There's never been a better time to be a fan of vampires. Whilst many bemoan the modern characterisation of blood suckers as sparkly, moody romantic types (as if Dracula was any different), in fact right now there is a wealth of diverse depictions of vampires to be found in popular culture. The "first Iranian vampire Western", as A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night has been called, definitely draws comparisons to Let The Right One In, the Swedish sort-of-horror-film from a few years ago. A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is similarly innovative, interesting and genre-busting. Produced by Elijah Wood and partly funded by his company SpectreVision, the film is mainly the work of writer/director Ana Lily Amirpour, whose uncompromising vision is what makes the film so beguiling. The young Sheila Vand stars as The Girl, the lonesome vampire who stalks the streets of the fictional Iranian ghost town Bad City. That's about as much plot as the film manages, and all it really needs. The rest of A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night lives up to the title, with The Girl sweeping through a grainy, almost noir-like black-and-white cityscape at perpetual dusk, the moody atmosphere and melancholic performance making for an atmospheric piece of cinema.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
