First Review of Olalla – The Illustrated version

Thanks to its totally unconventional approach, Olalla is one of the most interesting vampire movies of late -(…) Amy Hesketh’s direction captures all of this quite beautifully: At a laid back pace she manages to capture the emotional underpinnings quite expertly while at the same time switching between past (the story of Olalla’s mother) and present quite effortlessly and effectively – and whoever has the nerve to tell me that the burning of Olalla’s mother on the cross has not sent a shiver down their spines is probably lying.

Olalla
Bolivia 2014 produced by Amy Hesketh, Jac Avila for Pachamama Films, Decadent Cinema

directed by Amy Hesketh

starring Amy Hesketh, Jac Avila, Mila Joya, Luis Almanza, Alejandro Loayza A, Erix Antoine, Roberto Lopez L.,Maria Esther Arteaga, Fermin Nunez, Cristian Del Rio, Rhobess Pierre, Pablo Paravicini, Rosario Huanca,Valeria Huanca, Eric Calancha
written by Amy Hesketh, based on the novel by Robert Lewis Stevenson, music by Cristian Del Rio, direction by Amy Hesketh

review by
Mike Haberfelner

Olalla (Amy Hesketh) is the daughter to an old Bolivian family … of vampires. And to some extent, she’s the black sheep of the family, every now and again unable to control her bloodsucking urges, and thus endangering her next of kin.

Matter of fact, ages ago, Olalla’s mother (also Amy Hesketh) was chained to a cross and burned to death about one and a half centuries ago, when Olalla was still a child – vampires age in this story, but very slowly.

Olalla also isn’t quite happy with both her role as a vampire, and her position within her family, where she’s treated like a child, every now and again flogged and raped by her uncle Felipe (Jac Avila) as punishment for her urges,

humiliated by her own sister Ofelia (Mila Joya), who actually wants her dead

and who doesn’t shy away from fucking uncle Felipe into submission,

and looked down upon by the rest of her relatives.

However, Olalla’s family has a houseguest, Nathan (Luis Almanza), a war photographer treated for post traumatic stress disorder, and he has taken a liking to Olalla – and she too feels a certain connection.

With him, Olalla plans to escape her family – but he hasn’t the first idea that she’s a vampire, nor what’s going on even … so is there any chance for this to work out?

Thanks to its totally unconventional approach, Olalla is one of the most interesting vampire movies of late – these are not your typical bloodsuckers, but a typical old-fashioned family with a strict hierarchy, its black sheep (Olalla)

and forbidden fruits (Ofelia),

its enforcers (Felipe)

and eccentrics (Erix Antoine as Uncle Bruno) –

but all of this isn’t played for laughs (though there are a few) but as a drama with its gory, its violent, its sexy and its fetishistic bits, all set in rather beautifully decorated sets betraying crumbling decadence, carried by a first rate ensemble cast.

And Amy Hesketh’s direction captures all of this quite beautifully: At a laid back pace she manages to capture the emotional underpinnings quite expertly while at the same time switching between past (the story of Olalla’s mother) and present quite effortlessly and effectively