Captive (2023) - Generic, but fun

There are some film that I just can't work out.  Sometimes they included all the elements of a genre that I should like - and yet I end up hating the finished product.  Other times (like now) this one has a lot of negatives, yet I came away feeling like I hadn't wasted an hour and a half of my life.

I'm not sure whether it's a 'spoiler' to talk about the promotional front cover/poster, as it's kind of in your face already whenever you see the cover art of image on a streaming service.  It does kind of give the game away as to what the film's about.  The blurb reads something like 'a group of stoners break into a house to get high, but get more than they bargained for.' That could leave you wondering what they come up against and what the threat is they face.  But if you've seen the poster then you'll have immediately seen the fangs, indicating that this is a vampire movie.

It's sort of like an extended episode of 'Buffy' but aimed more at adults.  The teenagers get stalked in one large house while the plot if peppered with some vague 'love story' elements that any good (or terrible!) teen drama is littered with.

The dialogue is average at best.  The acting is passable, but, to be fair, the actors aren't given a lot to work with!  The plot is kind of predictable and you'll know who's going to get their pretty little teenage throat chomped on and any bloodsplatter is blatantly computer-generated.

In other words... this film has more than its fair share of faults.  And I actually quite enjoyed it.  Yes, it's no masterpiece and I may not remember it this time next year, but it was serviceable enough for what it was.  I was clearly in the mood for something that wasn't particularly taxing and possibly in a very forgiving mood.  There's certainly a hundred better vampire movies and TV shows out there, but there are certainly some worse ones, too - at least the vamps didn't even come close to 'sparkling' in sunlight here.  

6/10 Should probably keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights