Blood Covered Chocolate Review (2023) American Courtyard Productions
Here we have a film directed by Monte Light entitled Blood Covered Chocolate, being described as a homage to the one-hundred-year-old F.W. Murnau classic Nosferatu. Which, I guess I can say it draws a bit of inspiration from as there is a bit of a attempt at German Expressionism here. The director, Monte Light, does play around his story being more symbolic. This is his 2nd feature film about vampires. One thing I must comment on is the pretty dope poster. It has a painted hand style that makes it look like some old 80s film and could fit perfectly as a metal album cover to. Props to whoever was the designer of the poster.
The poster definitely sets the hype up pretty high.
So when a recovering drug-addict named Massimo is bitten by an ancient, shapeshifting monster, he must fight to save his girlfriend Tien from the same bloody fate. Overall the film plays with the usual vampire tropes that we all know with a few spins. The plot of the film takes a bit to get off the ground as the film has a long sequence of two of the characters laying in bed at the start just talking. Once we get to the vampire though, that’s when things feel like they are on track and moving. One thing I will mention is that I wish there was more establishing shots. It’s hard to get a sense of where we are or what the vibe of the world is. Where do these characters live?
The film is shot mostly in black and white, which is always an interesting choice for a indie film. There are a few moments in the film where color is used or they tint the screen red. The cinematography by Neal Tyler is overall pretty solid. I would say the visual elements and the editing are where this films strengths are. There are some fun transitions, and the film likes to splice in random cuts of old stock footage or weird psychedelic effects to keep things engaging. A majority of the film takes place indoors, which tends to make you feel claustrophobia but when the film does goes outside there are some great shots of a burnt down church. There is even a cool shot where they got a train to be moving in the background as a car pulls in. I wonder if they just got lucky or if they actually waited for that train.
It times, the film almost feels like it’s about to become a sexy adult film.
Unfortunately, the lead, Massimo (Michael Klug), is the weakest actor here. In some scenes, he’s able to make the material work. But when he has to go out of range or be animated is where he struggles. There is one scene where he is trying to be threatening, but it just doesn’t work and feels off. Thankfully though, the rest of the supporting cast are do a mighty impressive job. The vampire has a shape shifting ability, so they are played by more then one actor, but her main form played by Meghan Deanna Kingsley is definitely a highlight. She carries a playful, menacing performance that is fun to watch. Joe Altieri also does a great job at playing an intimidating bully along with his partner in crime, Mike Ferguson.
All right, now this is pretty metal and epic! What a cool location.
Over all, the story works. Like I mentioned earlier, it takes a while for the film to get going but once it does it stays pretty well paced. There is a twist ending which Monte Light tires to pull off. The ending, however, is a bit rough, mostly due to Michael Klug’s performance as he is supposed to be having a tearful breakdown but his performance can’t quite nail it. I will say it was pretty cringy when big text came up that read “You have just experienced, Blood Covered Chocolate” before the credits. Just, why? You can go stright to the credits, the audience knows they just watched a movie.
Overall, I had a good time watching Blood Covered Chocolate. Monte Light did a pretty solid job for his second outing and hopefully his craft continues to improve on from here. While the film does have some issues in its pacing and main lead performance, the creative ideas and editing help to bring it up. What will American Courtyard Productions do next? Only time will time. Meanwhile, you can check out the film on Tubi and Prime Video.
