Thursday, March 22, 2012

Blood and Bone China: A Gothic Tale

I am the daughter of Lilith--a demonic remnant--a creature of the night. I am demise and decay. I am the infinite darkness. I am the Reaper incarnate--goddess and monster--oblivion and paradise--silence and rebirth. I have forsaken all humanity to feast on the blood of mortal vessels and revel in eternal youth.--The words of Lady Victoria to Doctor Richard Howell

The year is 1897; the place is the municipality of Stoke-On-Trent, in Northwest England. Doctor Richard Howell, played by Simon Hooson, has reached some startling conclusions resulting from important research he has been conducting. Although he desires secrecy and fears that his communication will be intercepted, Doctor Howell writes a letter to an investigative journalist, requesting that she meet him the following evening at midnight.

As he awaits his rendezvous at the appointed time and place, Doctor Howell is confronted by the beautiful Lady Victoria (Lara de-Leuw) who, after revealing to him her true nature, describes herself as noted above. Fearing for his life, the incredulous doctor flees; but his flight is in vain. 

Three days later, in the countryside surrounding Buxton, Doctor Newlyn Howell, a veterinarian and brother of Richard, meets a somewhat mysterious man in the person of Alexander Pyre, who informs Howell of his brother's death and convinces him to return to Stoke-On-Trent.

After their arrival in Stoke, the two men team up with investigative journalist Anna Fitzgerald, with whom Richard Howell had intended to meet on the night of his demise. Soon Newlyn Howell and Ms. Fitzgerald find themselves in the manor of the unnerving but successful pottery baron, Linus Hemlock. From this point on, the story takes the viewer on an ever-escalating journey of  horror and intrigue. The danger is vampires and they are many.

Blood and Bone China, created by Chris Stone, is a twelve-part web series that takes place in Victorian England. Although I make no claim to being an expert on Victorian culture, my opinion is that the series depicts the time period quite well in both style of dress and general effects. As with the old-time serials of the past, each segment of this production ends with a cliff hanger. Even so, the tension continues to build as the tale moves inexorably toward its climax and a surprising conclusion.

Although Blood and Bone China was apparently, not meant for either television or the big screen, I found the acting quite convincing with Anthony Miles playing the role of the unheroic Newlyn Howell, Rachel Shenton as the inquisitive Anna Fitzgerald and David Lemberg as the almost frighteningly reserved Linus Hemlock.

If you enjoy Victorian dress and settings this production is for you. If you're into vampires you might want to watch this. If you enjoy surprise endings and love being kept on the edge of your seat, take some time to watch this series through to its finish. I know that I really enjoyed this production. Hopefully, you will too.

You can find Blood and Bone China's YouTube Channel by going here.

Here is the theatrical trailer:

5 comments:

  1. This is without doubt one of the best vampire movies I have ever watched and my only negative thing about the (web)movie is that is it not long enough! -Midi

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  2. Also, I heard that they won the best webseries of 2011. -midi

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  3. Ah yes! I loved this series! Finally, an old-fashioned vampire tale. They've become nearly obsolete these days. I've been meaning to do a review also, but felt the need to rewatch at least portions of it. It's been a while since I watched it, but I remember watching it all in one sitting. It was too good to stop!

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  4. I tend to not like it when anything becomes too mainstream--including vampire productions. I agree with you Traicetrak, I'll take an old-fashioned vampire story any day over a lot that's being offered today.

    That said, I have to admit that I still like Anne Rice's vampires, but they were still demons of a sort and had to reconcile that.

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  5. I really enjoyed that series, and I'm glad I've found some other gothy type that does too! It's back to the old idea of vampires as quite monstrous, but I like how it's the humans that are most monstrous after all!

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