Strange Things Happen at Sundown (2003 Video) User Reviews

If you're looking for a decent vampire movie, look anywhere but here.

[sth1979 · 4/10 · 17 January 2004]

I gave this movie a 1 out of 10 rating.

Storyline: Mildly interesting, though predictable and not too original.

Acting: Awful? Horrible? Pathetic? Take your pick.

Cinematography: Decent for a shot-on-video movie, but low quality audio and bad lighting really drag it down.

Special effects are non-existent, but not entirely cheesy due to clever use of camera positioning, etc.

Pacing: It's way too long (135 minutes)

Pros: Good insight into the psyche of someone who is forced to kill in order to survive. Comic relief provided by "The Reaper" who dresses in a Grim Reaper caul, but with psychadelic socks that change every scene.

Cons: Bad acting, poor cinematography.

As movies go, the only people who will find it interesting are the very VERY small group of people who are 1) really into vampires and 2) delve into the psychological aspects of reluctant killing. If this doesn't describe you, stay far far away from this film.

bloated corpse of a movie

[FieCrier · 3/10 · 6 January 2004]

I'd ordered this movie for a friend, who wanted it for a customer who had a friend who appeared in this...if you can follow that. As it turned out, I had worked with someone with a very small role in this too. I'd read some good things about this online when I tried looking for a copy.

However, I didn't much care for it. I think you would really, really have to love vampires to watch this movie. I got an hour and twenty minutes into it and gave up and hit my fast-forward button to scan through the rest. Nothing I saw made me hit play again. At 135 minutes...two hours and fifteen minutes...this is just far, far too long.

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen

[christopher-underwood · 3/10 · 23 February 2006]

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen, even on fast forward it was boring. Having got that off my chest it is only fair to admit that these guys were ambitious. They had an (not uninteresting) idea about a story of vampires in 'real life' and ran with it. Unfortunately they ran with it far too long and this ends up being a non-stop onslaught of gory kills with lots of accompanying screaming and because this is mixed up with a mafia storyline very dumb and very tedious yelling of the same words all the time in place of dialogue. Also, just a personal thing, but there is no sex at all, just blood and guts and crass posturing from all concerned. Amazingly all this is taken very seriously and we are constantly reminded how difficult it would be to be one of these boring vampires. There are attempts at humour but I have been rude enough so I'll say no more, other than that this would have been better if it were two hours shorter!

I've Got a Camcorder Too...

[prddad · 1/10 · 21 November 2003]

Forgive me all that read this review. It won't be long, I assure you. BRAIN DAMAGE films.what can be said about them. Besides bringing out interesting, possibly trend-setting films, I think that the movie makers really need to invest in some better filming equipment. I knew when I saw the opening shot that it was going to be an uninteresting movie, and I was right. Was there blood in it? Yes. Was there vampires? If you want to call them that. Constant screaming from the victims, the cheesy blood that covered the bodies, frustration over a loss of $3.50 is all I felt. The cover to all of their movies is great, but then again, it's suckers like me that rent it and realize after the movie starts that we've been swindled. Oh, and please don't get me started on these Soprano-like vampires.

Much Better Than Some Here Give It Credit For

[garland-schaefers · 6 December 2003]

Mob-Vampires from Brooklyn. Actually, the premise is pretty believable, once you grant that vampires exist. I mean, I can see the whole punk culture TRYING to become vampires. And once they are, the gangster life just seems like a natural fit. So I liked that a lot.

The acting is fresh and believable. The language is harsh, but I imagine that that's the way New York gangsters-mob guys really talk. This movie has an M rating for a reason. Keep the kiddies away, unless you like getting nastygrams from their teachers.

There is only one actor in the whole of this movie that's been in anything besides this. And with the whole writer/director/editor/ thing makes me think this is some kind of New York Drama Class project. If so, it's an awesome first effort, and I look forward to more from Mr. Fratto.

I give it 4 out of 5 severed limbs.

"I don't think eating human body parts contributes to a healthy mental state." One of the worst films I've ever seen.

[poolandrews · 1/10 · 5 January 2007]

Strange Things Happen at Sundown starts with four mafia type guys being ripped off to the tune of 100 grand by Vampire Marcel (J. Scott Green) & his Vampire girlfriend Amy (Jocasta Bryan) who plan to drive to Canada & live there, simple eh? Well not really because the mafia type boss guy Jimmy 'Fangs' (Joseph DeVito) wants his money back & he also happens to be a Vampire, he hires someone known as 'The Reaper' (Steve Gonzalez) to track them down & get the money back. Some annoyed Vampire bird dressed in PVC is also after one of her kind & kills to gain the information she needs, erm well that's about it really.

Edited, photographed, written, co-produced & directed by Marc Fratto who also has a co-music credit I will start by simply saying that I hate Strange Things Happen at Sundown, I hate every micron of it's being. I hate the fact I spent over two hours watching this, I hate every single aspect of this 'film', I mean it's not been a good week for films for me as I've recently watched Goulies IV (1993) & Island of the Dead (2000) which I thought were pretty damn bad films but not even they could prepare me for the absolute stinker that is Strange Things Happen at Sundown. The script seems to think that by pummelling it's audience with constant swear words is a good thing, well I don't & it became extremely annoying & irritating to have a expletive in EVERY conversation, everyone has to swear as much as possible for no reason whatsoever. I'm not against swearing & you can't accurately portray certain real-life situations without it but please do we really need a constant stream of of pointless bad language? Then there's the excruciatingly slow story, it's some sort of Vampire version of the Soprano's on a budget that wouldn't buy a round at my local pub. Did I mention that I hated this film? The thing also goes on for what seemed like forever & at over two hours I was really bored & my finger was itching to press the 'Fastforward' on my remote control. By the way I hate this film. The character's are awful, what's with the Reaper guy & his moronic wife? How can Vampires kill people in broad daylight in the middle of a city & it goes unnoticed? I did say I hated this film didn't I? There's also some embarrassingly bad attempts at comedy here as well. I don't know what else to say, I don't really want to think about this crap anymore except to say that I hated every single worthless aspect of it.

Director Fratto was obviously working with a low budget, the thing looks like it was shot on a camcorder because it was & the locations, the costumes & special effects are poor. There are apparently two versions of this abomination one being uncut, I think this is the version I saw & I wasn't impressed with the gore, there's a ripped out heart, there's some neck biting, there's lots of really fake looking blood splashed around & at the end there's a house full of Vampires doing nasty things like removing intestines & cooking body parts on a barbecue in the front garden, I mean so what if someone walks past & notices right? There's also plenty of cheap & unappealing nudity.

Technically this film sucks more than the Vampires in it, it looks cheap & feels like real bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. The acting, in my humble opinion, was absolutely terrible from everyone involved particularly their constant pointless mind-numbingly bad irrelevant & off-topic conversations.

Strange Things Happen at Sundown seems to have some positive reviews here on the IMDb & that's fine, if some likes this film than I have no problem with that but for the life of me I can't see any aspect of this film which someone could gain some entertainment value from. Truly one of the worst films I've ever seen & believe me I've seen some bad films, this is right down there with the worst of them. One to avoid.

Strangely watchable despite its faults

[Stevieboy666 · 4/10 · 4 October 2019]

Low budget, independent horror/comedy following several vampires in 21st Century New York. Bit of a tough one for me to review. On one hand I am tempted to say this is an overlong piece of crap, but on the other hand it certainly has some merits to make it watchable (provided the viewer appreciates low budget flicks). The good - I felt compelled to stick with it as I wanted to know what was going to happen to the various characters, all of whom are vampires, or people attacked by them. Interestingly these vampires can walk around in daylight, the Sun has no fatal effect on them. I liked the soundtrack, a crucial element to any movie. There is a fair amount of bloodshed and violence. Camerawork is pretty good, at times using imaginative angles, and there are some creepy dreamlike, nightmarish sequences. The bad - acting is at times poor, but then this is to be expected with movies of this type of budget. There is a dose of comedy but sadly at times it is just dumb, especially a couple meant to be Vlad the Impaler and Countess Bathory, real historical characters associated with "vampirism. But the worst thing for me was the film's mega running time - my DVD clocked up 140 minutes! Way too long for a film like this, in the unlikely attempt that I should feel the urge to revisit STHAS then I would probably do so in two sittings.

Vampires with Jersey accents?

[herecy · 1/10 · 3 March 2005]

I would rather watch Barney than this piece of tripe. Poorly acted. Even worse writing. Random changes to story lines and dangling plots. Most of the characters were just ideas that were never fleshed out to be believable. Its like someone was playing a vampire game and tried to set it to a film. And did it badly. Random introduction of pointless characters makes things hard to follow. The attempts at humor are poor. The one or two ideas that the staff has are so poorly done that they loose your interest. Here's a tip for the film maker. Next time spend more than $1.39 to make the film, and get someone to do voice training with the cast. If you live in New Jersey the accent may be cute or funny. But If you aren't from the area its just annoying. And have the cast READ the script. it helps if they know what they are supposed to be doing in the film. Not improvising thru entire scenes.

So so so bad.

[ian-scott · 1/10 · 14 June 2004]

Saw this in the video shop and thought it might be good for a laugh. I knew it would be cheesy but I was unprepared for just how bad this was. The acting, if you can call it that, was terrible. The production values, camera work, 'effects' but above all, the story. At first glance the story had promise. A strange take on the vampire genre but it had potential. That was the only thing this had going for it.

Avoid at all costs. Sometimes when movies are really bad, they become good in a comedy kind of way. This didn't. It went beyond bad into a complete waste of time.

Really, avoid it.

Solid attempt at a vampire epic

[milkhole213 · 6/10 · 11 November 2021]

Strange Things Happen at Sundown is the second epic (130 minutes plus) in the Tomb of Terrors box set. The Abberdine County Conjurer was an absolute abomination which made me extremely hesitant to watch this at almost 137 unforgivable minutes. It ended up being the penultimate film in the set for me and turned out to be much less dreadful than I had envisioned. It is a vampire epic with groups of disparate characters ending up in an Erickson-esque convergence. It starts out with some stereotypically foul-mouthed Guido gangster vampires and we are introduced to a lone female vampire, a vampire couple on the run, The Reaper and some others. The movie does a solid job of tying all these characters together and gives all of them ample (though often too ample) development.

Being over two hours the film is dialogue heavy, most of it profane, some humorous and some painfully cliched with much forced drama. Did we need a scene of a vampire relationship argument after the man ate a baby? There's some comic relief including The Reaper's wife who is most likely Elizabeth Bathory. She explodes into a obscene-rage whenever he leaves something dirty laying around the house. Her acting when she explodes is terrible and the comedic value of this parts is cringe-inducing and not the least bit funny. The whole Reaper arc is played for humor when he's supposed to be this terrifying, monstrous killer. The only comic relief I really liked here was when a husband is attacked by a vampire. This attack seems to turn him gay as he gets up running away squealing with the stereotypical "flaming queer" hand gestures like he's Cameron from Modern Family. He effeminately squeals as he's drained of life's blood by a vampire. The acting here is mostly solid though some of it is painful with the goombahs every line being cliched. They have vampire/gangster nicknames like Joey the Butcher, Jimmy Fangs, Nicky the Tooth and unrelated to vampirism Paulie Hands.

Blood and gore here is fairly plentiful though it's more blood-smeared than guts and flesh being torn though there's more of that towards the ending. For a vampire film this almost totally lacks eroticism with the only nudity coming towards the end. There's a vampire house at the end where weird and perverse things are happening but this part isn't as interesting as it should have been. The movie is overflowing with scenes of people on the floor squirming, screaming and writhing around while covered in blood. If you like lots and lots of this kind of thing this is your movie. The movie kills off all the Guido's with about 45 minutes to go and the movie starts to drag at this point. Their characters may have been cliched and stereotypical but they were at least entertaining. There's also a subplot about using marijuana infected with vampire blood to create slaves. This doesn't factor in much except for a pointless add on after the movie proper has ended.

Strange Things Happen at Sundown is one of the more professionally made and competently acted films in the Tomb of Terrors box set. While the runtime can be punishing at times it rarely comes off as overly dull or a waste of time. With some trimming to the runtime, some added sex/nudity and making the characters not so cliched and excising the Reaper's wife character this could have been a borderline cult classic. As it is it's a very solid attempt at a low budget vampire epic and if you liked it you should also see the director's Hell Fire which is both solid and much shorter only around 90 minutes.

Not the worst vampire movie, but close

[horrorfan_86 · 4/10 · 17 January 2005]

The title fits the movie very well (strange). The whole idea of a mobster vampire movie was a bit corny. The movie's characters are quite interesting, but the dialogue between the characters was very weak. In my opinion, the dialogue was one of the movie's biggest flaws. Another one of the flaws are the feeding scenes. I have seen many vampire movies, and this movie probably has the strangest and least believable feeding scenes of any. The movie did have a few new and original ideas to add to the numerous vampire stories. I'm sure that if you are an absolute die hard vampire fan or looking for a decent amount of gore you may like the movie, but if you are looking for a good scare, you should probably steer clear of this movie.

vampire gangsters what a concept!

[neal66 · 10/10 · 13 June 2004]

I was kind of surprised about some of the negative reaction to this wonderful movie. If quentin tarrantio and anne rice got together and made a vampire movie it would be similar to this film. The makers of the film have made vampires something to fear again in their descriptions of these sociopathic bloodsuckers who live on to feed on the blood of their victims.Another I love about the movie is some of the characters like the reaper, a chilling vampire hit-man who's frightened of his neat freak psycho wife. Reaper's wife

profanity-laced tirades against her husband are hilarious!The heroine of this movie, a vampire hitwoman who has vendetta against brutal vampire marcel and his girlfriend Amy who turned her into a vampire are chilling in it's intensity.I love the dialogue of vampire gangsters Jimmy fangs and his crew who sound like they come straight from a episode of the sopranos.the scenes with Marcel and Amy and their hostage, a born again Christian who seeks to save Amy's soul are great as well.There are no wimpy soul-searching vamps in this movie.All of the vampires in this movie are bloodthirsty who revel in their killing of the victims.Another plus of the movie is sometimes gorgeous camera-work in the movie and the scenes of bloodletting and gruesome violence are shocking but appropriate for this film. This is one of the all-time best vampire movie I ever seen with over-top violence, memorable characters, witty humor and great photography all add up to classic tale of vampiric horror with a dark comic edge.

All rhyme no reason.

[U8RU486 · 6/10 · 9 January 2009]

I was really impressed by Marc Fratto's second film Zombies Anonymous (AKA: Last Rites of the Dead). So, I was eager to see Strange Things Happen at Sundown. Overall I was disappointed. Not because of the camera-work, or the acting, or the lighting, or the special effects, I knew they would be sub-par. What really disappointed me was the writing. Zombies Anonymous was well written and well edited (assuming you see the full version), Strange Things was overlong, and overly ambitious. There are plenty of great ideas, and funny moments, but overall they don't add up to much of a movie, which is too bad.

I can't recommend this video, but at the same time I can't trash it. If you're interested I say pick it up, check it out. If your on the fence about watching it, don't bother, rent Zombie Anonymous instead.

Bad, bad, bad film

[freedom-from-sanity · 1/10 · 22 October 2009]

This film couldn't decide if it wanted to be a comedy or a serious low budget horror flick, some scenes bordered on slapstick while others tried desperately to be artistic, deep and meaningful. Unfortunately it missed on all points. Also its running time is so long it didn't even fall into the 'it's so bad its good' category, its just boring. The feeding scenes were way too long and some of the dialogue was just mind numbing. The acting though wasn't too bad (in some places) but the Italian/New York accents were bordering on the abysmal. I can only hope the makers go on to better things as Im sure they cant get any worse.

Only watch this if your suffering from insomnia and need help sleeping.

I have to stick up for this one

[one4now4 · 26 March 2006]

It would be a crime against my conscience not to. It is one of the funniest, goriest, and most unique vampire movies I've seen, and I would gladly place it right next to "Near Dark" as an essential indie horror flick about vampires. Of course, it is a long movie and I admit it does seem to go on forever, but this is actually one of those movies where I was thinking, "It seems to take forever, but if it did go on forever, I could still sit and watch and watch and watch." It really is a movie where you just have to let it run its course as it introduces such a wide range of emotions, characters, and ideas and winds them into a clever and cohesive whole. As much as I loved it, I don't mind how it took it's time doing that; you have to just lose yourself into its weird, little world. All of the characters had a place in this, and most of the actors were just as good as any you're likely to see at a multiplex. Why is it a small handful of less than stellar (yet still cheezily engaging) actors are blamed for a bad movie just because it's shot on video? I would dare to call this a GREAT movie, and for every less-than-convincing actor there are literally several who truly friggin' deliver here! Don't even let the Tarantino comparisons color your idea of what the movie comes off as. I, for one, more than half-expected this to suck, since the only other movie I've yet seen from Brain Damage films that I liked was the admittedly schlocky "Terror Toons", and many others caused me pain to watch them. Just throw out your preconceptions and SEE THIS MOVIE! It is one of the best horror flicks of 2003, hands down!

Two hours you'll never get back.

[SethDano · 1/10 · 12 September 2020]

As somebody who loves both z-grade horror flicks and vampire fiction, I was really letdown by this garbage. It starts off pretty good but once we're introduced to the two main characters, the whole thing falls apart. We follow a mob enforcer who happens to be a vampire and his girlfriend who is also a vampire and all they do for most of the movie is argue with each other over every stupid little thing. There is an interesting subplot about vampire gangsters lacing drugs with their own blood to sell around the world, transforming everyone into their vampire minions but this subplot takes up only about fifteen minutes of the movie. This thing is two hours long, half of it is just the two characters arguing and the other half is just a bunch of dreary slo-mo clips of people crawling on the ground and having seizures because apparently that's how people transform into vampires once they're bitten. Speaking of which, this film's interpretation of vampires is really headache inducing. So apparently vampires don't have any special powers aside from having fangs and being harmed by holy water. I'm not kidding, that's literally it. The most pathetic of all is watching our two vampire villains running after a woman in the forest at a snail's pace and one of them is even dumb enough to put a gun to his face and shoot his own eye out. No joke.

Some of the actors were pretty good but unfortunately this movie was written and directed by somebody who doesn't know how to write or direct. For a movie called Strange Things Happen at Sundown, most of the action in the movie takes place in the middle of the day and the nighttime scenes are so badly lit, it's too dark to tell what's even happening onscreen. I'm not even giving this the pass for its low budget. There are cheaper films out there like Cannibal Campout and Woodchipper Massacre which were only half as long as this movie but still a thousand times more enjoyable. Don't even waste your time with this.

An OK but slight disturbing low budget movie

[kelly_alxxx · 4/10 · 6 April 2008]

hey just watched this movie, It starts off a bit boring but eventually the plot picks up, its actually a bit hard to understand at the beginning but by the first 45 minutes you have a rough idea of whats going on. Probably one of the main problems is that it doesn't fully explain about certain things until the end of the film. At first I thought this was a home made film, but then i realised it was for real. It was a bit pathetic and did get a bit boring at certain points but if you just hang in there and watch it to the end it is an OK low budget film. I mean I wouldn't say this was better than the other low budget films I've seen like the ice cream man and the gingerdead man but it was OK. I suppose its worth watching.

Modern Vampire Masterpiece

[Tromafreak · 7/10 · 5 May 2010]

I would imagine a lot of you are like me, and are pretty sickened and disgusted by the latest wave of Vampires, with Twilight, and whatnot. So, for anyone too old, or just too smart for the latest Vamp-craze, and for anyone who was already bored with everything from the original Dracula to Blade, well, there is light, make that darkness at the end of the tunnel.

Strange Things Happen At Sundown is by far the best case I've ever seen of a director thinking outside the box, as far as Vampire cinema goes. A true love for the sub-genre is evident. At first I wasn't sure about this one considering I'm not a huge fan of Mafia movies, but the Vampire goodfellas (goodfangs) actually kinda work.

The movie doesn't focus on any one situation for too long, which makes it impossible to get bored. Instead, Strange Things takes us from the mafia guys to a couple of young Vampires who ripped them off (Marcel and Amy) And we are also let in on the disturbing world of the reaper, who has been hired to find and kill them.

Marcel has only been a Vampire for a few years, and "the kill" is what he lives for. Torturing, killing, drinking blood, and even eating flesh. Amy, on the other hand, isn't much of a Vampire. She can't even figure out how to make her fangs come out. Amy's lack of callousness, and signs of sympathy for those her any Marcel slaughter puts a real strain of there relationship.

Marcel is now devoid of all humanity, and Amy, scared and insecure, is starting to have doubts about this whole Vampire thing. These 2 just better hope the reaper doesn't catch up to them, because this is one Vampire who is not above killing one of his own, although, his problems with the wife might complicate things. And as for the goodfangs, well, they got bigger fish to fry, like, for example, the human race.

The Vampires in this movie not only need human blood to survive, but they just flat-out need to torture and kill to maintain peace of mind. A quality which adds to the mean-spirited tone, and makes Vampires seem like something that could actually exist. Besides being gory, and completely awesome, Strange Things Happen At Sundown is also quite interesting. Exploring what goes on in the minds of these creatures. The differences between the mentality of someone like Amy, who is still relatively new, and someone like the Reaper, who has been around for thousands of years. It's kinda like HBO's Trueblood, which I consider the only thing good to come out of the latest Vamp-craze. It's movies like this that really give me hope. Not for Vampire flicks, so much as modern B-cinema. Forget all the B-movie stereotypes like comically lousy acting and humiliatingly low budgets. That stuff is wonderful, of course, but this is one you can totally take seriously. And even the extremely well-timed comic relief is just subtle enough not to overshadow the Horror aspect in the very least. Strange Things Happen At Sundown is pure quality Horror. Beautiful, dark Horror. Real Horror for the real Horror fan. And on top of all that, it's also well over two hours. A modern B-Horror epic if there ever was such a thing. So, if the huge budgets and the predictable story lines of safe/normal mainstream Horror makes you yawn, check out Leif Jonker's Darkness or Andy Warhol's Dracula, that is, if you dig gore and weirdness. But for a real example of rare quality B-Horror, and no doubt, a future cult classic, Strange Things Happen At Sundown is a must see. 10/10

Destined to become a cult clasSICK!

[pinkeye · 9/10 · 26 October 2003]

I really miss the late 70s and early 80s when you could catch some amazing cult films at Midnight showings...Strange things Happen At Sundown would have been perfect to watch at one of those...This is one of the more intelligent, funny, gory cult films to come out in some time...Definitely a unique take on vampires...Mobster vampires is just a great idea and it was executed so well...The film is smothered with writhing, bloody women and an amazing score...Unlike any of the low-budget horror films I've seen in some time and MUCH better than the big budget horror films out there!

Actually not the worst movie ever...

[nolanbenestante · 6/10 · 29 December 2022]

I saw this movie with my friends just recently and honestly I thought it wasn't that bad. There were only two really scary shots that I thought were pretty scary but overall it seemed like a normal movie. I don't know if I'd see it again though because it has a lot of blood and body parts in it and of course tons of vampires but if you want to see it one time just to see what it's like or just because how scary it is go ahead. I would watch the whole movie and I see if you like it because like I said some of the scenes are just normal scenes. If you are interested in watching than go for it!!!

Coolest SOV movie ever!

[writhinginagony · 10/10 · 1 December 2003]

Ive been subjected to a lot of Shot-on-video garbage in the last few years, but finally, an SOV movie that does things right. It only occasionally suffers from kind of production problems that most shot-on-video movies are littered with, although it excels with stylish camerawork, great lighting, and superior editing and special effects. Technically speaking, Strange Things definately raises the bar on micro-budget movies.

The filmmakers also understand how to make an entertaining movie. Strange Things is funny, surreal and dark. In addition, it also tells a great story, with solid performances by the talented cast. The vampire mobsters are hysterical. I also love the characters of the Reaper and his wife. Lots of Tarantino style dialogue and wacky characters. Strange Things also knows its place as exploitation, with tons of gore scenes, lots of half dressed girls writhing and moaning, torture scenes galore, graphic cannibalism, and an amazing scene where a fat kid gets a spear in his behind and mounted up, Vlad the Impaler-style. (make sure you watch the unrated version and not the hacked up version I originally rented from one of the big video chains).

CULT CLASSIC: SUPERIOR SOPRANO MOBSTER VAMPIRE BLOODBATH SATIRE

[Geff · 10/10 · 2 August 2004]

THIS IS A CULT CLASSIC IF EVER I SAW ONE. It has a Sopranos-like mobster vampire gang who are sadistic and violent in hilarious fashion. Their names alone will have you in stitches. It is incredibly funny stuff. It is also bloody, sado-masochistic, sexual, and horrifying. It is a non-stop blood-curdling screamer. The screenplay is clever and funny as hell. It even has a "slayer" of sorts and a "born-again" vampire. You will never forget it. Looks like it was filmed on Long Island. Excellent acting and screaming, especially the wife of the Reaper. Great satire. Cast of thousands of sexy female screamers. The humor doesn't stop even with the ending credits. Read the names and character descriptions. Hilarious. Don't miss it.

fresh blood

[mlamar-3 · 8/10 · 27 February 2010]

The movie,as others have said, started off as if it were going to be another cheap vampire flick. But, it got better when the bad guys showed their fangs. From there on out, it turned into a pretty good movie. It was gory and had a lot of thrashing, groaning or screaming victims--definitely not for kids or the halfway-squeamish viewer. But, I thought it was well-told from a vampire's perspective, and I liked the vampire-turned-vigilante angle. Although much of the scenes had been done before, this movie ties a lot of these different elements together in a fascinating way. It ran for 138 minutes, because it had a lot to tell. And, I liked some of the twists at the end. Altogether, Strange Things turned out to be an entertaining, sometimes funny, vampire-flick that I would recommend to viewers who like this genre.

Hidden in the rubble at Wal-Mart

[pinkbagels · 8/10 · 11 September 2010]

Okay, I picked this unknown gem up on a 12 schlock/garbage horror movie collection from Wal-Mart for five bucks. I figured it would be a pile of laughable crap that would make Attack Of The Giant Leeches a cinematic achievement, and considering that most of the movies look as though they were filmed with a cell phone, I figured my five dollars was ill spent.

WRONG! I can't believe this amazing movie was hiding in amongst the crap. Sure, it had an all told budget of about ten dollars, but this film more than makes up for it in awesome acting, great camera work and a *fantastic* screenplay! As a cross-genre film that covers the mafia, comedy and homage to Eyes Wide Shut, this is one thrill ride that never has a dull moment. It is a long movie, but it plays out like the weirdest, funniest, goriest vampire soap opera you have ever seen. The acting is surprisingly top notch, the camera work professional, the gore suitably gory. Tarantino better watch out--With the skills these guys have with such a shoestring indie budget, they are set to rip Hollywood to shreds. I can't wait for that bloodbath! (also...The Reaper's wife is a real scream. If they ever make a sequel, she *has* to come back. I will never be able to look at argyle or dirty white socks in the same way ever again!)

A refreshingly original vampire flick.

[dj-381 · 10/10 · 26 July 2009]

I'm amazed at the criticism this movie is receiving from supposed horror fans, especially those who are offended by the strong language and nudity - two staples of the horror genre!

I've seen a lot of bad independent horror movies in my time and I've got to say "Strange Things Happen at Sundown" is not one of them. The quality of the direction, lighting, acting, effects and soundtrack belie the low budget.

The thing that really surprised me, however was the originality in the plot. It's incredibly hard to come up with an original script in a genre as 'done to death' as the vampire flick, but the producers of this film have done just that. Kudos should be given for that alone.