* WARNING THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS*
“But Hamlet was so wrong. My name is Leila Bennett, and this is the story of how I died.” So begins possibly the most ominous production from YSTV of late. Moody aerial shots of York are interspersed with sights of campus, and the voiceover sends a shiver down your spine, smacking of The Vampire Diaries pilot.
“I didn’t have a boyfriend, you couldn’t call me popular,” Leila laments in voiceover, doing her best to echo Bella Swan but with a British chirpiness that overcomes any depression or inability to smile. That chirpiness is almost instantly robbed from us by an ominous beat and a discussion between Leila and her friend, Sophie, who has a stellar American accent, about missing girls. This whole sequence is interspersed with faces flashing up ominously on-screen.
The plot thickens when their friend Connor tells them, “Me and my friends are hitting V-Bar tomorrow night if you want to join in?” From this point forward a serious of ominous and unfortunate events are laid bare for poor Leila, who we are all dimly aware is hurtling towards her doom, but unfortunately past Leila is completely oblivious to the husky hindsight of now presumably dead Leila.
The supernatural elements are introduced piecemeal and impressive camerawork makes the pilot move along swiftly. There’s an ominous standoff at the Vanbrugh intersection as four Vampires descend on the scene. There’s the sassy female vampire who happens to be a martial arts specialist, the bland male one who nobody’s ever going to give a monkey’s about and then the incredibly intense, but still somehow sexy despite being deadly, David. He even has a bad-ass leather jacket to assert his ‘don’t Fuck with me’ appearance. The use of contacts is actually pretty effective in putting across the differentiation of the Vampires from humans.
The fake blood and prosthetics really comes on a lot in the second episode and the longer running time enables further character development. Our cast widens out with the introduction of the creepy and somehow insanely knowledgeable professor-type. The Vampires’ motivations crystallise as it becomes apparent they can’t procreate and in a terrifying turn of events, the ominous super-villain/foe of doom, the Patriarch, is referenced in suitably ominous proportions.
Leila, bless her, can’t quite keep up with the supernaturals. And who can blame her? She only has one friend. Worse still, the creepy and somehow knowledgeable professor type calls her ‘my child’. He’s also feeding the Black Swans, which’ll probably turn out to be some sign from nature that he’s dangerous. He also warns her saying, “she’s in danger,” and “go home, before anybody gets hurt.” Obviously he draws out the “get hurt” bit so that it’s more menacing.
To be honest, if you are cowering at this point (which I definitely wasn’t…), you shouldn’t risk going on any further. Henry, the seemingly lovely scientist is jumpy in a Brains-from-Thunderbirds way, but only if Brains had started working for the Hood and planted a bomb on Thunderbird 2. We at least finally find out where all those missing girls have been, but in an unfortunate turn of events they’re locked up with a carnivorous giant reptile. Bad times indeed. The blood splatter and shiver-inducing screams will alternately leave you crying for Episode 3 or… just… you know, sobbing inconsolably.