In his directorial debut, J.J. Perry helms this comedy-horror about Bud Jablonski (Jamie Foxx), a divorced pool cleaner with a precocious 10-year-old daughter, Paige (Zion Broadnax); and a disgruntled ex-wife, Jocelyn (Meagan Good), who’s threatening to move if Bud can’t pay for his daughter’s private school tuition. Pool cleaning is just a front. Bud’s real job is hunting vampires.
Bud’s problem is he’s been kicked out of the vampire hunters’ union due to his aggressive and risky hunting style, and prices for extracted vampire fangs don’t fetch the same high price that the union pays. With the help of his friend and fellow vampire hunter Big John Elliott (Snoop Dogg), union head Ralph Seeger (Eric Lange) decides to give Bud one last chance to redeem himself. The catch? He’s only allowed to hunt during the day shift, and he has to take novice union bureaucrat Seth (Dave Franco) with him.
This mismatched buddy action flick delivers some laughs, some effective action sequences, and performances from some very appealing stars. Will it have the lasting appeal of a horror-comedy film such as An American Werewolf in London? Not even close! But it’s a fun couple of hours and included in your Netflix subscription. (113 min.)
—Glen Starkey
This article appears in Aug 25 – Sep 1, 2022.
