Shudder is one of my favorite apps! No, they do not sponsor me. Boys from County Hell came across my radar via Bloody Disgusting on Twitter. It’s not every day you get to see Irish road workers fight a primeval vampire. The story is about an uninspired young man and his domineering father. They are tasked with a construction project that will disturb the town and an ancient cairn. A cairn, that serves as the resting place of a dangerous monster with no weaknesses.

With a run time of 1 hour 28 mins, the film does a decent job at getting you to care about a few of the characters. Most of the relationships are hard to distinguish as they aren’t stated outright. So, I was left wondering how everyone is connected other than being neighbors. The film has a great balance of laughs and dramatic tension.

Abhartach is not your typical vampire! It resembles an aged demonic bat instead of a charming humanoid predator like Dracula. Abhartach’s mere presence causes people to react in a way that I can only describe as fuckin’ metal. This movie is a stand-out that ignores the traditional vampire tropes. Boys from County Hell gets a 7.5 out of 10.