RFYL 270: Daybreakers

You're listening to the Run for Your Lives Podcast.

Hey everyone, welcome to the show. I'm Daphne.

And I'm Pate.

And this is the Run for Your Lives Podcast.

This episode is for Tony. We are covering the dystopian vampire film Daybreakers, written and directed by Michael and Peter Spirig and released January 8th, 2010.

Yes, Tony, this is for you because I feel like we have been covering lots of supernatural things, which Pake really loves, and he's had a fantastic season of supernatural movies. We needed a vampire movie, and this one has been on my list for a while. It's one I have seen a bunch of times, and I wanted to put this as our vampire tribute movie for this season. I assume that you had not seen it before.

I had not seen it. I had not heard of it. This was not anywhere near on my radar. I knew nothing about this movie, which is a little surprising because the cast is awesome, is incredible. Yeah. And like, yeah, we'll talk about it a little bit, but I was just like, I don't even know what this is. Vampire movie, got it.

Just jumped in blind.

And then honestly, I was kind of blown away by just the world it's set up. So get into some little notes here, but just because it's, you know, while I'm thinking about it, is this interesting like concept in vampire movies and stuff that I've should have thought about, I think, but never did. Where it's a vampire movie, but we're starting after vampires have taken over the world. They are the ruling global population. Uh I was like, I have never even like considered that like viewpoint, I don't think. And then of course, like the people that refuse to turn now, humans are just like the food supply, vampires are in charge. So you kind of have this turn of like society, like nights are busy and everybody's working, and then the days are kind of just like silent and empty outside for the most part. But then you have, of course, people who like you know work the night shift, you have day shift people, and they found ways to still get out and about in a way, you know, uh during the day if they need to. There's like vampire technology and all of these things. Like, yeah, I've never thought of that. But then also, because they're the main thing, like the main threat that the vampires face is humans become scarce, like they're in shorter and shorter supply. There's blood shortages. And I was like, that's also a thing I've never thought about before. But yeah, that would become a problem once you become the like dominant species.

Yeah. There were elements of this that reminded me of the TV show The Strain, because in the later seasons, I think it was the last season, they were trying to figure out how to cultivate a blood supply that would last. Because as you infect everyone, there's no one left to feed on. And in this film, if you were feeding on your own blood, it was like a poison and a toxicness that it just messed you up. And I liked the varying degrees that it would show when they didn't consume blood and the physical changes that would happen to them. And I liked also the way that they told the story with color, where it started almost monochromatic with like black and white with a little bit of red and blue, and then by the end, we have much more vivid, vibrant colors.

Yeah.

But then also the transition through looking at the subway station and how it looks at the beginning, but as it deteriorates throughout the movie, and you notice, well, underground there's more of the subterranean vampires, that number continues to grow where above ground it dwindles. And so you see the shift between the two, and how things look death like desolate and empty because people can't get the blood they need, and it also showed a lot of desperation. Like people were really desperate, and the high society vampires, you know, were looking down at everyone, but even they were suffering from not being able to get enough blood by the end, and so it was really becoming this whole thing. I thought a lot of this movie was clever. I liked that they did practical effects for most of it, as much as they could, a lot of practical effects.

I do have a note about that where I just said like visual effects don't hold up incredibly well. Uh it's not super bad, but there's some like digital effects and certain things. I was like, you can tell when they're used because it's dated, it's dated. But I was like, but the practicals though, well, you know, always worth it. Yes. They stay good. And there's some really great practical stuff in this one.

I like the look of the transition from vampire 100% to deterioration as they moved down to become like almost feral and they lost their human qualities and became more bat-like. See, it was the bat-like thing. There's always an inference that they turn into bats and fly away. Yes, I'm looking at you, Laszlo.

Yeah, it my very first note that I took because just the way the movie started was bat! Uh it's also the last note of the oh, that's also the last note I wrote down when the movie ended with bat.

Um Yeah, there were bats throughout. Like they were cleverly put in some scenes. Like you just it's like, oh, there's a bat there. Okay. It I liked how they interspersed some of that stuff. I thought um it was cool. I also felt like we got to see this have and have nots situation, which kind of reminds me of today. Um, where the wealthy have access to the blood, and people who could not afford it were left with nothing, and they were basically turning in to these bat creatures because they couldn't get the blood.

It's a lot like today. People who don't get the things that they need to survive turn into bloodthirsty creatures and attack the wealthy all the time.

If that happened.

It's just wishful thinking, actually.

Um yeah.

Bring out the guillotines. No, no, who said that?

No. Um it's it's I mean, we got to this movie shines a lens a little bit on capitalism with the coffee shop and it's a literal interpretation of Ether Rich. Yes. Very much. It just reminded me of how desperate people have to be, and are not only have to be or end up being, but are driven to be by those who have resources. And that's just something that we see. I mean, it's interesting. They show you this daily life, which I mean, you can get coffee and get on the subway, and it all just seems like everything is just perfectly created around this new world order with the vampires being in charge. So, yes. I should give some production notes because we've done no production notes, and we haven't done a synopsis either. So let's jump into that. It was filmed in the Brisbane, Gold Coast, and Oxenford, Queensland, Australia. Peter and Michael Spearg are German-Australian identical twin filmmakers. In addition to Daybrekers, they also directed Jigsaw, which is the eighth film in the Saw franchise, and Fall 2 Deadpoint, which was released, I think, in August. The budget for this one was 20 million, and it grows 51.4 million at the box office, was 98 minutes long. Paik, give us a late synopsis.

Yeah. We started already. Uh in this one, I did I thought the V IMDB ones were trash, so I made up my own. Look at me go.

I love that.

When the vampire plague has spread to the point that vampires are now the dominant species. Dwindling blood supply leads to mutations, and a vampire researcher trying to find a solution, or maybe even a cure.

Alright. I love the cast in this movie. I think that they fit people perfectly into the roles. I love that I forgot that Sam Neil was in this because rest in peace, Sam Neil, he passed away in July. Um, so it was great to be able to look at this movie and see him appearing on the screen, and even though his character was not a nice man.

Mm-mm. Yeah. Yeah, it was a great cast with some names that we've definitely talked about and loved on this podcast. Absolutely. Uh Ethan Hawk, for sure. Uh Willem Dafoe, human. Uh, and then yeah, of course, Sam Neil.

Yeah, it was a great cast. I always felt like this movie was a sleeper movie, like as in not enough people really knew about it. I feel like it could have been more popular if people simply knew it existed. And so I'm hoping that it's one of those movies that will get a cult following, like maybe 20 years from now. We'll see. I don't know. Unlike some of the movies we've covered over at least the last month, this has a clear front runner main character. And that is the character of Edward Dalton, played by Ethan Hawke. And he is a hematologist who is trying to well, he's trying to find a cure. He's working at this company that's headed by Charles Bromley, played by Sam Neo. And his role is to create a blood substitute, but he's also focusing on a cure, even if that's not really what Charles Bromley wants him to do.

They that's not what they want. Yeah.

No. They're capitalists.

Substitute. But the substitute's kind of like he's thinking in his mind, okay, we find the blood substitute, and then we can stop farming humans and like let them return back to normal that we, you know, have that. And yeah, I was just like, huh, I wonder how well you can do that. And I was like, what has he been through? I was like, what about the heme that's used in like impossible meat? They're the stuff that they use. I was like, would that be a viable avenue? I don't know. Trying to think of like actual reality.

Yeah, I don't know.

Yeah, because if they don't find an answer, there is like a time clock because they uh they're running out of blood supply, and then the vampire population goes feral and mindless and like eventually could would just like die out. Uh yeah, so it's it's important that they they find this. But he's thinking, oh yeah, and then we'll just move on. Uh no, because even when it's not humans running the world, corporate greed and profits and all of that still are the main language spoken, so of course not.

I feel like the vampires were an actual visualization of corporate greed.

Oh, absolutely.

I think that there were subtle nods in this movie and not so subtle subtle nods in this movie to the similarities between the two. And I know that the directors had a detailed timeline for how this story was going to unfold, but it's it didn't get added. Like they started it differently where it had already happened. So I actually like that because I think it's more effective. I think it's different from what we've seen, and it makes the movie stand out overall because it's not what the norm is. We usually get the backstory, at least in a flashback. We got nothing. And the movie opens with this really sad scene where a girl who looks like she might be 12 or 13 goes outside and waits for the sun to come up and it kills her, and she's left behind this note, and you read into the note, and it's just basically she can't grow up, she can't do these things, and she can't take it anymore.

Mm-hmm.

And that I think shows that people got turned that didn't want to get turned. Like they were turned against their will.

And that's one of those things, yeah, about like vampire stories and stuff, like the lore that they're following here that yeah, as you see, because even you know, there's a point where uh Ed is kind of watching like this group of kids that are all like hanging out and like smoking and drinking, and then you're like, oh, they're all probably like a hundred. Yeah, they've been lit they've lived for a while, so they're like adults, like experience-wise, like they've lived a life, but they're just trapped in the body of these little like tweens. And you're like, Yeah, people stay the age that they were when they turned forever, which yeah, it has to be really unfortunate for kids because I mean everybody wants to be what forever young, but not that young like eventually that's terrible. Yeah. Uh as we see with you know the little girl in quotations, because who knows how long of a life she's actually lived, but she's kind of been trapped in that, you know, body for this whole time, and it's just like, yeah, that's uh hell at a at a point.

You Yeah, she's never allowed to grow up. And what kind of life might that be to live like that for how many years? Reminds me a little bit of interview with a vampire. There's a girl character played by Kirsten Dunst, who is a forever child, I think is what they call her. And she has like this rage-inducing moment, like she's really pissed off, and she does a bunch of things and is just really angry that she can't grow up. Even though she wants to. And so it it gives you that, and then we jump right into it after the opening credits, which the opening credits are what really give us any of the backstory at all.

Yeah. But also I had to know I was like the the lighting of the movie in the opening, especially, but then you didn't, but then the opening credits, the style. I was like, oh, this is very 2010 era. Uh it is there is a specific look and vibe. I think we've talked about it before. I think when we did Dead Silence, I know we talked about it. And there's been other movies that were like in this era that it's like they all had this like visual style and like the way they did credits and the way they did it, it was just like it is of those years.

Yes. Of 2010. Of the 2010s, of that time frame. Yeah. I I totally agree. You know, it's dated, and you you can tell.

I feel like I could watch a credit sequence from one of these movies without knowing where it came from, and if it was like that, I could point out, I'd be like, this was made between 2008 and 2014. Yeah. Like 100 I can't I can pinpoint that much for Zoe. Absolutely. Absolutely.

It it looks the part. Absolutely looks the part. So we meet Edward, who, you know, I don't get the impression he's super excited to be doing the experiments because he goes into this meeting where uh Charles Bromley is at the table, and they're actually showing the results of an experiment where it starts with a vampire and then it ends with he has transitioned into a subsider, basically, which is what they call those who have gone feral. And Edward doesn't really seem into this. I don't think he wants to be experimenting on people. I think he wants to get a cure to fix it. And you know, Bromley just wants more money. How can we spin this to get more money? Because that's what's in his head. That's what he wants.

Yeah. Yeah, so we s we see, even at first, before we learn even more about Ed, is yeah, that he seems a little different. Like he's not bloodthirsty uh as a vampire. Literally, he we we find out he doesn't drink human blood, he refuses, he won't. He's kind of vampire straight edge. Uh yes. And it's but he like has like this soft spot for humans and this code, and then we go even further on to learn like he was one of those people that didn't want to turn when given the opportunity. He's like, you know, turn or or die, basically, or become a food source. Uh and he was not willing to become a vampire, and it was actually his brother Frankie that had turned him against his will, and then now he's in this place where well I can use my scientific expertise to some advantage. Now I might as well, and now he's just found himself in that cycle. So he's always kind of been an outsider in that way. If within the vampires, uh Yeah, because he's got sympathy sympathy for people. So we even see his you know, he he's checking his ears, because of course the elongated ears is like that first sign of the mutations and like going feral, and his are starting because he won't drink human blood. Uh and so being distracted, yeah, he gets uh into this wreck with these humans. And again, he's thinking a lot of stuff too, like, you know I'm I'm jumping around a little bit, but uh putting thoughts together. Yeah, because Charles Romley, his boss, tells him the another thing that keeps him working is like if we get the substitute working, then we can save humans, and that's what you want to do, right? And so it's like, well, can he be trusted? Because like at first you're like, well, we know he has, or at least had. At that point, we don't know if she's still alive yet. But he had this daughter who refused to turn as well, so it's like, well, maybe that is what's keeping some part of humanity to him, so maybe he really does mean well. Uh of course, then he gives like the speech of like, oh yeah, we'll give him a few generations to repopulate, but if people are willing to spend the money on the real thing, then we're gonna we want that.

You know, like of course we're gonna And that disgusts Edward. Like he is just like, no, this is not what he wants to do. Like he is not on board with with it at all.

Yeah, so we see that soft spot. So then, as I was saying, so then whenever he kind of gets to this wreck with with Audrey and these other humans, and immediately he's like, No, I I need to protect them, and you know, we'll bring them into the car, hide them from the police for a minute, and then he's like, No, I want to show them.

Was like, I I'm I'm one of the good ones, and not expecting that's going to change his whole life from that interaction, but uh Well it actually ends up giving him life in quotation marks.

Yeah, absolutely. But yeah, so you immediately see it's like when faced with like humans that shoot him with a crossbow and he's like, wait, no, like let me help you. I want to help you, I'm in a position to do that.

Yeah. And he does. I still think that's they don't a hundred percent trust him after, but it's a better situation that they're in after that point because they would have been carted off and put in the blood bank. Which Bromley Corporation has this huge blood bank, and that was a very scary visual to look into that and see people basically naked with tubes coming out where the blood is being drained from. Their bodies as fat basically as fast as they can pump it. They're being kept alive.

It's like the most fucked-up version of a milking machine.

Yes.

They're alive but sedated, and they're just a source to regularly tap for blood, and it's like, oh, that is horrifying.

It also gave us another visual of how things were deteriorating because there was a news report where some of these families that are wealthy were pulling their stock, meaning humans, out of the blood bank. And so it was another visualization of how things were going downhill.

Yeah, but yeah, meeting up with Audrey has kind of given him something new. So he teams up with them, he goes and meets Elvis, which is a very interesting character. I really Willem Defoe is so much fun.

He was the comic relief in this, and and I kind of needed it because some of the visuals were really hard to stomach. But he always had such a creative, like vocabulary that I really enjoyed what he brought to this character.

Yeah, but meeting Elvis is a huge deal because he is a former vampire. He has met somebody who had turned and then now is human again. Somehow.

Yeah.

All they know is this freak thing that happened to him that turned him back, and now they're trying to recreate that, figure out how do we make that happen? Is this an answer to a cure of some kind? And so Edward, this is he's finally found uh people, uh not not vampires, uh humans and one ex-vampire now human again that share really his true goal and his his true desire here. So yeah, he leaves his brother, leaves his work, and just like takes off with them. Uh there is that kind of scene where they're like, you know, they notice that he's kind of weak and could be on the verge of leaning towards Faral. And there's that that scene where Audrey has to like cut her hand and make him drink. He's got a break edge to make sure he's in peak shape, but it's you know, it's like his first human blood in a long time. Again, you know, make sure he's focused. Yeah, he's returning to work, but like with humans on a cure, instead of working for an evil corporation to make profitable business choices.

Exactly. And you could tell, too, after he consumed Audrey's blood, like his ear was fine after that. Like the the symptoms were diminishing in that situation. He's very clever. I think that you know, putting the pieces together to try to find the cure, he comes up with this idea using this what was it, a wine I wrote it down. I wrote what it was.

Fermenter?

Yeah, a wine fermenter. He comes up with this idea after talking with Elvis about exactly what happened when he was able to be cured. He comes up with the idea of how to use the wine fermenter to recreate some of the things around or the parts of the transition that Elvis went through in a different way. And so the problem is their location has gets compromised. Like it's a safe zone, the location gets compromised because one of the guys is bringing more humans in to the safe area, the safe space, the winery, and they are caught, and all of the humans are basically darted, and they are able to track their location because Elvis is speaking to them, and then I think uh Edward also gets on there and is like, Hey, hey, what's going on? They're able to triangulate where they are. But Edward doesn't want to leave, even knowing they send off all of the other people to go to the senator's cabin. Edward doesn't want to leave. He wants to know if this works.

Yeah, he's gotta see this experiment through at this point. And I don't think he even realizes his brother Frankie is leading this army that's tracking them down. Um But yeah, uh, he's gotta see it through. Elvis and audj decide to stick around and like get our answer because they want to know can we recreate what happened to Elvis to essentially cure vampirism? Like it's we're you know, we can't just run and start over. We've got everything together, so we're gonna do it. And they do. It it takes a few tries, but the experiment is successful, and Edward Dalton is once again human.

Yeah.

And he gets to be out in the sun for the first time in a very long time, looking like an Aeropostel Van Helsing outfit and crossbow. Yep.

But they have to hide because the the folks get there and are looking for them, and they're able to hide, I think, underneath, they're still inside that fermentor. They hide in there until they leave and then come out, and he gets yeah, the sun. Man, to get out and stand in the sun. We take it for. You know, I think that's right. I do. I feel like this is something that we would talk about on Buffalo Buffalo.

Yep.

Oh.

Just the way you say fermenter. Uh you know I can't help it.

I don't know why you have to talk about that, about my accent. Fermentor. Is that what you want? You want me to start over accentuating all of my R's so it sounds ridiculous?

Well, no, that's what you were doing.

No, I wasn't, I said fermentor.

Yeah, instead of fermentor. Go see it, you know. No. There's a digor and an elevator and take the escalator.

You're such a brat. Why do I do this? Twice a week with you. I don't know. I have to question my own decisions. So they're able to figure that out. They are able to get it to work. But that's not all that's happened. The thing is, there is a secret that they don't even know at this point. There is something that it comes out because Edward has decided that he thinks Chris will help them. Only Chris is addicted to money and blood and whatever, and the wor the way the world is, he doesn't want things to change. And so he betrays them.

Should have expected that. I mean, come on. Uh yeah. So Audrey gets taken in that instance. So now they've got to put together a plan, they gotta go rescue her. Um and as they're sneaking around with the people after them. I didn't really now that Ed is human, he did learn their magical quick disappearance trick that apparently they're really good at. Because you've seen Audrey do it, we've seen Elvis do it, and then they do it. I was like, well, that's that's good. Humans at least have that ability to disappear real quick.

Yep, it's good. It's an invisibility cloak pick. It happens in daybreakers.

Yep.

I mean, this movie was not without vampire tropes because in the beginning of the movie, Edward is going to work and he's looking in the mirror of his car, and his face isn't there, so it's like, okay. And then when he's standing on the subway platform, it goes really dark, and all you see are these glowing eyes. It's like those tropes are there. It's just not as many as you would think.

There's a lot.

Yeah.

They get even a little campy with it and have fun with it by the end where they're getting staked in the heart with crossbow bolts and exploding.

Yep. Uh the old tropes are there. Like they just they appear. And it's okay because I feel like they didn't overdo it with the tropes. I feel like we got honestly, we got some new tropes in this, I think, with the way that they did things. There's one clever little twist that I really loved.

Mm-hmm.

And that honestly is the secret to everything.

Yeah, as they're kind of putting together this plan to go get Audrey, is like they're avoiding a lot of these soldiers and stuff, except for one. Ed's brother, Frankie, who does find them. And I mean, obviously he's pissed that his brother has seemingly betrayed vampire kind and has turned human again, and has, you know, everything turned his back on everything that he did for him. Because again, you know, he he turned his brother against his will, but it was, you know, he has that kind of speech of like, it's like, it's not just because I wanted you to be a vampire, is like I knew that if you didn't turn, you were gonna die, and I didn't want you to die.

Yeah. At first I was angry with him when we first learned that he's the one that turned him, because I'm thinking, why would you do that to your brother when you knew that that isn't what he wanted? But I think in this movie, people who claim to love others make really dumb decisions sometime, or they'll do something and then realize that it was the wrong thing to do, but they don't take ownership of it, they just try to sweep it under the carpet. In this case, I don't think he did. He was honest about why he did it. Um, and it made sense because if you're a person and you think, okay, my brother is better off alive than dead, so I need to do this so that he stays alive, but vampires aren't alive. So I don't know how that really works. Like they're technically dead, so it's like, hmm. So you wanted him to be dead so he wasn't dead. Got it. Okay.

But dead forever.

Yes.

Living.

Yeah, yeah.

Uh, but you know, so Frankie's kind of having this like little moment where then he feigns like, okay, I'll help you, I'll work with you, but then he attacks Elvis and bites him, and it's this you see what he's trying to do. He's like, Can you unturn a vampire, return a vampire? And so yeah, he he bites Elvis to try to do that, and uh something else happens instead.

Yep. Kind of the reverse effect, I guess.

Yeah.

He was trying to turn Elvis, but Elvis turned him back to a human.

Yeah. A vampire that is turned back human now has the cure in their blood. Yes. And so that blood can turn a vampire back to human. So yeah, Frankie accidentally cures himself.

Yes. Uh which I don't think he wanted to do in any way, shape, or form. I think he liked the vampire world.

Mm-hmm. He was having some issues. Uh he definitely was.

And we'll talk about his issues. We'll talk about some things with him.

It wasn't so much about being a vampire as much as it was more issues with with Bromley and the way he was doing things.

Absolutely.

But yeah. But that gives Ed this this idea to where he goes to Bromley, knowing that he he he knows how to pick at him and placate his ego, but then when that doesn't really work, then he knows how to like get under his skin when it comes to his daughter. Um and he knows he can bait him into biting him, and thus um humanizing, not in that sense, because he's definitely not humanized in the usual way you would worry, use that word, uh, because he's still a despicable, terrible person till the end, but turns him into a human.

And then he's used as a vaccine.

Yeah, he can just kind of use him to then feed and cure the starving soldiers under his control. And the chain begins to some extent there.

Yeah, because they feed on each other. More soldiers come, so it's like this thing where they're vaccinating through biting, and then you're left with just a few of them. Um because the others have died serving as a vaccine. I have to tell you, when Bromley died, I cheered. Because we haven't talked about one decision he makes, but we will, and when we do, you'll understand why I was pleased with this.

Oh yeah.

Rest in peace, Sam Neil.

Yeah, then yeah, getting that, as I mentioned, staking makes the vampire blow up uh for some reason. Um because earlier, whenever they're like shooting the vampires that are attacking them, uh some of the like the humans are, I was like, exploding crossbow bolts, that's cool. And then I was like, oh, once I see this, and I put it in my head, I was like, oh, there's no exploding crossbow bolts. There's just exploding vampires that when they get hit in the heart with a regular crossbow bolt.

I mean, maybe they're infused with sunshine, Pig. For all we know, they've been infused with sunshine. They were left outside to soak in the sun and the energy, and that did it.

Yep.

There are many alternatives.

Sun tea.

Sun tea. They sucked it in. Yeah.

Yeah, and so that's kind of how we end this movie. Uh, and then we'll yeah, we'll circle back and talk about some other characters and and and and stories. But yeah, where we're left is they have a cure. Now they've got to implement it and start spreading uh this new infestation, but instead of, you know, and now it's we've got to find a way to turn vampires back to humans. Um of course, my brain, I'm like, well, you just take the substitute that Christopher had finally figured out and created, and you just infuse that with your cured blood, and then you send it out to the masses, right? Can you just do that? But then I was like, well, maybe that avenue is gone with Bromley, and you know that he's gone and the company seems to be non-existent, nobody's gonna just like take their product from some other guy, so maybe not. Maybe that is so now they're gonna have to rogue it and hit the street.

I don't know. I think I don't know. I think Edward will take that and mass produce it. I think he'll he'll figure it out. I'm very confident if he can create a D vampire evocation system in a fermenta, then he should be able to not a Spanish word.

Framenta.

You're such a brat. I'm leaving all of this in. I want people to see how much you torture me. They're gonna see it. They're gonna be like, oh, he's not that nice guy we thought. This is how he really is. Um if he can turn that into a tunnel or a tube that devampires people, then I feel like he can take Chris's work and turn it into something that can map be mass-produced and then implemented across everything. So that's my thought process. He's very intelligent. Yes. And he has a good heart. And it's beating again now. And that's a good thing.

Bat?

He won't be turning into one. But there was a bat at the end. I thought they might make a sequel, but I'm glad they didn't. I think some movies need to be left alone. And I think even though this is a movie about vampires, I think it hits today because there are parts of it that to me are metaphors for corporate greed and capitalism and the rich getting richer while everyone else struggles. And so there are those similarities. And that's where I'll leave that part of it. I'm letting the rest go. So, who would you like to talk about next? Bromley or Elvis?

I have Elvis next in mind. Then let's talk about Elvis. Pretty much everybody else is just like a few quick notes and then I'm done with them because we covered most everything. But a few. So yeah, so with Elvis. Uh, yeah, as Audrey connects uh Edward to him, uh, the former vampire, like I said, big game changer there.

Yeah. Um he's been here the whole time.

Yeah. As they're talking, that's when yeah, Frankie shows up. Uh, because he's a human hunter. That's his job, honestly. That's what he does. Uh, and you know the other authorities, the army, they're vam vampire me. Uh not far behind him. So Ed's gonna employ his go-to tactic, which is get in my car.

Yes.

Uh let's go.

Yeah, I mean it works, it works. It's a good strategy for him.

I like the scene of them meeting and like around there, because it outside of like the characters, it's just it does a really cool thing of like, you know, we know direct sunlight only is what harms the vampires. So going out in the day under shade is possible. Not recommended. Right. Um, I'm sure. But they can, and so it does a really cool job of like making something as usually like nice and simple as beams of sunlight actually become a threat as he's kind of trying to avoid them walking underneath the Yeah. You know, them shining through the treetops or even like bullet holes in glass uh become so much of a threat. Which was really cool. I like how they did that.

Yeah. I like too that they they switched it up and Elvis had to drive Edward's car because of the sunlight and the broken part where it was coming in through the screen. And so Edward couldn't drive, so he he took over. Although I will say that Elvis has destroyed many cars.

Mm-hmm.

Many cars have been destroyed by that man.

Yeah. Much of a car guy.

It's I know, right?

But he does get them away from the the army chasing them. It's a 50-50, 50-50 grind. Uh easily 200 points in Tony Hawk Pro Skater.

Oh, okay.

Good job, Elvis. Um the guys in the Humvee behind them, not so much of a great move. Uh wipeout first.

Yeah. Yeah. They they completely I'm sure they had a concussion. Oh, wait, there was nothing left of them to have a concussion. Yeah. I did love Elvis' last car, the Transam. That was a beautiful car. I'm glad that that made it. I think it made it out, or at least wasn't completely destroyed.

Yeah, with the words on it, like From the Ashes Springs New Life. How fitting. Uh it's quite the car for Elvis. I like that.

It is. I'm glad Elvis made it out because I didn't think he was going to. It's like, oh man, but he's the comic relief. He's the only one that's like got any lines that are somewhat humorous.

But yeah, he's a big catalyst for sure for Ed. Uh he's not even sure how he turned back into a human. Uh all he knows is he while a vampire crashed his car that sent him flying out into the sun long enough to get pretty burnt, but then immediately flew into some shaded water, and that back and forth with his system did something, and they're trying to figure out exactly what that was and recreate it. And as we talked about, they they do. And then they find a much easier solution than trying to do that to everybody.

So that's just a walking inoculation.

So I was like, that's gonna be a hard sell uh for a cure if you have to do that every time.

Yeah, I I think the walking inoculation system is much better. Especially because everyone is hungry. The problem is they'll eat too much or they'll attack you and rip your limbs off because that's we saw that happen. So I don't know. I think the they have to be careful with that strategy.

But Elvis was really cool. Of course it comes Then because yeah, after you know, the few soldiers that are left over after this kind of vaccination chain. Uh, but then yeah, Chris comes out and shoots all of them, then he's about to take out Audrey and Ed as well with this like money and power. We're gonna stop the cure.

Yep. But not because here comes Elvis and not right place, right time, always. I loved his line that he had at uh Chris's house where Chris is like, Who are you? Who are they? And they said, We're the ones with the crossbows. And I'm like, Yep, thank you, Elvis. We need that laughter in here. So uh yeah, I really liked his character. He was so fun. I don't have any notes on Audrey really, other than I feel like she saw the good in Edward and trusted him first and then set the connection up.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think she got the impression that he wanted to be something more than just a vampire hematologist that he cared about people.

Yeah, I don't really have any notes on her either, but some of like the resistance stuff. It was it was cool. Uh when they get to the winery, and it's like, oh, it's the senator from the TV. It's the guy from the thing. Um we find out, yeah, he's working with the humans as well, and we find out that there are more and more vampires that are starting to join this cause of the human return, trying to figure this out. Because, yeah, as we see uh back in the cities, like things are getting pretty dire in vampire world. Um, coffee shop employees getting attacked over the little bit of blood that they have left, and more and more people turning into subsiders, and it's it's getting really bad. So a lot of the vampires are like, yeah, maybe this isn't very viable for a future. Maybe we should find a better way we should cure or turn back or yeah. Uh the vampire army attacking them because again, I was like, exploding crossbows. No, not so much. But but it's an interesting way that the vampires are kind of fighting this unwinnable war on two fronts. I mean, yeah, and when they show up to take out the like they only use tranks, so they're capturing them. You can't kill your dwindling food source, so you kind of are limited there.

Makes me think of the handmaids tale where they will punish the handmaids, but they won't kill them because they are the vessel, like they are important to reproduction, and so they won't kill them, they'll just maim them or make their lives difficult.

Yeah. And so it's like this, like, yeah, like two sides of a war that they're fighting at the same time that are problematic for them. You know, you have this opposition from humans that you can't kill, and then you have the subsiders that are a growing threat that they're feral mutated vampires, but still you're essentially having to kill your own, and a lot of people are not okay with that either.

Yeah.

Because it's one of the turning points for Frankie, is especially because it's it's Allie, uh Bromley's daughter, but then even just in general, watching them rounding up these subsiders and then just dragging them out into the sunlight to exterminate them because we have nothing better we can do for our own people that we have let down through our methods.

Yeah.

And it's again, what kind of uh, you know, um commentary on our own society is that where it's like through our own greed and our own choices, now these people are suffering, and instead of helping them, maybe we just get rid of them.

Yep. Survival of the fittest. Even if we inflicted this on them, we are not gonna take responsibility. We are just going to make them go away. That's the easiest thing to do, and that's what we're gonna do.

Yeah. It kind of reminds me of the purge a little bit, those movies that we've covered where it's how do we, you know, oh, the it's almost like you know, like a homeless population of the people that are struggling and don't have the means like others do, and it's like, well, we could spend all of these like efforts to help them, or we could just sort them out violently and get rid of get rid of them, and then they're the problem, and then we'll actually be better off without them.

Yeah. I mean, we even see with the break-in that happens at Edward's house, and he realizes who the subsider is that broke in, it was a gardener. And because to Edward, these are still people. Like he knows he he looks at them as people, even the subsiders. He knows they're dangerous, but he's thinking about them as people. It never occurred to Bromley that these were people. He was looking at them as cattle to milk for profit, and he looked at those that were less fortunate as people that could just disappear, be exterminated, and no one would care. And as long as he didn't get affected by it, it didn't matter to him.

Yeah. Although even when he was affected by it personally, he still didn't care.

Yep, and I think we're at that point, we're gonna talk about that. So Bromley tells us that becoming a vampire saved his life because he had gotten a cancer diagnosis. And he and his daughter have a bit of a falling out when he turns into a vampire when he's turned, and they don't see eye to eye on it because Allie, his daughter, is she does not like this whole world the way that it is. Like she's a pro-human person because she is human. And one of the things that happens that is a catalyst for Edward's brother kind of changing sides, is that Bromley asks him to turn Allie and he does. And then the next time he sees her, she's part of this chained parade that's being dragged out in front of people into the sunlight to die.

Yeah. And she purposely let herself mutate that way in defiance. Like she wasn't gonna turn peacefully and become the monster that her father is. So when she gets turned into a vampire against her will, she said, Alright, sure, you want to do that, then I'm gonna show you the the consequences of your actions there. And you know, she has that last little thing that she says to her dad is like, Is this what she wanted?

Yeah. She's feeding on herself when he sees her. He gets really angry because before this happened, he wants her to join him, to be with him. He's not even, I don't think, talking about being turned, but just being there with him. And she stabs him.

It wasn't the happiest of reunions. No. Not really.

No. She's angry because he won't help her friends. He says he can't help her friends. And she knows what that means for them. She knows that they're becoming cattle, they're gonna be blood mules, basically, or blood cows for his corporation. Although, if some of them are vampires turned human, they'll be in for a rude awakening. The vampires that consume them will be in for a rude awakening. But the true tale, or the th the true example of how wretched Bromley is, not only did he have his daughter turned, he put her in that parade to be pulled out and burned alive in the sun. And that just is one of the things that Frankie just looks at because he realizes I think that he's responsible for that. Like he turned her on Bromley's orders, and it resulted in her being dead, and not vampire dead, really dead. And I think that changed his outlook because he also saw his other soldiers in his group cheering this. And I think it all just really hit him in the head that what he did was a terrible thing, and I think his sacrifice so that his brother and group could get away, I think that was his way of making amends for all the things that he did.

Yeah, it was it's like literally like the only note I have on Frankie, but is that he it's a sad ending, but it's a great arc ending for him. Is giving himself up to more soldiers knowing that they will be cured. Of course, then uh other soldiers behind him come in and tear them apart, but it's starting this chain again and can continue it on. But his main reason for doing that is it's the exact same reason he turned his brother in the first place. It's because he wants him to live.

Absolutely. And the end result, it continued the vaccination of other soldiers until we're down to just a couple, and then they're all shot by Chris. I really forgot how much this movie could be a metaphor for capitalism. And it really hit me different this time because I don't think I've watched this in a while. It's one I've seen a few times. I have it on DVD. However, I haven't watched it in a while, and it just really hit me, I guess, right now. Because I I really liked it. I think it's it's a good movie. It's not perfect by any means, but I like the cleverness that we get with some of the things that happen, like using the vampires, um using the blood as a vaccine to cure the vampirism, I think is cool. I think blood turns into this economic crisis for them. Because honestly, the blood in the coffee is like creamer, like it's a creamer for the coffee. Um and then the starvation that creates the subsiders is interesting. I I don't think it's really been done like this before, so I appreciated it. And there are there have been vampire films that have come after, but this one I really think sets its own place with some of the cleverness. I really want them to direct another movie or to write and direct another movie that tackles a particular dystopian world because I think they do it really well. I think the story is really good. Even if the CGI is not great, the pro use of the practical effects, especially like the subsider that breaks into Edward's house and it's got the wings, like it really shows the de-evolution of the vampire from a vampire to a subsider. And I feel like we got to see all the points in between, and I liked that.

Yeah. Yeah. I'll I'll give my yeah uh honorable mentions or the the highlights of yeah, the practical effects is that one for sure, especially whenever he cuts the head off of it and then it drops from the ceiling like onto Yes. And it's all like a dummy that's all done, the head rolling, and then it was like it gives that like realism. And then whatever the the mechanical head molded from Sam Neil that they used when that was so great. When Bromley is decapitated in one of the zombies zombies, well, one of the vampires is holding it upside down as the elevator door is closing and you see the eyes like kind of still looking and rolling back at Ted as he's dying. It's so cool.

So cool. I really appreciated that. I think that there were a lot of clever things to this movie, and like I said, I wish it got more attention. If you're listening to this and you haven't watched it, because I know there are some people that just like to listen to us and not watch the movie. Uh it's on Tubi right now, so you can check it out for free after listening to us.

Tubi or not Tubi. Because there's also a bunch of other places it's streaming as well. That uh by the time you're listening to this, I listed those on the Facebook post for it earlier this week. So I I I usually try to I try to include all the places you can find, or at least most of them. Um I think uh Tubi's not always included, but I think I I it will be. It should be on this one.

Yeah. I think we did it, Pig. This was a good one. I really enjoyed us getting to talk about it. It's been on my list, like I said, for a while. And I just realized we really need to do a vampire one. Tony, I did not forget you. This one is for you.

I try to give you a vampire movie every season or every other season at least.

Yeah, it's been a while.

Yeah. There goes the feedback phone. It's wild how again, just like perfect kind of almost as if almost as if perfectly orchestrated. Um, I'll have to uh answer that and see what people thought on this one.

All right.

All right, we do have a little bit of feedback this week for for this movie, so we'll get into it. But first, before we do that, we do have one piece from uh last week that uh I think was sent in last week and we just somehow missed it. So we want to make sure to circle back and grab it, make sure that we uh make it it gets read. Uh, because Tony left some thoughts on the Whisper Man that we didn't do last week, so uh I'll read that one first real quick. Tony says, This movie failed on so many levels that I don't even know where to start. Which is surprising because the cast is absolutely stacked. The book, on the other hand, is really good. I hundred percent recommend reading it. The movie is alright if you like true crime with a paranormal element, and if you like Michael Keaton and Adam Scott, who I think did the best with the material they received, sure, give it a go. Alright, fair enough. I there was a lot of uh backl not backlash is probably the wrong word, but yeah, like negative review. I if you've listened to the episode last week, then you know I think both of us really enjoyed it, so um, but that's not to say you're wrong. Just to say you had different thoughts. There's a lot of people who seem to be kind of in that camp. I I don't know. I enjoy I don't watch movies like that very often, though, so there's probably a lot more that are done a lot better, but it's not really my genre. I'm not a true crime person typically, so maybe there's a lot more out there that I just haven't experienced. I enjoyed that for the foray that it was into that genre for me.

Yeah. Well, moving on to Daybreakers, this week's movie, Catherine says, I'm not sure how I've never heard of Daybreakers, especially with Sam Neal in it. While Jurassic Park will always be my favorite of his roles, I love seeing him as a villain. He was the adult Damien in the third Omen movie, and several of his vampire glares looked just like Damien convincing others to do his bidding. I loved all the innovations that allowed the vampires to operate normally, especially the cars. I always assumed vampires would have set up human farms for a sufficient blood supply, so it was interesting to see those struggles and how quickly vampires capitalized on each other. Yeah, they were doing the blood farms in uh The Strain to you, the TV series.

And then Tony, again with thoughts on this one, says, I thought this movie had a lot of potential with an original premise and an excellent cast, but ultimately it felt unfinished and fell a little flat. My husband, on the other hand, loved it. He thought it was very entertaining. He does agree with me that the ending was left open for a sequel. Thanks for covering it. I do like my vampire movies.

Yay! Tony, this one was just for you. We had not done a vampire movie in a while. It was necessary.

Mm-hmm.

Well, if you would like to leave feedback like Tony or Catherine, you can find us a number of ways, including the Run for Your Lives channel on the Podcastica Discord. You can find us on Facebook and Instagram at Run for Your Lives Podcast, or you can email us at Runfor Your Lives Podcast at gmail.com. If you're enjoying the show, tell your friends we are available on all the podcast players, including Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and more. You can go to RunFo Your Livespodcast.com for all the links that you're ever gonna need, and give us a review on Apple Podcasts as that's the best way to share the love and get us out there even more. We really appreciate it.

We absolutely do. And of course, speaking of sharing the love, you know I gotta give those shout-outs to things going on in the podcastica universe around us and beyond. A lot of great stuff for you to check out, podcasts to listen to, coverage and whatnot. Lots of fun stuff, of course, over on the Walking Dead cast, The Walking Dead rewatch continuing on for a little bit, Jason and Alex covering episode four of season seven this week. Uh and then I think that'll be about that because I know they're going to go into uh Crystal Lake coverage, that new Friday the 13th uh prequel series. Uh Nathan, Jamie, and Jason on that one. And it premieres next week on the 15th. So they might have one more rewatch episode of Walking Dead Between there. I don't know for sure. But I know once uh Crystal Lake starts up, then they'll be focusing their time and attention on that for the uh duration of that run before coming back to the rewatch or anything. So they'll put that on a little break to cover that show. So you can also get uh Crystal Lake coverage over on the Walking Dead cast as well, once that is airing.

And if you're curious about what Crystal Lake is about, it is I'm gonna be a little vague here. It is basically Jason Voorhees' mother, Pamela, and it takes place after Jason's drowning.

Mm-hmm.

And before the first movie. So that's kind of the time frame.

Alright. Um, also Bakedastica is back. Uh, of course, the uh podcastica coverage of the Great British Baking Show or Great British Bake Off, depending on where you're at. Uh Greg and Wendy back to cover that. Um, the season premiere and then episode two. Uh, they have those up, so you can go check that out now and follow along. Uh and it's always fun to check out the podcastica, bakedastica coverage, and they're kind of you know, voting on and predicting favorites and winners and all kinds of stuff, and it's it's a good time. So, you know, a lot of stuff going on in the world. If you just need some happiness and joy, bakedastica's the place to go for the baking show. Um also Widows Bay coverage going on with Everything's Fine. Uh, the first episode is finally up, Jason and Karen covering Widow's Bay. So you can check out that if you want to rewatch or check it out for the first time. Now's the time to do it, as the podcast just launched there. Uh, and I highly recommend watching and listening along because that show was fantastic. I loved it so much.

So great. I wish I had jumped on it sooner than I did, because it was a very easily bingeable show.

Yeah. Then um, outside of Podcastica, of course, our friends over at Pirate Core Entertainment Podcast Network uh will also have some coverage of Crystal Lake coming soon. So you can uh stay tuned for that over on the What's On Tonight podcast. So listen in for that. And then our friends at TV Podcast Industries have been doing coverage of Lanterns, which just finished its first season there, so you can check out their coverage of that. Um and then, yeah, on uh the Podcastica lanterns coverage, uh, I'm sure that finale will be up soon as well. So you can check that out uh there. So yeah, a lot of good stuff to check out. If you want more of me and Daphne with our friends Jeff and Jerry, we are over on the Buffalo Buffalo Podcast doing whatever we're doing. Um, I'm not sure. We've been, you know, we're almost at the big 200, and I'm still not sure exactly what it is we're doing.

Uh it takes a long time to figure out what you're doing when you're podcasting. Things change over time. Look back at what we did in the beginning. Our format was different. I like where we've landed now. It's much better and more fun.

Yeah, but we're having a blast over at Buffalo uh with Jeff and Jerry, just just laughing, making each other laugh. Or if we can't make each other laugh, then we'll make each other absolutely crazy. Whichever one comes first. It's perfect either way. Uh playing games, being ridiculous. It's a good time. So uh come join us over there for some shenanigans. And uh, I don't know, maybe speaking of Buffalo Buffalo a little bit, and TV and uh maybe even uh Pirate Corps, I don't know. Um read into that what you want. Uh next week you can come back to Run for Your Lives, or we'll be doing something uh fun there. What are we doing, Daphne, next week?

Well, when a mysterious cosmic event transports an entire suburban neighborhood to an unfamiliar world, a fractured family must pull together to survive their new neighbors who just happen to be prehistoric. We are joined by three special guests to discuss David Robert Mitchell's 2026 film, The End of Oak Street.

Yes. More dinosaurs.

Yes!

Run for your life.

My favorite things. I'm so excited. And you know what? We're not gonna tell you who the guests are. You'll have to come find out next week. It'll be a surprise.

Yes.

It was a great conversation, and I'm looking forward to the episode getting released.

Yeah.

With that, we've reached the end of another episode of Run for Your Lives. Thanks everyone for listening. I'm Daphne.

And I'm Pate.

And if you have to run, you better run for your lives.