Review #936: 'A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night' (2014)

As the never-ending vampire craze marches on, film-makers from around the globe continue to try and dissect our fascination with the seductive undead and their nocturnal habits. British-American-Iranian director Ana Lily Amirpour's unusual vampire flick tip its hat to 1950's Americana, and its setting, the Iranian town Bad City, is like something from a spaghetti western. Part love story, part gothic horror, and part exercise in style over substance, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is a beautiful work of art, but like its blood-sucking heroine, doesn't seem to know quite what it is.

Manual labourer Arash (Arash Marandi) spends his life either looking after his heroin-addled father Hossein (Marshall Manesh) or caring for his recently-purchased 1950's car. When Hossein fails to pay his debts to local drug dealer and pimp Saeed (Dominic Rains), Arash's car is taken as collateral. Saeed snorts and bullies his way through life, but soon catches the attention of a mysterious new arrival, a skateboarding vampire wearing a chador. The Girl (Sheila Vand) starts to stalk the streets at night, preying upon men committing evil acts, and even threatens a young boy when he shows early signs of becoming a bad person. As Arash stumbles home one night from a party dressed as Count Dracula, he catches the girl's eye, and they start a curious romance.

With gorgeous black-and-white cinematography and a haunting score, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is a treat for all of the senses. The Girl glides on her skateboard masked by her chador like a curious and vengeful spectre of the night, and her night-time haunts are captured beautifully by cinematographer Lyle Vincent. But with its relentless efforts to be cool and iconic - the film has a distinctive hipster vibe - the artfulness of the early scenes gives way to something akin to an extended music video. The soundtrack is certainly decent, but Amirpour often lingers too long on the two would-be lovers as they touch and gaze at each other like two members of different species. Still, on this evidence alone, Amirpour is a director to watch, and how often does an Iranian vampire western come along?


Directed by: Ana Lily Amirpour
Starring: Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Marshall Manesh, Dominic Rains
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie