It’s evident early on what kind of influences Bears Rebecca Fonté is drawing on for her sophomore feature film, How Far Does The Dark Go? The multi-hyphenate creator (she writes, directs and edits) has stated that her latest movie is indebted to titles like The Hunger, The Lair of the White Worm, and Vampyros Lesbos, as well as soundtrack-dominated movies of the ’90s like Cruel Intentions, Jawbreaker and The Crow.

For audiences, this is either a selling feature…or a warning.

How Far Does The Dark Go? chronicles the tumultuous relationship between alluring female vampire Evienne (Chloe Caroll) and human nurse Grace (Anna Hindman). The latter is abducted by Evienne and held prisoner in order to care for Evienne’s cancer-stricken human son, Henry (Robert Picardo), but over the course of several Stockholm Syndrome-y months, Grace begins to develop feelings for her captor.

Naturally things build into an intense physical relationship that involves sexy dreams, lingerie, bloody bubble baths, and unconventional fluid exchanges. Questions linger, though: has Grace simply been glamoured into falling for Evienne? Is the vampire truly a monster, as Henry suggests, or does she have any humanity left? And is Grace more susceptible because of her morphine addiction?

Several of these questions, as well as the vampire lore that Fonté develops (or borrows from other texts such as the aforementioned works by Tony Scott, Jean Rollins, as well as the physical movements of vampires from True Blood) are the film’s most intriguing aspects. Alas How Far Does The Dark Go? is far less interested in its narrative than in its vibe, which often feels at odds with the story and characters.

Clocking in at nearly an hour and forty-minutes, the film is best understood as a sexy, campy mixtape rather than a feature film. Fonté eschews a conventional score in favour of innumerable generic pop songs that play in the background of nearly every scene; occasionally the lyrics underline the content of what is happening on screen or helps the film maintain a certain energy, but just as often the soundtrack pulls focus.

If songs were used less frequently and more strategically – say, to accompany the transitions or a montage – they would be effective, but very quickly the music becomes a source of frustration. At a certain point it seems like the songs are Fonté’s main focus and the constant jukebox shifts are so noticeable that it is difficult not to count the sheer number of them (I stopped when I hit 10+ in the first forty minutes).

Ultimately How Far Does The Dark Go? is more interested in creating a mood than developing its story or characters. Among the cast, Picardo fares best as a man who is suspicious of his mother and just wants to die. Several of his conversations with Grace have genuine pathos, which helps to ground her uncertainty about the feelings she’s developing for Evienne. But while both Hindman and Caroll have their dramatic moments, neither lead is well fleshed out and their actions feel unconvincing, particularly in the accelerated climax when each woman’s motivation changes from scene to scene based on the needs of the plot.*

*This is especially true of Grace’s addiction storyline, which reappears sporadically (usually when Evienne needs to be drugged).

One aspect that works well is the physical connection between the women (credit intimacy coordinator Irmingard Mayer because there’s a lot of sex and nudity in the final product). How Far Does The Dark Go? is very sex-positive and the film’s unapologetic queerness has the same indie punk spirit as something like 2019’s Bit. It’s in these moments that The Hunger‘s notorious sex scene and the sheer costumes (and scythe!) of Rollins’ work are clearly being acknowledged.

Fonté is most successful when the film mixes lurid melodrama, lesbian sexuality, and late night exploitation film. This includes grindhouse transitions such as scratches, missing frames and a particularly inspired moment when the film quite literally burns up. While these technically playful aspects call attention to themselves in a similar fashion as the music, their judicious use makes them more enjoyable.

How Far Does The Dark Go? also includes humour and camp, though this is element is more mixed. Take the moment after Evienne slaughters a victim and the woman’s gum falls out of her mouth into a pool of blood. That’s chuckle-worthy. There’s an extended flashback in which Evienne and her old vampire girlfriend Tempest (Samantha Rothermel) slaughter a prissy women’s book club. That’s quite amusing.

But then there is supporting character Dayanara (Telita Perry), a Black vampire slayer who appears out of the blue and randomly inserts herself in a handful of scenes without explanation or backstory. Dayanara is awkwardly shoe-horned into the film (often to its detriment) and the character’s oft-repeated “slayer (not hunter)” joke doesn’t work. This supporting role feels like one element too many in a film that already needed some pruning and refining.

Overall How Far Does The Dark Go? works best as a collection of sexy music videos. There are moments of inspiration, but ultimately the film doesn’t hold together as a full-length film.

How Far Does The Dark Go? had its world premiere at the Queer Screams Film Festival.