Does This Movie Suck?

For Day 2 of my Spooktober movie marathon, I revisited the 2014 “fantasy-comedy-horror” film Vampire Academy. Based on the popular novel series by Richelle Mead, the movie was a must-see for me when it first came out because I had loved the books. Richelle’s take on vampires included a boarding school, St. Vladimir's Academy, for vampire royalty, Moroi, and their half-human guardians, Dhampir, where they train to fight evil vampires, Strigoi.

Full disclosure I rewatched Vampire Academy during my first Spooktober marathon but I believe it needed a rewatch for blogging purposes.

The film is considered a flop for grossing half of what it cost to make the film. It has been a while since I read the books and with most film adaptations I always watch with a salt-lamp-sized grain of salt.

The movie stars some pretty heavy hitters like Zoey Deutch, Before I Fall, Sarah Hyland, Modern Family, and, a little-known at the time, Anya Taylor-Joy as a feeder girl. Even with this the movie never got the Twilight-styled fandom. Not a cinematic masterpiece, I still think the movie has merit.

After my rewatch I think this movie sucks in some good ways even if it’s just to watch Zoey Deutch kick some vampire butt and some sisters-before-misters-best-friendship between the two main characters. And I think others agree since Peacock recently announced a Vampire Academy Series coming to the network in the near future.