Introduction
A young ballerina, Alina Shukh, is thrust into a millennia-old battle amongst the creatures of the night. The underworld kingpin, Corwin (Kevin A. White) and Queen Samara (Reggie Bert) who are now immortal decide to kill Alina because she’s betrayed them. She was bitten by her baby brother. Alina’s father is Corwin’s right hand man Marcus and Samara’s lover.
The sisters, Eliza (Alexandra Tursina) and Lara (Irina Pavlova) each have a child that is also different from the other in appearance and abilities. Eliza is the daughter of Corwin and Samara. Lara is Samara’s daughter with Alina.
The old man, Jack (David Strathairn), gives Alina a locket that holds the map to where her baby brother is. Alina does not know why he wants to know this information, but she trusts him. Jack is revealed to be a vampire hunter. He has been in this battle for hundreds of years and he wants to end it once and for all. He goes after Corwin but is lured into a trap and killed by Lara, who is also half vampire.
Alina rescues her father Marcus from a zombie (one who no longer has a soul) attack. They are both bitten and become zombies themselves. Alina tries to go after her baby brother but is stopped by the undead Marcus. He tells Alina that she will die unless he kills her, or she kills him. Before they can kill each other a pair of soldiers named Theo (Ivan Koltsov) and Idessa (Olga Turgenev a) arrive on the scene and gun down Marcus and Eliza in cold blood.
The siblings set off to find what they think is the last safe place, a castle ruled by King Marko (Michael Eklund), who looks like Corwin in every way. They are confronted by a large number of zombies as they enter the castle and are captured by the King’s guards. Alina is condemned to death by the King. She escapes and is reunited with her sister Lara.
In the meantime, Jack has been brought back to life by Nickolai (Oleg Taktarov), a witch doctor who makes everything from potions to zombies. His real name is Joshua, but he likes to be called Nickolai. He tells Jack that Corwin and Samara are not people but vampires, who must keep feeding or they will die. The only way to kill them is through blood born weapons, which have been created by Marcus in order to make way for his son Corwin, who will take over once Marcus dies.
Jack and Alina are at the local bar drinking when they overhear Lara talking with Idessa. She has come to kill her father, but Jack gets there first and kills Idessa before Lara can get the shot off. Alina is angry that Jack saved Idessa’s life but does not understand what he is doing. He explains that he’s been tracking down Corwin for a long time and has been searching for the bloodborne weapons.
The next day, Corwin’s men arrive at the castle to attack it. They find it empty except for Alina and Lara. They are captured, but Idessa betrays them and brings Corwin and Samara to the castle. She gets Marcus to tell Corwin where Alina is, and then kills him.
Jack, Alina, Lara and the brothers Marcus and Eliza set out for the docks. Along the way Alina learns that Jack is in fact Joshua (The warlock who betrayed Joshua to Corwin.) She stops him from killing Lara because she feels her sister needs her alive. The ship they are on eventually runs out of gas, so they decide to swim to shore. They’re attacked by zombies while swimming, but Jack uses his magic knife to cut his way through them. They make it to the dock where Alina and Lara make a run for it. Jack catches up to them and engages them in battle, killing Lara. He takes her watch and reveals that she is giving the signal to Corwin so he can pick them off one by one. They escape while Corwin’s men are distracted by the undead Marcus and Eliza.
Jack tells Alina that he has seen her baby brother in a vision. It is up in the mountains somewhere, but he doesn’t know where exactly. She has a choice to make, either to continue the bloodborne weapon hunt or to go after her baby brother. He tells her that she should keep the watch because it is a locket that contains the location of the blood born weapons. But if she chooses to follow Corwin, he will tell her when and where to meet up with him. In about 90 days’ time Corwin is going to pass through a village in the mountains and Alina should take Lara’s place there as his queen. She agrees and they both head out for their own routes but not before Jack tells Alina that he loves her.
The next morning Alina and Lara are both bitten. Luckily the villagers of the village where Jack told her to meet up with Corwin have recovered two werewolves, Dima (Alexander Vasilyev) and Alyosha (Sergei Savelyev). Alina is shocked when she’s told this, thinking that she has already been bitten. She doesn’t want to leave her sister though, so she tells them to keep an eye out for Corwin’s men.
Jack arrives at the village and is also bitten by a werewolf. Before he can kill it, he is attacked by Alina who has been bitten but not turned because she was still wearing her locket. He tells her that since she’s not been turned, then there is a way to cure what’s happened to them. There are herbs in the grove where she killed Lara that can make them human again.
While searching for the grove, Dima attacks Jack and explains why he hates vampires so much. He tells Jack that they killed his family and that he wants revenge. He says that he has a plan to kill Corwin and puts him under his control so that he can lead the werewolves to the grove where Alina is.
Meanwhile, Corwin’s men have tracked Alina down, she quickly gets herself and her sister away while Lara dies of her wound. While she escapes, Lara tells Alina all about how Marcus came up with the bloodborne weapons but how it went wrong due to their rift. She tells her that she should sacrifice her own life so that the world will be saved.
Jack helps Dima find the grove of herbs and then takes off in his boat to go after Corwin.
Alina makes it to the village, where a man named Anis tells her about Nickolai’s plan to lead Corwin into a trap. He tells her that Nickolai made him after he found him in the forest where he had been bitten by a werewolf which was against their laws. She follows Anis and his men to where they have Nickolai. Anis also tells her that he is Marcus’s son, which she realises when she sees the scar on his chest. Nickolai apologises for what Marcus did and tells her that she has to sacrifice herself so that the world will be safe, then he tries to kill them but fails when Dima and Anis turn on him. Dima is about to kill him when Alina stops him and takes the knife for herself, knowing that she’s the only one who can stop Corwin and his men. Dima attacks her but is killed by Nickolai. She makes it to Corwin’s ship, where she stops Nickolai from killing Lara before going down to face Corwin. She gives him the location of the grove so that he can get there before Marcus’s men can corner them, then she stabs him with her own knife.
Dima and Anis along with the werewolves kill Corwin’s men and make it back to the village where Marcus is waiting for her. He says that she’s his daughter but tells her that she should give him the locket first. She refuses, but Nickolai tells him that Lara is still alive, so he grabs Alina and takes her down into the basement where he holds her captive. But Lara surprises Nickolai by appearing in front of him and using Corwin’s gun to blast him away. She runs off and Marcus tells her that she should be happy that her sister is still alive, but she will never be with him because he did what he did for the wrong reasons. Lara tells Alina to hurry up and give him the locket. Alina gives it to him, and Marcus makes a promise to her that he will make things right, then they both go after Lara as Nickolai gets back up but dies again. She tells him that she can’t be around him anymore and runs off.
Lara eventually finds the grove and discovers that it is actually a temple. She sets off the alarm system and everyone, including Alina, takes cover until the coast is clear when she goes inside. Alina follows her in but is soon trapped in a room with Marcus, who tells her that he will never let Lara leave like this. And she can’t bring herself to kill her sister, so he does it for her. Alina follows her outside and hides behind a tree while they talk. Marcus tells her to forget what he did, she’s more than welcome to stay with him. He asks if the locket is down there, when Alina says yes, he tells Lara that it isn’t hers anymore then throws her off a cliff after putting the locket around his own neck. She grabs onto an overhanging branch but as soon as she does, it breaks, and she falls to her death.
Cast And Crews.
Harlow Valentine as Alina Shukh
Samara as Reggie Bert
Crowin as Kevin A. White
Kiara as Stephanie Marie Schieder
Ishmael as Eric Roth
Ana as Holly Liu
Mildred as Isa Wnek
Lily as Dominique Barrager
Agent Jake Hiller as Martine Baruch
Agent Ellis Dunn as Andrew Dobbie
Agent Arthur Hiller as Patrick O’Brien
Tina Noel as Kara
Alex Fumoral as Jack Kovidni
Molly McClelland as Lara Shukh
Don Lee as Robert Corwin
Rossif Sutherland as Marcus Shukh
Natasha McElhone as Madeline Harker
Sergii Streltsov as Dima
Sergei Savelyev as Alyosha
Alexander Vasilyev as Nickolai Liukin
Krystyn Hutchinson as Alina’s mother.
Soundtrack:
The official soundtrack to Vampire Journals was released on 12 May 2013 by Anno Domini Nation Records and distributed by E1 Entertainment Distribution. The album features songs by artists such as Lana Del Rey, Skylar Grey, Skye Edwards of Morcheeba, Shania Twain and Sting amongst others
Production began in 2012 and the movie was shot in 3D. The film was shot on location in Romania, St. Petersburg and London. It is also the last film featuring James Remar as Marcus Shukh.
