5 Days to Halloween- 2014 A Girl Walks Home Alone

Over the next 100 days, I will present one movie of significances in horror, suspense or thrillers for each year from 1919 to 2018. The next film presented here is 2014 Persian language vampire movie "A Girl Walks Home Alone" starring Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Mozhan Marno, Marshall Manesh, Dominic Rains and directed by Ana Lily Amirpour.

A Girl Walks Home Alone (2014)

Dir- Ana Lily Amirpour

The people of Bad City face crime, drugs and all manner of sin while not knowing that a more significant threat is out there in the form of a lonely vampire who walks the streets at night in a black chador looking for her next victim. Described as a vampire western, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is pretty unconventional for a vampire movie as Director Ana Lily Amirpour blends a beautiful tale of female empowerment in a society where women have no freedom and are often victimized. Iranian-American actress Sheila Vand plays the unnamed vampire quite impressively despite little dialogue, her fearless spirit and desire to seek some justice show that even though she is a predator she has some humanity left in her as she punishes those who hurt women. The movie was shot in black and white and is in Farsi despite being filmed in California. Watching this movie, I was reminded of another vampire film Byzantium that also featured a young and mysterious female vampire seeking to end her loneliness while knowing her secret makes it all but impossible.