Seth (Robert Floyd) and his frat buddies are spending their vacation on the lovely shores of New Jersey (living in Philly, I can only wonder why?). During a late night stroll one evening Seth bumps into the dark and secretive Victoria (Marisa Ryan whom you may remember as Elizabeth from Major Dad or most recently from Wet Hot American Summer). What Seth doesn't know is that Victoria and her close friend Alicia (Amy Jo Johnson aka Kimberly the pink Power Ranger thank you very much) are vampires (as if Victoria's huge sunglasses collection didn't give that away). Seth is immediately smitten with the elusive Victoria (of course) and it doesn't take long for Victoria's ex-boyfriend Chaz (Christopher Wiehl) to get wind of this info. Needless to say Chaz doesn't like this news one bit. Chaz (also a vampire) and his clan of leather clad goons do their darndest to make Seth's life a living hell or chase him out of town (whichever comes first). Tempers soon flare and about 70 minutes later you'd better be prepared for a bit of an ironic twist (which if you're half as smart as me you'd have already figured out).

If any of this sounds familiar well let's just say you're not going insane it's pretty much The Lost Boys all over again. From the beach and seaside community to the jealous vampire beau right down to the leather clad goon squad. There's even a reference made to the goons at one point as "Lost Boys" and the infamous merry go round carnival music from The Lost Boys is also present. Sure some aspects of the story have been changed but for the most part it's all there and accounted for. Now... let me tell you why Cold Hearts is actually a good film, and in the long run didn't make me angry like a "cold hearted" rip-off (sorry, had to be done).

I guess I would call Cold Hearts the Ginger Snaps of the indie world of vampire films. It may combine elements of other Vampire films (Lost Boys, Near Dark and From Dusk Till Dawn) as Ginger Snaps did with werewolf film, but I never once got the feeling that the filmmakers were swiping their material. The references don't end with The Lost Boys either. I won't bore you with the details, but this film is literally crawling with film references (for better or for worse). Cold Hearts comes across as a film made by a guy who dug The Lost Boys (and other films in general) so he decided to make his own. The writing is sharp and except for one "friend" of Victoria's (Darius) who conveniently seems to drop in and out of the picture as time permits (as does Alicia as well), the character development is dead on target. We do care about these characters and to an extent are able to identify with them. Add to the mix a couple of nifty scares / set pieces and the experience wound up being oddly fulfilling and quite entertaining. One chilling scene in particular involves a group of unsuspecting boardwalk gals who walk right into Chaz's lair. Bloodletting is minimal save for a few scenes like the one in which Alicia is tricked into feeding (feeding through murder, something the "good" vampires don't like to do) and a jaw-dropping (literally) scene of decomposition.

Cold Hearts is a tightly paced homage to the vampire films I grew up with and naturally loved as a kid. Considering the lack of quality vampire films of recent years (Dracula 2000, Forsaken), Cold Hearts stands as a refreshing change of pace and it's definitely worth a look. The material may not be wholly unique but the independent look of the film is. Some of the effects are less than convincing (optical effects for fog and glowing eyes) but charming in a Killer Klowns kind of way nonetheless. If all of this isn't proof enough then Howard Stern fan's can revel in the fact that Fred Norris has a very cool cameo about half way through (and yes, the man can act). Also worth mentioning are the effects provided by Tom Savini, LTD (does that mean Savini did them himself or his cronies?). When all is said and done Cold Hearts finishes as a very satisfying experience that I can feel is growing on me as we speak.

Synapse presents Cold Hearts in a mildly (and I do mean mildly) 1.66:1 letterboxed transfer. Considering the films obviously low budget, this transfer is quite pleasing all around. Colors are extremely vivid and sharp with nice definition. Black levels are fairly solid throughout and the neatly compressed disc exhibits no sign of artifacting. Luckily grain is extremely minimal (odd for such a low budget film, so kudos) and there are really only a few instances of print damage. The occasional spec or light scratch here and there (some scenes fare better than others... as expected). These few blemishes really come as no surprise (god only knows how many prints of this film were actually struck) and is quite acceptable.

Audio is presented in a 2.0 stereo surround mix. Dialogue is nice and clear with no distortion. There is nice separation from the front speakers, with not a whole lot of activity from the surrounds. For such an obviously low budget film, it's an all around impressive audio mix.

Extras include a short film (also from director Robert Masciantonio) entitled Jerks which runs about 10 minutes and is an unsuccessful (in my mind at least) spoof of Clerks. It's best left forgotten. Next up is a "promotional" trailer followed by a brief photo slide show. This leads us to about 20 minutes of audition footage (with some oddly unimpressive auditions) and finally a feature length commentary with director Masciantonio (and a few of his buds, I guess). It's interesting enough but nothing to get too excited about. Commentaries for independent films especially are usually quite interesting, but there seems to be a whole lot of goofing off going on here. It's worth at least one listen (just be patient).

It may not be a classic, but if you're looking for something new (but not wholly original) with a bit of a bite Cold Hearts may just be your ticket. It's certainly better than 99.7% of the crap that Hollywood is pumping out these days, so dig in. Synapse presents us with a respectable special edition DVD that serves its feature extremely well.