Director: Steve Sale
Starring: Steve Sale
Suck Buddy could have been another ho-hum documentary about the myth and folklore behind vampirism. Most of the film rehashes what we’ve already seen a million times on the Discovery and Travel channels every year around Halloween. Trying to “finally” answer the question of whether or not vampires actually exist is nothing original. I’ll spoil it for you, director Steve Sale doesn’t find any vampires.
For any non-gullible members of the audience, this makes the trip the director takes to Transylvania and awkward exchanges with London’s underground “vamp” population not very engaging beyond the novelty and occasional injections of wry British humour. In fact, the sardonic way in which the subject matter is treated offers the only refuge for the thirsty viewer – while at the same time not undermining the overall investigation of the film.
Suck Buddy really kicks into gear when Sale volunteers himself as a blood donor to a vampire. I won’t reveal what happens when he meets his vampire “suck buddy,” suffice it to say it’s gloriously awkward and a transformative moment of the film.
After that Suck Buddy pinpoints the “origin” of the vampire myth as the disease Porphyria. But us in the real world know it’s just a bunch of goth weirdoes who never grew out of their vamp phase in middle school. And weirdoes are plentiful in Suck Buddy. From the pedophilic vampire who ran for president of the United States, to a transcontinental secret society of fang crafters.
Though it treads water many are familiar with, Suck Buddy ultimately does prove illuminating to the subject of vampires. Though it may be a subject I really didn’t want illuminated, the director makes sure to keep the film lively enough in between to still be entertaining. If you’re a documentary fan, your time could probably be better spent watching The Act of Killing. If you’re a vampire fan of the non-Twilight variety, Suck Buddy will be essential viewing.
