‘They suck at school’
Vampire Academy – aka Vampire Academy: Blood Sisters – is a 2014 American action horror film based on the 2007 best-selling novel of the same name by Richelle Mead, directed by Mark Waters and scripted by Daniel Waters. It stars Zoey Deutch, Danila Kozlovsky, Lucy Fry, Gabriel Byrne (Stigmata; Gothic; The Keep), and Rory Fleck-Byrne (The Quiet Ones).
The film was a failure critically and financially, grossing only $15.4 million worldwide against a $30 million budget.
Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, half human/vampire, guardians of the Moroi, peaceful, mortal vampires living discretely within our world. Her legacy is to protect the Moroi from bloodthirsty, immortal vampires, the Strigoi…
Reviews:
“To be fair, both Cameron Monaghan and Dominic Sherwood manage to shine in their supporting roles, which only highlights how below par everyone else’s performance is. Suggestion to the screenwriters: you may not want to put down Twilight and sparkling vampires when your script already sounds like bad fan fiction itself.” Movie Crypt
“If you’re semi-paying attention, you’ll figure out who the villains are not too long into the movie, and then it’s a long, slow slog to the finish line because Vampire Academy offers nothing in the way of suspense, interesting characters or even a compelling argument for its existence.” Den of Geek!
“One idea, mixed with lame jokes, and stretched beyond coherence. Vampire Academy doesn’t need a review. It needs a stake in the heart.” Rolling Stone
“It’s so concerned with its juvenile dramatics that any potential horror content only shows up in dribs and drabs, like a bit involving shirtless guys making blood graffiti that seems like it’s been spliced in from one of David DeCoteau’s Brotherhood flicks, and the late-coming appearance of wolflike CGI beasts called psi-hounds…” Fangoria
“While not all the enrolled pretty male and female creatures swanning about this fussily old-fashioned Hogwarts-like institution shun the sun, apparently they are afraid of other kinds of exposure since Vampire Academy had no prior screenings for reviewers before opening on Friday. Wise move, since there is no UV protection high enough to extend to critical scorching.” RogerEbert.com
“Perhaps the fault is in the source material and the filmmakers did the best with what they had, but it doesn’t even feel like anyone behind the camera really cared. For as awful as they are, Zoey Deutch and Lucy Fry are at least trying to give the movie some life, but the whole thing is a boring and bland waste of time that is as empty and vacuous as the general conceit of being Twilight meets Harry Potter.” Flickering Myth
“Visually, the film is nothing special, but it’s at least reasonably professional. Mark Waters and his cinematographer Tony Pierce-Roberts (Underworld) shot everything in a plain, yet also clean and comfortable fashion, so there’s no framing of the young women to objectify them, and the film tends to rely on quick-cutting rather than pseudo-realistic camerawork (in other words, no shaky cam) during the action sequences.” Screen Rant
Cast and characters:
Zoey Deutch as Rosemarie “Rose” Hathaway
Lucy Fry as Vasilisa “Lissa” Dragomir
Danila Kozlovsky as Dimitri Belikov
Gabriel Byrne as Victor Dashkov
Dominic Sherwood as Christian Ozera
Olga Kurylenko as Headmistress Ellen Kirova
Sarah Hyland as Natalie Dashkov
Cameron Monaghan as Mason Ashford
Sami Gayle as Mia Rinaldi
Ashley Charles as Jesse Zeklos
Claire Foy as Sonya Karp
Joely Richardson as Queen Tatiana Ivashkov
Dominique Tipper as Guardian Gabriela
Edward Holcroft as Aaron Drozdov
Bronté Norman-Terrell as Camilla Conta
Chris Mason as Ray/Ralf Sarcozy
Nick Gillard as Kenneth
Rory Fleck-Byrne as Andre Dragomir
Alexander Abadzis as Mr Dragomir
Elizabeth Conboy as Rhea Dragomir
Filming locations:
Brent Cross Shopping Centre, Hendon, London, England
Charterhouse School, Godalming, Surrey, England
The Charterhouse, Charterhouse Square, London, England
Louise Blouin Foundation, London, England
Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England
University College London (UCL), Malet Place, Bloomsbury, London, England
