Drained (2025) review – Lager louts and lacklustre vampires

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are taking a look at yet another romantic comedy horror movie from the UK called Drained. This title hit the festival circuit in 2024 but was only given a wider release in 2025. In fact, its UK streaming release came on Valentine’s Day.

A Romantic Kinda Horror Thing?

A few horror rom-com movies have set their release date for February 14th this year. To be perfectly honest, though, I really dislike the thought of settling down to watch a romantic horror with my fiancée on Valentine’s Day. Most of them are pretty awful, and the whole thing feels a little bit cheesy.

Drained is, if I am being perfectly honest, a little different. It feels like a concerted effort has been made here to actually target all types of viewers. The story follows a young man who falls in love with a mysterious vampire, only to find himself becoming horribly ill as he concedes to her every wish.

The humour is rather crude and our protagonist, Thomas (Ruaridh Aldington), is a bit of a loser.

It’s actually quite funny in parts

When I say loser, I mean in that very specific British way. This guy is a perpetually unemployed lager lout who still lives with his mother and spends his days eating cereal and watching television. You know the type. He can’t get a job or move out because he’s constantly working on his art portfolio.

“This guy is a perpetually unemployed lager lout who still lives with his mother and spends his days eating cereal and watching television. You know the type.”

Thomas is not your typical romantic horror movie protagonist and that is where a lot of the humour is based. His interactions with his long-suffering mother, played by Angela Dixon, and her new, rat-catcher boyfriend are legitimately funny.

Ruaridh Aldington does a fantastic job portraying this boorish character and makes him completely believable. The believability only adds to the unlikeliness of the sultry vampire, Rhea (Madalina Bellariu Ion), falling for him at a nightclub. Rhea is your standard “dark character hiding a secret” type and, obviously, Thomas is a little perplexed at her interest in him.

A large part of Drained plays out like something of a soap opera, with a lot of focus placed on Thomas’ increasingly dire life situation. He finds a new place, he struggles to pay for basic amenities, and he has no understanding of the cost of living. Something reflected in his overly keen desire to be coddled by his mother. It’s pretty well done and, if you enjoy this type of thing, quite watchable thanks to the consistent laughs.

The horror and romance are where the movie fails

The horror and romance elements of this movie are fiendishly dull. Drained follows a blueprint set by stories like Let The Right One In, never really managing to innovate any new ideas of its own. It is far too content with constantly poking and prodding at vampire tropes both new and old. The unlikely relationship between the two main characters begins to uncover a dark side, and it all becomes ruthlessly predictable.

“Rhea and Thomas settle into an, almost, mundane, co-dependent pattern of meeting up and hanging out akin to two teens dating in high school. It’s rather boring.”

There is just nothing new here. The horror elements are barely present and completely uninteresting. Rhea is a rather dull character who gives the viewer very little reason to actually invest in her. The repeated use of Thomas’ living situation to provoke laughs becomes repetitive, and everything that takes place in the second half is hugely predictable.

The movie feels incredibly long, as well. The balancing act between horror, comedy, and romance falls apart later on, and the viewing experience becomes a real chore.

Those fans looking for romantic horror will also leave feeling short-changed. The typically intense nature of romance in horror films is not present here, at all. Rhea and Thomas settle into an, almost, mundane, co-dependent pattern of meeting up and hanging out akin to two teens dating in high school. It’s rather boring and unlikely to interest fans of romance.

There are a few plus points worth mentioning

There are some positives. The first half made me laugh frequently. The script is decent, at times, and the acting is spot on almost throughout. Even when British horror is bad, it tends to be well-acted. I loved Craig Conway as Thomas’ mum’s new boyfriend. He was legitimately hilarious on a number of occasions and completely nailed the role.

A lot of the dialogue is extremely natural, and characters come across as actual real people who actually know each other. All credit to the cast who do a fantastic job. There are some current and future successful actors in this movie, for sure.

“Drained commits that most egregious of horror sins in not only being quite bad but also being long and boring.”

Direction is mixed. Pacing is a big problem; Drained feels far too long. Although the movie is pretty well shot with some nice use of lighting and decent camera work, some of the special effects are laughable and look hilariously stupid. Particularly those scenes that feature characters flying or moving quickly. There are absolutely no scares, at all. The horror falls completely flat in every sense.

Wardrobe was something that annoyed me quite a bit. Rhea practically lives in the same clothes as if she is a video game character or something. My fiancée wondered whether they asked her to bring her most “alternative” looking outfits from home and that was all she could muster. Makeup was a bit of a let-down, as well. I want my goth lady vampire to look gothic, not ordinary.

I should probably point out that IMDb already contains fake reviews for this movie. Most of which are being met with heavy downvoting. I am guessing the crew is hard at work bolstering the score. At least they are being rather modest with it, though.

Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight

Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.

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