Horror is a massively popular genre. It more than any other genre seems to have weathered the storm of time and hasn’t ever really disappeared. That being said, there is one sub-niche of the genre that is in danger of dying out, the comedy horror. Back in the Eighties and early Nineties they were ten a penny, but recent years have seen them shelved in favour of the jump-scare traditional fright tests. It’s a shame because when done right the horror comedy can be a thing of beauty. Luckily there are still a few out there brave enough to tackle the sub genre and this week sees Brian James O’Connell‘s Bloodsucking Bosses land on DVD.
Bloodsucking Bosses is a horror comedy for the office workers of the world. The story follows downtrodden office worker Evan (Fran Kanz) who, after being overlooked for a promotion, starts to question just how safe his work place really is. To make matters worse for Evan his old rival Max (Game of Thrones’ Pedro Pascal) lands the job and sets about making Evan’s ex-girlfriend his eternal companion.
The ‘traditional’ horror elements don’t kick in until around the halfway mark, but for anyone who has had to endure an uninspiring office job existence the horror will start much earlier. Parallels can easily be made between Bloodsucking Bosses and Office Space and in many ways it’s that latter film with blood and gore. There’s a massive clue in the title, but for those that haven’t twigged, the baddies of the piece are vampires. It’s a refreshing change that it isn’t zombies for once, this could have easily become an office-set Shaun of the Dead. The vampire dimension however, adds a slight The Lost Boys / Fright Night skew to proceedings.
Where Bloodsucking Bosses falls down is with its female characters. The film has three of them and they are all confined to a stereotype box (the fat ugly loner, the bitch, and the girlfriend) and never let loose. They all seem to hate one another and never interact with each other unless it’s to discuss one of the men. It’s a film that won’t be passing the Bechdel test.
When taken at face value Bloodsucking Bosses is a quirky horror comedy that seeks to revive an endangered sub genre. Sadly it lacks the character substance to elevate it higher. A film that perfectly highlights just how bad work can suck.
Bloodsucking Bosses is out on DVD now.
