Just when you thought there was no gas left in the tank of revisionist vampire cinema, along comes A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, a tale billed as âthe first Iranian vampire western.â Though itâs unlikely to become a crowded field, this black-and-white Farsi-language gem is rich in allusive metaphor (blood-oil-sex-religion) and deep, dark texture. First-time writer/director Ana Lily Amirpour comes by her genre bona fides honestly, via a palette of cinematic and literary influencesâJim Jarmusch most strikingly, but also Leos Carax, Jim Thompson, and Raymond Chandlerânot usually seen in horror films of any nationality.
And while Amanpour doesnât deliver the visceral scare factor of Let the Right One In, she does manage to out-Jarmusch Jarmuschâs recent vampire inversion, The Only Lovers Left Alive. In the opening scene, a lean, rockabilly-styled kid rescues a stray cat and walks languidly through the sun-blanched streets of the deserted desert town Bad City. As he crosses a small bridge, oil derricks pumping savagely in the distance, you only casually notice the ravine full of corpses below his feet, and understand that youâre in for a smart, super-creepy film that demands and rewards close attention.
And speaking of close attention: Donât take your eyes off the colossally alluring Sheila Vand, whose performance as âThe Girlâ is a quintessential starmaker moment for an actress who has been doing excellent work under the radar for years. Lurking in shadows, shrouded by the heavy cloth of her traditional veils and the political implications they carry, Vandâs presence anchors the film (though in something you canât quite call ârealityâ) and keeps it from simply being a stylish exercise. 
