"Vampires vs. the Bronx" does something really smart. Rather than make vampires a metaphor for gentrification, which could be corny, it literally has vampires gentrify a neighborhood, which is hilarious. It comes right out and says what it means, and it's fiendishly entertaining while it makes its point about how greedy real estate developers treating financially struggling communities as investment properties are evil.
The film follows a young teenager named Miguel who notices something very strange about Murnau Properties, the real estate firm that's buying up every building in the neighborhood. It seems to be run by vampires, who are killing with impunity because the world doesn't notice if people from the Bronx go missing. So Miguel and his friends decide to get their "Blade" on and fight back to save their home. It's an intelligent horror comedy with a lot of love for the BX.
- Starring: Jaden Michael, Gerald W. Jones III, Gregory Diaz IV
- Director: Oz Rodriguez
- Year: 2020
- Runtime: 86 minutes
- Rating: PG-13
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%
