The nonsensically titled[1] Blood & Chocolate (2007) was a frustrating mix of promise and predictability, with a nice plot twist from which the screenwriter shrank. Vivian is a young and unhappy Loup-Garou, the Romanian version of a werewolf, with its apparently only variance from the traditional werewolf being an inability to make anyone else a Loup-Garou. According to the tradition of the pack, they are descended from the royal line of Romania. The Loups-Garous have been mercilessly hunted and are down to a couple dozen, occasionally taking a human victim for a ceremonial, if vicious, hunt, run by Gabriel, their pack leader.
Vivian helps her aunt, a pack member, run a chocolate shop, an occupation of little impact to the story. One night, as Vivian meditates in a church, she crosses paths with an American graphic novel artist, Aiden, who is fascinated by the wolf-associated iconography in the church. Over the next few days, he pursues her in a gentlemanly manner. Gabriel, learning of his interest in the Loups-Garous, decides he must be frightened out of Romania, or killed, and dispatches his own son to do the job.
But his son fails and dies. A thoroughly frightened Aiden is taken prisoner and subjected to the ceremonial hunt, but survives it. Vivian attempts to defend him at its termination, and is accidentally injured with a silver knife. Aiden helps her survive by taking her for special treatment, but they are pursued. In the climactic ending, a number of pack members die, including Gabriel. Vivian and Aiden escape.
From that summary we can see the surprises are the survival of the fully human being Aiden, refusing to succumb to the sudden attack of Gabriel’s son, and ultimately winning the inevitable knock-down drag-out fight. That was the exciting, interesting part, as humans don’t win such fights. In fact, at that point, as the Loup-Garou panted his last breaths, I waited to see if Aiden would save him, perhaps starting his own mutant pack. But, no. The scriptwriters suffered a failure of imagination, perhaps only capable of that one little surprise, and the Loup-Garou dies.
And, from then on, the movie is as dull as my plot summary – there’s a lot of action, but nothing new, no commentary on how relations between differently capable groups might be harmonized – or how such is not possible. Instead, it’s just a lot of running and knifing and even shooting.
And that’s a shame. It was nicely set up to take a standard werewolf tale down a different, thought-provoking, even wickedly smart path. Instead, the most clever thing is a concealed knife. And that’s awfully dull.
All the other facets were adequate or even good – visuals, audio, acting. Too bad the story couldn’t jump from its ruts.
1Since we saw this on TV, it’s possible the title made sense without the inevitable TV editing.
