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by Flick Chick Vique

Blood and Chocolate gums away at 2 &1/2 Red Vines for being rather toothless.

All I can say is it’s about time! In the last few years there have been plenty of takes on the vampire culture but finally werewolves are getting their due!

Blood and Chocolate is a supernatural love story between a ‘wolf’ girl and a handsome artist, all set against a romantic Bucharest background. The girl, Vivian (Agnes Bruckner, Venom), has fought her true nature all her life. She has successfully shunned killing but embraces the few moments when she transforms and can run free. But her pack live by a code and her destiny appears to lie in being the new Queen to the King of the pack. This is a future she both despises and fears. When a chance midnight encounter in a church brings her face to face with a cute American tourist, Aiden, (Hugh Darcy, Ella Enchanted ) the journey for the moon-crossed lovers begins.

I will say right off the bat that Blood and Chocolate isn’t a great movie. And yet I can’t help but like it! The movie was based on the popular teen romance novel of the same name, written by Annette Curtis Klause. That’s where the problems begin. For you see the movie is remarkably different. For fans, this could be a silver bullet for the flick. The differences are vast and will leave fans angry and disappointed. I was not a fan of the book. To be honest I had never heard of it. But from what I can tell, the book is darker and more violent. Perfect for it’s teen base. The movie, however, relies on mood and emotion with minimal action and gore. I think this treatment will be too delicate for America’s bloodthirsty, action-addicted teens.

Perhaps that’s why I enjoyed it more than they will. Being older, I appreciated the international cast and the bold European flavor provided by them and the Bucharest background. I can’t remember ever seeing a werewolf movie that was shot on location from the area where the mythology was born! I really enjoyed that aspect. I also enjoyed how they interpreted and reinvented some of the famous werewolf mythology. And it was fun to see the transformation and the pack ‘hunts’.

If anything, the movie suffers from being trapped in a netherworld between corny and cool. Audiences laughed during some dramatic moments, yet they were into it enough to cheer on certain scenes.

Unfortunately Blood and Chocolate will not enjoy the cult status of other werewolf flicks like An American Werewolf in London or The Wolfen. It might not even be worth that $9 ticket. But as teenage werewolf stories go, it’s pretty good. A bargain matinee wouldn’t be a waste of your time and money. If you’re still not sure, rent it come next Halloween. Then go bay at the moon!