Insane Like Me? – Movie Review (2/5)

INSANE LIKE ME? is a new vampire movie that clearly had some talent behind it, despite not being one of the best the subgenre has to offer. Read our Insane Like Me? movie review here!

With the sheer abundance of vampire movies on the market these days, it goes without saying that not every film will be a classic. As is the case with Insane Like Me?, a new vampire movie which clearly had some talent behind it, despite not being one of the best the subgenre has to offer.

Director Chip Joslin, who co-wrote the script alongside Britt Bankhead, had the potential to create something truly bold and unique, but some strange creative choices unfortunately held the project back.

The film opens with an exhaustively long prologue in which Afghanistan War veteran Jake Morgan (played by Bankhead) and his friends are attacked by vampires after attending a party at an abandoned mansion. We then learn that Morgan was subsequently blamed for the crimes, and that he was sent to a psychiatric ward as a result.

The opening title was not shown until a full eighteen minutes into the eight-five-minute film, so you would be forgiven for assuming that Insane Like Me? has major issues with its pacing. And the filmmakers also seemed to be aware of the fact that things took a while to get going because the plot rushed towards its conclusion after Morgan was released from the ward.

It would have been preferable to have been given more time to get to know the characters, but the relatively short runtime and the fast pacing sadly did not allow much time for this.

And the subplot involving Morgan’s wrongful conviction and sectioning was largely glossed over instead of being given the attention it deserved, making the eventual payoff less satisfying.

The acting in Insane Like Me?

Bankhead did his best in the role of Morgan, creating a convincing portrait of a man who struggled to re-adjust to civilian life after returning from the war while also fighting his own internal battles.

However, the same cannot be said for the rest of the cast, who were largely wooden and one-note in their performances. This is exemplified by the way in which the character Crystal Davis (Samantha Reddy) flatly shouts, “Where’s my sister?” to a crazed killer. And by the way in which the other actors blandly feign surprise when they see vampires committing superhuman feats. It seems like most of the young actors who comprised the bulk of the supporting cast were not passionate about their roles, and this clearly shows.

Oscar-nominated actor Eric Roberts also shows up, and it was refreshing to see him being given a substantial role instead of just making a cameo, which he has become known for in recent years. Appearing as the hard-boiled Sheriff Davies, Roberts did the best he could with the material he was given, but even he could not save the picture.

While he does a decent enough job playing the tough-as-nails sheriff who believes he can punch his way out of any situation, Roberts was less convincing whenever he needed to display his character’s vulnerable side.

There was a scene where Davies breaks down in tears upon discovering the body of a loved one. Roberts’ delivery throughout this scene seemed so flat and unconvincing that it might as well have been pulled straight from a daytime soap opera.

The vampires were also clearly intended to be intimidating and otherworldly, but the way in which their voices were digitally altered to make them seem more threatening made them impossible to understand in many instances.

We were probably supposed to feel fear when the sinister Doctor Stoker started monologuing about his evil plans. But most viewers will probably be too busy trying to decipher his incomprehensibly deep and reverberating voice to even notice if he was meant to be intimidating. The sound department obviously felt that it would be cool to add demonic sound effects to the vampires’ voices in post-production, without checking if the effects would be easy to understand.

Most of the fight sequences were relatively brief, and the level of gore on display was not particularly strong. It was enjoyable to see the battle-hardened Morgan using all his skills and resources to fight his superhuman opponents whenever he was shown fighting them.

And you will only wish the brief action scenes had lasted for longer. The relatively weak gore was also a drawback, as was the largely unconvincing CGI blood which often sprayed from wounds. The CGI explosion towards the end looked so fake that you really will wonder how it was actually left in.

However, the cinematography does need to be praised, especially since there was a prolonged and uninterrupted shot of the characters exploring an abandoned building, which clearly took a massive amount of planning before it could be filmed.

The shot lasts for several minutes, making it the film’s crowning achievement. You will also wish that more of this kind of creativity had been displayed throughout the picture.

Since there are dozens of other vampire films released every year, Insane Like Me? is ultimately difficult to recommend. The filmmakers clearly had a strong initial idea, but the project lost its way on its journey from script to screen.

If you are a fan of vampire movies, and you feel in the mood for something new and fresh, you should probably look elsewhere.

Insane Like Me? debuted on Cable and Digital VOD on June 4, 2024, including Apple TV, Amazon, Google Play, Fandango At Home, Comcast, Dish, and DirecTV.

Details

Director: Chip Joslin
Writers: Britt Bankhead, Chip Joslin
Cast: Britt Bankhead, Grace Patterson, Eric Roberts, Samantha Reddy, Jack Maxwell, Paul Kolker, Meg Hobgood