We Are the Night

Hooray, here's a German vampire flick that has more in common with fangtastic fare like The Hunger, Near Dark and TV's True Blood than the anaemic, doe-eyed meanderings of the Twilight franchise. Karoline Herfurth (the Plum Girl in Perfume: the Story of a Murderer) stars as Lena, a Berlin pickpocket who attracts the attention of languid immortal Louise (Nina Hoss) and her two beautiful gal pals (Anna Fischer, Jennifer Ulrich). She's soon one of the gang and embarks on a hedonistic lifestyle of fast cars, shopping, clubbing and quaffing the red stuff. Problem is, a handsome young cop is also on Lena's trail and the smitten Louise is not too chuffed with the romantic competition. Director Dennis Gansel (The Wave) adds little that is original to the undead movie canon, but this is a stylish, elegant film, which benefits from distinctive locations, snappily edited action scenes (obviously influenced by the Bourne series) and some nifty special effects (Lena's bathtub transformation from scuzzy punk to glamour girl is truly stunning). Blood is spilt but this is no gore-fest (though you'll never think of a paper cut in the same way again), while the opening aeroplane scene is a real throat-grabber.