator). Italian actress Silvia Colloca, who plays the role, already has vampire form, having co-starred starred with Hugh Jackman in 2004’s "Van Helsing". "She is the real thing. She’s the man, as it were," says Colloca. "She really has the balls here and it’s pretty fascinating to play this character who has got no nuances. She’s pure evil. That’s it. It’s not, 'Now let me think, what’s the real motivation and the reason?' She’s evil. She’s an evil bitch. That’s why she does it. She hates men and she loves women." Like Buring, Colloca was surprised when she saw the title of the script. "To be honest, I thought it was a joke at first. My agent called me and said there is this film on called Lesbian Vampire Killers." Her reaction? "Are you out of your mind? To be honest all my Italian family, they are still struggling with the idea of me doing this film. I had to swear that it’s not porn! I think my father and my mother have been editing the title to some relatives. They haven’t admitted the lesbian bit!" while the boys in the film are blessed with the comedy lines, Colloca’s role is a little different. "I wouldn’t say 'funny' is something you’d associate with Carmilla. I think she’s serious about her mission and she will try and stop at nothing. The content is funny because she is so serious and everything around her is screwed up. It’s just like, 'Open your eyes and look around, girl.' You are trying to turn the world into this massive world of darkness and you are about to be defeated by two vampire killers! Who, incidentally, are absolutely crap at it!" Synopsis

Jimmy has just been dumped for the eighth time by his girlfriend. Fletch has just been given the sack. While drowning their sorrows in their local pub and wishing they had the money to afford either a trip abroad, or at the least a hiking holday, Jimmy comes up with a brilliant idea: On the pubs wall is a map of England. He'll toss a dart Wherever it sticks, that's where they'll go. The village of Cragwich beckons. Things don’t quite go according to plan and they find themselves stuck in a village where all of the women have been enslaved by a legendary vampire curse. As the night unfolds the boys have to put all of their fears (and dreams!) behind them in order to rise to the challenge of becoming fearless Lesbian Vampire Killers. Two no-hopers. One cursed village. A Combi Van full of foreign female students and an army of salacious lesbian vampires. It’s gonna be one hell of a night!

The Verdict "I must admit that I was in two minds when I went to review "Lesbian Vampire Killers". While I had seen the teaser trailer, I'd deliberately steered clear of everything else (like production notes or critics reviews) that may have spawned preconceived ideas or clouded my perception surrounding a film entitled "Lesbian Vampire Killers". Having long been a fan of the 'vampire' genre, I truly hoped I wasn't wasting part of a gloriously sunny, autumn afternoon, on a dud. As it turned out, the eighty six minutes running time flew by thanks to what unfolded on the screen. Let's face it: a story of two losers lobbing in a village which has been under a lesbian vampire curse for four hundred years, has plenty of scope. That it was a times absolutely laugh out loud, slapstick funny speaks for itself. One prerequisite for films in this genre is that there must be a dedicated, vampire hunting, man of the cloth. "Lesbian Vampire Killers" has one heck of a man of said cloth. A Vicar who is in a race against time. A Vicar whose only daughter is just hours away from turning eighteen. No, that's not the legal age for consentual sex in Britian. In the village of Cragwich it means that on the stroke of midnight the curse will turn the Vicar's precious little girl, into a lesbian vampire. Paul McGann is brilliant as the armed to the teeth, hearse driving, Vicar. All in all, "Lesbian Vampire Killers", is far better than it's title implies. There's boozing, boobs and babes! There's mirth, mayhem and murderous ethereal creatures with fangs! But there's no lesbian sex. Leave the brain at the boxoffice to enjoy this one as much as I did. 3 1/2 STARS." Who Plays Who?

James Corden
Mathew Horne
MyAnna Buring
Paul McGann
Silvia Colloca
Vera Filatova
Ashley Mulheron
Louise Dylan
Lucy Gaskell
John Pierce Jones
Emer Kenny
Emma Clifford
Susie Amy
Travis Oliver
Margarita Hall

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Fletch
Jimmy
Lotte
Vicar
Carmilla
Eva
Trudi
Anke
Judy
Landlord
Rebecca
Miss Rossi
Blonde
Steve
Daughter of Darkness

The Production Team

Director
Co-written by
Producer
Original Music
Cinematography
Film Editor
Casting
Production Designer
Art Direction
Set Decoration
Costume Designer

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Phil Claydon
Paul Hupfield & Stewart Williams
Steve Clark-Hall
Debbie Wiseman
David Higgs
James Herbert
Kelly Valentine Hendry & Gail Stevens
Keith Maxwell
Alice Norris & Rosanna Westwood
Dominic Smithers
Diana Moseley