A Gory Thomas Jane Vampire Movie Is Raising Stakes On Streaming
Thomas Jane's vampire horror comedy Slayers is in the top ten most-watched movies on Hulu.
Vampire and horror movies usually peak in popularity in the Fall, especially around Halloween. One horror comedy film released this past Fall is seeing new life after recently being released on streaming platforms. According to a Flix Patrol report, the Thomas Jane-led vampire action film Slayers is back from the dead and has broken into the top ten streaming films on Hulu.
When a mysterious billionaire invites a group of social media influencers to a mansion in the middle of nowhere, they soon find out that they’ve bitten off more than they can chew. Trapped in the lair of a coven of vampires, there seems to be no way out. That’s where vampire hunter Elliot Jones (Thomas Jane) comes in.
After vampires murder his teenage daughter, Jones spends years training to become a vampire slayer. When he finally tracks down the vampires that took away his daughter, Jones is ready to enact some punishment, storm their secret base, and save some entitled Gen Z influencers from the fangs of some bloodsuckers.
The critical reception and Slayers‘ current success on Hulu tell two different stories. Slayers currently has a 22% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 3/10 on IMDB, neither of which are screaming endorsements of the film. Despite this, the film has sat in the top ten on Hulu and spiked up to number five streaming in the United States for the platform on Saturday.
Part of the film’s appeal could be that Slayers is being hailed as a Gen Z vampire flick. Although the vampire genre is inundated with various projects, tropes, and stereotypes, this one infuses the familiar vampire film with what to some feels like a different energy.
Released on October 21, 2022, it was intended to get some play during the frenzy of the Halloween season. Slayers is campy, over-the-top, and doesn’t take itself too seriously. The film throws out buzzword-heavy catchphrases fast and often, and although the comedic depth is about as deep as a kiddie pool, the film is entertaining for those who are fans of the genre and lambasting some of the rising stereotypes surrounding social media usage and influencers.
The film is led by Thomas Jane, known best for his roles in Boogie Nights, The Punisher, The Mist, and The Predator. This role sees Jane using his action film expertise to play the revenge-seeking Jones with an almost satirical degree of grit.
Other standouts from the cast include Abigail Breslin and Malin Åkerman. Breslin may best be known for her performance in the comedy-drama Little Miss Sunshine which garnered her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress at age 10, but she’s also appeared in films such as Definitely, Maybe, and Zombieland, and had a starring role in the horror-comedy series Scream Queens. Malin Åkerman may best be known for starring in the movie adaptation of the dark superhero comic Watchmen, as well as starring roles in the romantic comedies The Proposal alongside Ryan Reynolds and Couples Retreat, as well as on the drama series Billions.
Thomas Jane, Abigail Breslin, and Malin Åkerman are joined by an ensemble cast of Kara Hayward, Ashley Reyes, Thomas Jane, Lydia Hearst, and Jack Donnelly.
Slayers was written and directed by K. Asher Levin, who worked with Jane previously as a director for 2022’s film Dig, written by Banipal and Benhur Ablakhad. Thomas Jane serves as an executive producer, while Abigail Breslin also serves as a producer. Fans of the vampire genre seeking a fun, gory romp through a vampire mansion with a gaggle of Gen Z stereotypes used for vampire fodder should definitely check out Slayers on Hulu and see whether the film has any teeth.
