What makes it different from others?

Very well executed

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

This is a work of art in many ways and I regret not seeing it sooner simply because "I don't do vampire movies." This is not your usual vampire movie. If you like art cinema, try this.

Since seeing his Neo-Noir work get praised on IMDb's Film Noir board,and also catching clips of 1999's The End of the Affair,I've been meaning to take a look at director Neil Jordan's work,but have for some reason have never found the perfect moment.Joining an event being held on IMDb's Film Festival page,I was delighted to find that one of the titles chosen for the event was Jordan's latest title,which led to me getting ready to visit Byzantium.The plot:Angering a vampire group called the Brethren,mum and daughter vampires Eleanor & Clara Webb attempt to avoid the Brethren by staying hidden in the shadows.Feeling agitated over Clara's demands to keep her vampire life secret,Eleanor begins writing and telling people about her "past life",which leads to Clara's having to kill the humans who find out their secrets.Getting sacked from her job as a stripper,Clara becomes a prostitute.Showing some empathy towards a client called Noel.Clara uses her vampire seduction skills to get Noel to let her and Eleanor stay in a hotel that his mum ran called Byzantium.Arriving at the hotel,Clara starts to turn the hotel into a brothel,as Eleanor starts to step out of her mums blood-drenched shadow.View on the film:Left sitting on the shelf for 2 years after filming,director Neil Jordan & cinematographer Sean Bobbitt stop the movie from appearing dusty by wrapping it in stylised brooding elegance. Transferring each line in Eleanor's "life story" onto the screen,Jordan and Bobbitt dip the film into silk Gothic Melodrama,with the flashbacks spanning the beautiful high seas and mountains on Ireland,which are joined by an earthy, bruised crimson which unveils the pain and torment that Clara suffered during her vampire "birth." Getting between Clara & Eleanor for the "present",Jordan brilliantly uses eye-catching tracking shots to subtly display the gap developing between the Clara and Eleanor. Bringing Clara onto the screen with a fantastic strip club dance,Jordan unleashes bubbling Gothic Horror claret across the screen,as the memory of a "river of blood" is revived by Clara trying to keep Eleanor's fangs hidden away in the neon-lit outskirts.Adapting his own play,the screenplay by Moira Buffini gives Clara and Eleanor to distinctive set of fangs,with Clara's long fangs of history allowing Buffini to bite into black comedy with a bloody relish,whilst Eleanor's young fang desire to be a free from her family history allows Buffini to cast a sweeping Gothic romance across the title. Throwing some unlucky humans to the girls,Buffini pulls up the Gothic Horror veins by giving the troubled mother/daughter relationship between Eleanor & Clara a tense,fragile atmosphere,as Eleanor tries to enter adulthood whilst also fighting with Clara over how a vampire should be.Looking stunning in her stripper entrance, Gemma Arterton gives an excellent performance as Clara,with Arterton dressing Clara in Punk leather,whose deadly off-the-cuff remarks are a taster to Clara's deep red fangs. Attempting to rebel against her own rebellious mother,the elegant Saoirse Ronan impressively keeps Eleanor away from appearing sappy,thanks to Ronan giving Eleanor a firm, determined bite,as Clara and Eleanor enter Byantium.

Not another vampire movie, well it is; but it does not feature your regular diet.Red is a recurring theme, which reminds you (if you have forgotten exactly) what it is that you are watching.Great performances from the leads. I am not a fan of Gemma Arterton, but have watched Saoirse Ronan's progress with avid attention, she is becoming better and better, if that is possible; and chooses interesting roles.An interesting story, told well, I would recommend it to the serious movie goers - who enjoy a decent production; not for the younger audience or the faint of heart - needless to say.

This movie lacks a good story and good sense. It has good actors and a nice mood but it's just not enough. It treats the subject of sexual abuse and forced prostitution in a scandalously offhand manner as something that adds "spice" and "feist" to a pretty female character. Really, zero sensitivity or thought went into that whole back story presented for the purpose of male viewer titillation. It also takes a cartoonish view of female teenage depression which is presented as some sort of vaguely romantic, trembling lower lip melancholy with the ultimate goal of landing a suitable young man (which, of course, is the miraculous cure). When you remove the blatantly insulting bits you're left with a very mediocre, rehashed vampire story set in an ugly, nowhere town.