Who can resist a shy, socially-awkward vampire who’s trying to resist the urge to… well be a vampire? This unconventional sweet- eyed vampire story just makes me swoon because he’s not out for vengeance or on a killing spree to lust in blood. He’s making the best of a situation that was beyond his control. Poor guy was just trying to take a long slumber until a random golfer hits his ball through the wrong window of an abandoned building awakening the shy-eyed Boya (Gordon Currie). He went to sleep in 1969 and woke up in 1995, now he has to make sense of the world all over again which includes looking up old flames in an actual telephone book while reminiscing the good old days. Ah nostalgia at it's finest!
Molly (Helene Clarkson) is interested in Boya and vice versa, but for some reason she works in a donut/coffee shop, while reading an automotive repair handbook. What is she studying for the Le Mans? Nonetheless, there are two other narratives going on between a cab driver with a very odd accent, who’s constantly in trouble with these shysters aka crime people. Then there’s Rita who was once Boya’s lover, magically senses Boya’s return and his looking to reconnect with him and loses her mind while doing so. Did I mention David Cronenberg is a crime boss in this? He plays it so calmly, and he always seems to remind me of the late and great Anthony Bordain. Every time. I don’t know why. But the dialogue about shoes and making an impact as a form of legacy, just tickled me silly.
There’s also something embedded in this story line that has more heart than horror and it has to do with maintaining connection. Being that Boya has been around for probably centuries and has seen everything, its no wonder his constitution has become wearisome. Nurturing a meaningful relationship in his eyes is a hopeless endeavor. For example, the dialogue between he and Molly at the donut shop emphasize his rationale on things always end. It’s his reality versus Molly’s conception of fantasy in terms of things lasting a longer period of time. Perhaps this is the difference between men and women’s perceptions placed blatantly in the dichotomy of logic versus emotion. It’s a known fact most men and women perceive things differently and this conversation is a perfect example of why Boya’s demeanor is the way it is, which inadvertently creates the attraction.
Molly: “You can’t go through life afraid to connect because the thing might end?”
Boya: “Not might.”
Then of course the attraction builds in the following dialogue:
Boya: “I believe dreams are a dialogue between the body’s mind and soul. You tell me your dreams and I’ll tell you what your soul thinks.”
Molly: “Believe me, whatever my mind and soul have to say to each other, it’s a private conversation.”
In someways, Molly's resisting just as much as Boya's resisting all urges, not just in the realm of intimacy, but also the need to kill for human blood and instead would rather feast on rat blood, which in essence would be similar to a recovering alcoholic except he’s a vampire. Alas, I think it's interesting the filmmaker Holly Dale, took an opposite approach in illustrating the existential disposition of being such a creature that is neither living or dead because the inevitability of things lasting forever is a farce. Anyone who has a soft spot for vampire flicks especially from the mid 90s, I highly recommend giving Blood & Donuts a shot. It has heart, despite the proclivities of it not beating and living in a state of adamant resistance.
