At the time of writing this (5/29/2017) there were only two other user reviews on IMDb, both of which were relentlessly critical of EAT LOCAL, giving the movie but a single star each. While EAT LOCAL is not a cinematic masterpiece, neither does it deserve such a sound thrashing.
EAT LOCAL might perhaps be a little confusing to the utterly ignorant who have no experience with black humor or "gallows humor". Both of the extant reviews suggest a bit of confusion on this point.
"Gallows humour is humour about very unpleasant, serious, or painful circumstances. Any humor that treats serious matters, such as death, war, disease, and crime, in a light, silly or satirical fashion is considered gallows humor. Gallows humor has been described as a witticism in response to a hopeless situation. It arises from stressful, traumatic, or life-threatening situations, often in circumstances such that death is perceived as impending and unavoidable." Black or gallows humor is known to date back at least a couple of thousand years; it is not a new invention. However, such a story style may be confusing to those who are only familiar with the current trend in the vampire genre of treating the subject matter exclusively as horror or some sort of questionable kind of romance.
The above having been said, the careful timing and subtlety required for successful black comedy can be difficult to achieve, and EAT LOCAL does not hit its mark every time. Probably best to view this movie as "quirky" and give it the benefit of the doubt for trying something a little different.
The plot of EAT LOCAL is quite simple. A small collection of relatively ancient and well-positioned vampires apparently have the tradition of conducting a sort of business meeting every 50 years in some quiet, out-of-the-way location. Unfortunately, at this particular meeting, the humans have caught wind of the vampire's existence and of this meeting and a small military contingent has been sent round to investigate and possibly interfere. The entire movie takes place in the context of this confrontation. The situation gives rise to horror and hilarity, or at least that is the intent.
EAT LOCAL is, at the very least, worth a watch. While it does not carry off its intent without flaw, it's at least something different from the usual low-grade horror snore-a-thons or pseudo-romantic drivel that infest the vampire genre nowadays. Many of the actors here are A-list and help carry the picture a little higher than it might otherwise have gone.
One element sadly missing from the movie is a convincing and interesting portrayal of some of the vampires who are SUPPOSED to be thousands of years old. What would such a creature actually be like, possessing as they do possibly thousands of years of world experience? In the case of Tony Curran who plays the character Peter Boniface, his 2000-year-old character is simply portrayed as the same sort of arrogant wonk you might meet driving a Chelsea tractor today. Annette Crosbie does a much better job with her character Alice, passing herself off as a sweet old lady with only a hint of the ancient monster that lies beneath. And then, sadly and what should be out of character, Alice does a Rambo impression to no good purpose, and then walks straight into her death deliberately. One would think an ancient mythical creature, who has successfully lived long enough to BECOME an ancient mythical creature, accent on ancient, would be a bit smarter than that by now.
Good old Mackenzie Crook is wasted as a stereotypical religious nut case (because anyone who does anything with a religious motivation MUST be the worst creep in every picture nowadays yawn).
In the end, most of the humans are wiped out and about half of the vampires, and what's left of the humans and vampires break their clinch and go their separate ways, although one particular human and the 3 remaining vampires have a newfound friendship. You'll have to watch the movie to see what that's all about.
So, all in all, it's not that bad a movie though it's definitely not a great one. The original idea is actually pretty interesting and with a bit more effort it could have risen much higher.
EAT LOCAL might perhaps be a little confusing to the utterly ignorant who have no experience with black humor or "gallows humor". Both of the extant reviews suggest a bit of confusion on this point.
"Gallows humour is humour about very unpleasant, serious, or painful circumstances. Any humor that treats serious matters, such as death, war, disease, and crime, in a light, silly or satirical fashion is considered gallows humor. Gallows humor has been described as a witticism in response to a hopeless situation. It arises from stressful, traumatic, or life-threatening situations, often in circumstances such that death is perceived as impending and unavoidable." Black or gallows humor is known to date back at least a couple of thousand years; it is not a new invention. However, such a story style may be confusing to those who are only familiar with the current trend in the vampire genre of treating the subject matter exclusively as horror or some sort of questionable kind of romance.
The above having been said, the careful timing and subtlety required for successful black comedy can be difficult to achieve, and EAT LOCAL does not hit its mark every time. Probably best to view this movie as "quirky" and give it the benefit of the doubt for trying something a little different.
The plot of EAT LOCAL is quite simple. A small collection of relatively ancient and well-positioned vampires apparently have the tradition of conducting a sort of business meeting every 50 years in some quiet, out-of-the-way location. Unfortunately, at this particular meeting, the humans have caught wind of the vampire's existence and of this meeting and a small military contingent has been sent round to investigate and possibly interfere. The entire movie takes place in the context of this confrontation. The situation gives rise to horror and hilarity, or at least that is the intent.
EAT LOCAL is, at the very least, worth a watch. While it does not carry off its intent without flaw, it's at least something different from the usual low-grade horror snore-a-thons or pseudo-romantic drivel that infest the vampire genre nowadays. Many of the actors here are A-list and help carry the picture a little higher than it might otherwise have gone.
One element sadly missing from the movie is a convincing and interesting portrayal of some of the vampires who are SUPPOSED to be thousands of years old. What would such a creature actually be like, possessing as they do possibly thousands of years of world experience? In the case of Tony Curran who plays the character Peter Boniface, his 2000-year-old character is simply portrayed as the same sort of arrogant wonk you might meet driving a Chelsea tractor today. Annette Crosbie does a much better job with her character Alice, passing herself off as a sweet old lady with only a hint of the ancient monster that lies beneath. And then, sadly and what should be out of character, Alice does a Rambo impression to no good purpose, and then walks straight into her death deliberately. One would think an ancient mythical creature, who has successfully lived long enough to BECOME an ancient mythical creature, accent on ancient, would be a bit smarter than that by now.
Good old Mackenzie Crook is wasted as a stereotypical religious nut case (because anyone who does anything with a religious motivation MUST be the worst creep in every picture nowadays yawn).
In the end, most of the humans are wiped out and about half of the vampires, and what's left of the humans and vampires break their clinch and go their separate ways, although one particular human and the 3 remaining vampires have a newfound friendship. You'll have to watch the movie to see what that's all about.
So, all in all, it's not that bad a movie though it's definitely not a great one. The original idea is actually pretty interesting and with a bit more effort it could have risen much higher.