Vampires caught my attention early in life. I believe, apart from ghosts, that they were the first monsters I learned about. Apart from the fangs and perhaps an ironically anemic look, they appear to be just like us. I’ve seen a great number of vampire movies over the years—I can’t seem to resist them. I don’t care for the blood and gore, but the idea of the conflicted undead is a powerful draw. It’s this conflicted aspect that brought Theresa & Allison to my vampire radar. This movie is not for the squeamish, and I have to say up front that it is a lesbian vampire movie, with all that that implies. You have been warned. Theresa & Allison is also an indie movie—I’ve been watching quite a few of these lately because they’re often free. This one is also smart and fairly original and it explores humanitarian concerns as well as vampiric ones.
Said Teresa is “made” when a drunken vampire (they get drunk when their victims are inebriated) decides to turn her (make her into a vampire). She soon learns that vampires are organized and sanctioned by the government, and there are rules to be followed. Also, some of the standards for vampire lore, we’re told, are male bovine droppings. Teresa was lesbian before she was turned, and she’s befriended by fellow vampire Allison. We learn that two major vampire “families” range about New York City—one graceful and kind, the other brutal and unfeeling. Teresa has real trouble killing people for blood and she’s confused about what she’s become. She doesn’t know what to make of it when the kinder vampires offer to let her join. Instead, she follows Allison and finds herself in a blood-drenched nightmare.
Vampire movies are often full of social commentary. Especially the spate of movies made available by independent auteurs. Theresa & Allison asks the question of what makes something right or wrong. It also explores what it means to accept who or what you are while also having the ability to change some aspects of it. It reflects, it seems to me, the moral landscape of the young. In that respect, it makes sense that those of us from older generations (let’s not kid ourselves) may have been raised with very different standards. Culture, however, has continued to evolve. The internet sped all of that up immensely. Still, the acceptance aspect of the young is written all over movies like this. And the internet means there will undoubtedly be more to come. Vampires are sure getting interesting.
