| Blood of the Tribades | |
| Director: | Sophia Cacciola, Michael J. Epstein |
| Screenplay: | Sophia Cacciola, Michael J. Epstein |
| Producer: | Sophia Cacciola, Michael J. Epstein |
| Starring: | Chloé Cunha, Mary Widow, Seth Chatfield, Tymisha 'Tush' Harris, Kristofer Jenson, Zach Pidgeon, Sindy Katrotic |
| Cinematography: | Sophia Cacciola, Michael J. Epstein |
| Editing: | Sophia Cacciola, Michael J. Epstein |
| Music: | Night Kisses, Catherine Capozzi, Michael J. Epstein |
| Studio: | Launch Over |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Blood of the Tribades is a 2016 horror film directed by Sophia Cacciola and Michael J. Epstein. The script, style, and look are heavily influenced by 1970s Euro lesbian vampire films.[1] The film is distributed in North America on VOD and DVD/Blu-ray by Launch Over[2] and VHS by SRS Media.[3]
Chris Hallock of the Boston Underground Film Festival, where the film had its world premiere on March 27, 2016, calls it, "a love letter to offbeat lesbian vampire films that offers powerful discourse on self-identity, feminism, and the violence wrought from religious dogma".[4]
The film is notable for reversing the typical structure and focus of lesbian vampire films, with ambush bug of Ain't it Cool News noting, "The lesbian vampire is not new in the realm of horror, but whereas in the past, male filmmakers did their best to make lesbianism seem both erotic as well as the outcast other, this film actually makes these vamps sympathetic and shifts gears to change the subject to male oppression versus judgment upon free-spirited feminine wiles".[5]
Starbursts Andrew Marshall examined the film's religious and political allegory in which the words of an ancient religious leader are corrupted over time in order to build favorable power structures: "Through its sex and violence, the film examines the perception of women in an oppressively masculine society, one in which they are taught obedience and complacency, remaining the unwitting victims of theocratic doctrine weaponised by dogmatic fundamentalists. From sapphic symbolism misappropriated by the patriarchal religion to character names representing a disparate assortment of mythologies, the film gradually constructs a culture that could conceivably exist apart from whatever domain may or may not lie beyond the village's borders, while the rampant histrionic misogyny is not only believable within the story's context, but is also rendered all-too plausible by recent real-world developments".[6]
2000 years after the great vampire Bathor established the village of Bathory, superstition and religious violence take over as the men and women battle for control. When the men are afflicted with a mysterious illness, they become certain that the vampire women of Bathory are responsible for their ills, and thus, the hunt begins! Long-forgotten lovers Élisabeth and Fantine find that, with the help of those who were banished, it is their fate to piece together the past and help preserve what little of their society remains before Bathor's impending return and judgment.
Funding for the movie was partially raised through a successful Kickstarter campaign.[7]
Blood of the Tribades has received generally positive reviews. Kevan Farrow of Scream gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars, noting, "Blood of the Tribades is both a pretty and fun piece of offbeat melodrama, and an enraged feminist statement".[8] Andrew Marshall of Starburst gave the film 8 out of 10.[6] Daniel XIII of Famous Monsters of Filmland gave 4 out of 5, noting, "All in all this is one hell of a flick: unique, surreal and chock full of the bloody and beautiful goods that lovers of the Euro-horror genre dig like a grave!"[9]