LESBIAN VAMPIRE KILLERS - 15
Lesbian Vampire Killers must've looked like the perfect vehicle for new BBC comedy golden boys, Mathew Horne and James Corden. After all, it was a horror comedy, Shaun of the Dead, that turned Simon Pegg and Nick Frost into superstars, why couldn't the same thing happen to them? Well, the thing with Shaun of the Dead was that it had a really good script, Lesbian Vampire Killers, alas, does not.
Wimpish Jimmy (Horne) has been dumped by his girlfriend, again. His obnoxious best friend Fletch (Corden) thinks he needs a holiday and they end up taking a camping trip to a remote village, where, as luck has it, they encounter a tour group of beautiful girls from the continent. But what they don't know is that the village is under a curse which turns all women over 18 into lesbian vampires. Then Jimmy discovers that he's the last descendent of a legendary vampire hunter and that to break the curse he must face off against an ancient foe, the Vampire Queen Camilla.
Even low brow comedies must have the occasional touch of wit about them. Sadly, the writer's of Lesbian Vampire Killers seem to think that constant profanity is good enough to serve as all purpose punchline for each and every situation. There is not one single memorable line in the whole film. Almost all the humour derives from Corden's crass buffoon's endless repetitive swearing and his laddish sexual vulgarities. Making matters worse is that his character is working overtime to cover for Horne's part, who is such a non-entity that it's hard to care what happens to him at all and impossible to understand why the female lead would even notice he was there, never mind fall in love with him.
By the far the best thing in the film is Paul McGann, who plays a classic vigilante fire and brimstone priest. Putting his no-nonsense character alongside Corden's mouthy yob is the only comedy goal the film scores. And for once the timing is right; something which Director Phil Claydon gets wrong over and over. Not that he's got the material to work with
The film does at least operate more successfully as a tribute to Hammer Horrors of old (the film was considered as the first film for the rejuvenated franchise). There's the rural locale, the scared villagers, the tacky scenes of titillation, the glossy cinematography which masks a clearly limited budget, though there's curiously no blood due to an odd early gag that didn't need repeating throughout.
But there's really very little to recommend Lesbian Vampire Killers. It's foul mouthed, but not funny, and unlikely to do anything positive for the careers of Horne or Corden. Those looking for a new Shaun of the Dead would be better advised to check out last year's unfairly overlooked The Cottage instead.