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DEMON UNDER GLASS
Produced by D.L. Warner and Marguerite Lliteras
Directed by Jon Cunningham
Written by Jon Cunningham and D.L. Warner
Edited by Steve Robinson
Director of Photography - Michael DeanSimon Molinar - Jason Carter
Dr. Joseph McKay - Garett Maggart
Dr. Richard Bassett - Jack Donner
Det. Gwen Taylor - Denise Alesandria HurdOf course Vampires don't exist, at least not in the gothic Bram Stoker sense. Sure, in today's day in age, when social acceptance still requires people of unconventional philosophies and faiths to seek kindred souls under a hushed cloak of secrecy, one can find bloodsuckers lurking about the goth scene at parties and gatherings. While not fanged, shape-shifting demons of the underworld, these people do share a fondness for the man-made aristocratic social order they feel that vampires would live by if they truly existed as well as a love for taking razor blades to fingers and lapping the fluid off one another.
But what if vampires truly existed? Would they hide themselves from man? Would they make themselves known? Could vampires exist for so long without man every finding out about them? If so, how could they keep themselves a secret? Are these creatures servants of Satan? All these questioned are asked, but few are answered, in Jon Cunningham's DEMON UNDER GLASS, a morality play where the myth meets science when man is given the opportunity to study and examine a living vampire.
The bigger question put to us in DEMON UNDER GLASS is who is the real monster, the vampire who kills in order to feed and survive, or man who kills in the name of science. There's no clear hero or villain, just a core group of people doing what they know. For the vampire it's feeding. For the doctors it's healing. For the scientists it's exploration. As with any morality play, answers to the bigger questions are left to the audience to decide for themselves. Viewers side with those characters who share their ideals but through the cinematic process are given a glimpse of what it might be like to see things from the other perspective. DEMON UNDER GLASS humanizes the vampire in the same way that ALL'S QUITE ON THE WESTERN FRONT humanized the German footsoldier.
Caught in the moral crossfire is Dr. Joseph McKay. While on duty late one evening at the V. A. hospital, a group of military doctors bring in a recently captured vampire. Early in the evening, police assisted the military in what they thought was the arrest of a local serial killer, the media-dubbed Vlad, a maniac who drains his victims of blood and chops the body into pieces. Before the police have a chance to question their suspect, the military wisk the vampire off for study. With the operations doctor killed during the containment, McKay is asked to treat the creatures wounds since he's the only medical doctor on staff.
That describes the first 15 minutes of DEMON UNDER GLASS. The rest of the movie revolves around the examination of the vampire, whose real name is Molinar. Cunningham, in his most inspired move, presents Molinar contrary to the stereotypical image of the beast. Given his circumstances, Molinar is polite and courteous, and most surprising of all, accommodating to the doctor's demands. Compare this to the scientists, while rational, understanding men, often resort to threats and intimidation.
McKay sees only the patient. Like the viewer, his perspective is questioned due to its naivety. He sees the monster and the men in both sides. And like the viewers, he's asked to decide just who is the real beast.
While viewing DEMON UNDER GLASS, I was reminded of Scooter McCree's SHATTER DEAD. Within their respective sub-genres, both movies are the smartest I've seen. They raise very human questions that are far more important than the movies themselves, and aren't afraid to admit so. It would be pretty safe to say that DEMON UNDER GLASS does for vampires what SHATTER DEAD did for zombies.
The promotional DVD contained little in the way of extras. The only feature was a blooper reel that shows Dr. McKay actor Garett Maggart to be a complete ham. Hopefully, the final release will present more to support the film. I'd love to hear what the filmmakers have to say.