Strigoi (2009)
Strigoi is black comedy about vampires (or strigoi) set in rural Romania. These are creatures of Romanian folklore, not the vampires we're used to seeing in movies, and things don't play out in the usual way.
The movie opens with the towns people of a small Romanian village dragging a rich man, and his wife from their house, and accusing them of the murder of another villager. The two plead their innocence, and ask to be brought before the police if there is any evidence. "We want real justice" says one of the villagers. "Not the kind you pay for". And then they kill them.
This all takes place with light hearted upbeat music playing in the background. The music suggests a comedy, but it's a very black one. As the song Spirit In The Sky plays we see the villagers ransacking, and looting the rich couples home. The next morning we meet the films main character Vlad, who has just returned to the village from working in Italy. Although Vlad finished medical school, he didn't pass his qualifying exam to practice medicine, and so has worked lousy low paying jobs.
He can't help but notice that everybody is acting strangely, and dedicates himself to finding out whats going on. Meanwhile the rich couple have returned from the dead, and are now Strigoi, a type of traditional Romanian restless spirit that drinks the blood of the living.
As the story plays out we see a whole range of Romanian resentments bubble to the surface, and the underlying corruption seems to taint everyone. This isn't that scary a movie, but vampire fans will likely find these more traditional blood suckers interesting. The film is darkly funny, and thoroughly entertaining.
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