Living with a really chill grandma for most of my life meant growing up with lots of vampire films. I don’t know why, she was actually super Catholic, but she was obsessed with vampire films (from the great to the absolutely terrible) and nearly every one I’ve seen was with her: Interview With The Vampire, Let The Right One In, Queen of the Damned, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, she even took me to see Twilight in theaters upon its release during my middle school years. 

Though my feelings on much of the film are mixed, Ben and Dean Jagger’s Corbin Nash, at the very least, succeeded in awakening my nostalgia for the late nights spent with my grandma eating See’s candy and watching each other’s reactions to our favorite vampire movies, no matter how scary or ridiculous they might have been. Corbin Nash is a mix of the two.

Co-writer Dean Jagger stars as the film’s hunky, titular anti-hero, a rogue police detective who, while in search for his parents’ unknown murder, is murdered himself–and is reborn as the ultimate killer. As he embraces his destiny, he vows vengeance on everything that destroyed his family. 

Corbin Nash succeeds in being as beautifully composed and action-packed as it is ridiculous and over-the-top, particularly with Corey Feldman’s performance as Queeny, who is assumedly an homage to Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs. Only time will tell how LGBTQ rights organizations will interpret the character, but Feldman’s flamboyant performance is appropriate for the film’s overall tone without being *too* offensive. Malcolm McDowell’s narration is also a knowing nod to the genre without pandering too much to the nerds. 

It’s well-composed, with light and colors that could only reflect a film with vampire hunters, drag queens, and strippers with hearts of gold. (You know, one those movies.) The plot is not the easiest to follow as it gets caught up in all the action, and I found myself pausing the film a few times to figure out what the hell is going on. I’m not a fan of painting things in black and white, but my main issue with the film is that it was neither scary or campy enough to be exactly what it wanted to be on the spectrum of vampire films. 

Corbin Nash is the perfect film for horror fans who aren’t picky, and certainly not for those who take themselves too seriously. Blunders aside, it’s all in good fun, and in my case was a blast from the past from a simpler time in my life.