Set in the fictional town of Redpatch, Ohio, “Blood & Rust” (2026), Lamont Guest (Morgan McLeod), the owner of the local diner, The Dairy Box, discovers that coyotes are not killing locals, and vampires exist after a stranger (Mark Kelly), Belko, rescues him from an attack. They embark on a mission to stop The Boss (Ross Partridge) with a little help from Lamont’s girlfriend, Marlene Fenton, (Diana Frankhauser), the town’s roadkill disposal person. Will Lamont get out of his rut and find his real purpose in life? Likely shot on a budget, the movie looks fantastic, but the rhythm of the story is off, and the cast lacks chemistry so it never finds its rhythm as it limps to the eventual denouement. If cowriter and director Jeremy Herbert and cowriter Wolf Stahl’s feature debut were making a television pilot, the lack of energy would be forgivable, but as a movie, it is anemic.
“Blood & Rust” feels as if it had the potential to be one of those old-fashioned, Stephen King-esque films that involves a disparate group of ragtag, ordinary folks who congregate to fight evil, but nope. Lamont is stuck in a rut. He does not really enjoy working at the diner, but bristles at his mother (Laketa Caston) suggesting that he return to trade school to become a welder, which he displays some skill in. Lamont’s relationship with his family is not warm or close and comes across as a mix of business and personal. He has a better relationship with his girlfriend, Marlene, but immediately bonds with Belko, and they have an emotional connection. Lamont gives Belko some leads on possible vampire nests, who may be preying on the town’s homeless, which means Lamont’s frequent diners, Bud (David Sollberger) and Terence (Jim Azelvandre), are vulnerable. The pair may be able to offer some insight and an advantage. It is implied that many of the homeless are veterans. Sheriff Shaeffer (Beau Roberts) is a bit of a blowhard braggart who keeps getting in the way of Belko’s hunt.
No one in the cast does anything wrong, but they also never do anything memorable that makes the role inherently theirs. They look the part, but their performances are mostly so even keeled that it will not raise a pulse. B-movies like “Blood & Rust” needs at least one character with charisma who makes the movie feel like a cult hit. The main issue may be that most of the actors resemble other actors, so viewers may find their mind grasping for the name of whomever you are thinking of. For example, Roberts looks like John Michael Higgins, and Frankhauser resembles Kathryn Hahn, but neither actor is like their more famous counterpart, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Additionally, Lamont’s manhood journey with Belko as his mentor feels half-baked and perfunctory, not visceral. The everyman turned hero is a trope that never coalesces in “Blood and Rust.” The denouement suggests that the two men have forged a deep emotional bond, and the flashback of their earlier onscreen moments ring hollow. They both share common past tragedies that motivate them to fight the vampires, but there is no passion in it. There is more homosocial chemistry between the two homeless guys, but because Belko and Lamont are supposed to be the heroes, the veteran duo gets marginalized faster. Azelvandre is the most convincing onscreen fighter. If the theme was about the legacy of being men without a war who need a battle to forge their identity, it feels more like a rushed afterthought that needed to be developed earlier.
The liveliest performance comes from Frankhauser, who at least has a pep to her step and nails her handful of comedic lines. The story twists itself into pretzels to find excuses for Lamont and Marlene not to connect, and for Marlene to suddenly need rescuing. It is a damn waste of the most consistent bright light in “Blood & Rust.” As the film’s Smurfette (mom is only in a handful of scenes in the first act), it feels as if the film is completely devoid of women among either the living or the undead.
At some point, “Blood & Rust” becomes derivative. The drive in sequence’s action is staged differently but feels borrowed from “Salem’s Lot” (2024). When the Boss’ lair appears, it looks like it was staged like the cocaine table in “Scarface” (1983). One sword fight feels like a homage to “Highlander” (1986). Half the fun of making movies is the chance to insert yourself in your favorite films, but none of these moments are as evocative as the opening act when cinematographer Sammy Lahiri’s use of lighting blocks in the same scene is visually entrancing. It is reminiscent of some of the best scenes in “Magazine Dreams” (2023). The opening credits feel like an homage to Seventies horror films, including John Carpenter’s “Halloween” (1978), and sets a stage for a performance or a story that never rises to the occasion.
The vampires come in two types: the Boss and the drones. Even the drone vampires are one-note in “Blood & Rust” and look more like rabid lepers though the most potentially frightening ones scamper like animals or insects. The best looking ones look like Rob Zombie on a bad day. The fangs are like the vampires in “Salem’s Lot” (1979), which was itself an homage to “Nosferatu” (1922) and “Nosferatu the Vampyre” (1979). It is never scary, but it is evocative as if it should be. At least they are brutal, not romantic, but they do inexplicably appear in the day, which cancels out why they look so pale. While the daytime horror was more satisfying than any of the night scenes, inconsistent details like that are aggravating. For a movie set in a small town, it was a missed opportunity for the victims not to recognize their attackers on occasion.
The Boss is not terrifying. Partridge as the boss feels more like a combination of James Mason’s take on the vampire familiar, Richard K. Straker in the 1979 “Salem’s Lot,” the makeup of Bela Lugosi, and the vibe of a “Law & Order” villain. It is an anti-climactic character that could use an infusion from the vampire neighbor next door from “Fright Night” (1985). Again, not scary. He is exploitive and leaves them as hungry as they were in life. It was disappointing that this system was not explored further since the boss is a type, and there is a boss who heads each hive. The undead life is as oppressive as quotidian life. The vampire powers and weaknesses are largely conventional, but when they mesmerize a human being, the human being’s eyes turn ridiculously red. If the special effects do not work, leave them out because the music more effectively conveys what transpired.
“Blood & Rust” is not a must-see film even for vampire lovers The fewer movies that you watch, the more likely that you will enjoy this movie, but vampire connoisseurs should skip this one. It is a thinly veiled Lifetime movie for men with daddy issues and feel at sea in life. If you are an adult, but do not feel like a man, you will resonate with this movie.
