Blood and Chocolate (2007)

Sweet Teeth

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

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Katja von Garnier's Blood and Chocolate is a werewolf movie for people who like teen romances, and a teen romance for people who like werewolf movies. It's no great shakes in either direction, but the crossover attempt is mildly interesting. At least it's not yet another remake filled with the same old tricks. Instead, the film opens with plenty of picturesque shots of Bucharest, Romania, with trees, buildings, fountains, sculptures, and especially the lithe form of Vivian Gandillon (Agnes Bruckner), jogging. If there was any doubt that she's a werewolf, we get an immediate shot of a dog whimpering and backing away under her gaze -- not to mention that her brand of jogging includes bounding off the sides of buildings.

Vivian lives, vaguely dissatisfied, in a community of werewolves that keeps mostly to itself. The pack's leader, Gabriel (Oliver Martinez) worries that an attack could lead bands of marauding humans into their lair, massacring the lot of them. Occasionally, Gabriel waylays a drug dealer or some other scum of society and lets his furry brethren loose on a merry chase. Some of the wolfmen, such as Vivian's cousin Rafe (Bryan Dick), complain that life is too boring, but Vivian has other worries. Every seven years Gabriel takes a new bride, discarding the old ones, and Vivan dreads that she could be next. Worse, she fears that there's nothing she can do about it.

Into this setup walks our prince, a graphic novel artist and American expat Aiden (Hugh Dancy), in town to study and draw wolves. He babbles most of the "true" werewolf lore to the audience, the stuff that the movies bastardized for their own selfish ends. After a beautiful date that includes more city vistas, the two fall in love. This prompts an intervention from the wolves, which in turn prompts an all-out battle. Vivian must then decide where her loyalties lie.

Please read the rest of my full-length review at cinematical.com.

Starring: Agnes Bruckner, Hugh Dancy, Olivier Martinez, Katja Riemann, Bryan Dick, Chris Geere, Tom Harper, John Kerr, Jack Wilson, Vitalie Ursu, Bogdan Voda, Kata Dobó
Written by: Ehren Kruger, Christopher Landon, based on a book by Annette Curtis Klause
Directed by: Katja von Garnier
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence/terror, some sexuality and substance abuse
Running Time: 98 minutes
Date: January 26, 2007