Though there’s been countless vampire media set during various eras, I can’t recall a vampire film that’s also part Viking epic. That alone draws some appeal to Beneath Us All, a film about a Viking vampire who wakes up in modern day America. It’s definitely an interesting concept. The only problem is that for a vampire movie, the feature feels a bit too restrained and also builds to a predictable conclusion.
The film stars Angelina Danielle Cama as Julie, a foster kid who’s on the cusp of turning 18 and needs to decide what to do with her life. She’s especially close to her foster brother, Stephen (Malachi Myles). Their sibling relationship is one of the film’s highlights and more broadly, the film handles characterization pretty well, especially regarding Julie. She’s certainly a likeable protagonist who faces a very human conflict regarding the direction of her life.
Prior to Julie’s introduction, the film opens with a pretty gnarly Viking battle several centuries ago, as a group hunts down the movie’s big bad, Frey (Yan Birch). Ultimately, the Vikings succeed in harming him, capturing him, and stuffing him in a coffin. He eventually winds up in the Americas, and many centuries later, Julie discovers him in the woods. She’s also drawn to his power and the forest where he hides out, feeding and waiting to regain his strength. Like other vampire big bads, the more that Frey feeds, the stronger he becomes. He’s a pretty ruthless villain, even devouring children. Yet, this film is a bit too timid in terms of the blood, guts, and gore. It’s likely that horror fans will be left wanting more.
Meanwhile, there’s another conflict between Julie and her foster parents, Janelle (Maria Olsen) and Todd Gibbs (Sean Whalen). In short, Todd frequently belittles Julie. He’s also part of a sleezy underground gambling ring run by a bunch of thugs and gangsters. He puts the entire house at risk. Horror fans will likely recognize Whalen from The People Under the Stairs and maybe Twister. Here, he plays an unsettling villain, an example of human evil and deceit. This film does do a good job balancing its human villains, namely Todd, with Frey’s supernatural powers. It ups the conflict. Julie’s character arc is another positive. Becoming more monstrous gives her greater agency that she lacked in pure human form. Her journey just may be the best part of this film.
Though the film is lean in its runtime, it does have some pacing issues in that it feels a little too long until Frey comes to full power and the body count grows. Additionally, the final act is all too predictable. Though this isn’t a bad film by any means, it’s a little too lackluster compared with the endless amounts of other vampire films and literature that already exists.
Beneath Us All deserves credit for trying to do something different and creating a Viking vampire. There are some good narrative beats and characterization here. However, the film oddly feels a little too restrained and lands at a ho-hum conclusion.
