Vampires: The Turning

Plot synopsis:
Prologue: For many centuries, phi song neng (vampire spirits who have
vowed never to drink human blood) have lived among the villages of the Far
East. One day, over 800 years ago, a young, human warlord named Niran fell in
love with a beautiful song neng woman named Sang. Niran wanted Sang for his
own, so he killed her husband and son. In her pain and rage, Sang attacked
Niran during a Songkran []New Year] solar eclipse, turning him into a vampire. From Niran
have come many jai tham (vampires who drink human blood and kill humans for
pleasure). Only Sang can end the jai tham's nightly attacks on humans. Doing
so, however, will end the entire bloodline and turn every vampire, song neng as
well as jai tham, into mere mortals again. Since the coming Songkran festival
will feature the first solar eclipse in 800 years, Sang intends to kill herself
by exposing herself to the sun's rays at the end of the eclipse and, thus, wipe
out all the vampires in Thailand.Connor [Colin Egglesfield] and Amanda [Meredith Monroe] are vacationing in Thailand during this year's Songkran
festival. Connor, trained since childhood in Muay Thai (Thai boxing), takes
Amanda to see a match. However, Amanda cannot take the brutality and goes back
to their hotel alone. On the way, she gets lost in the Phang Nga market, and Mr
Nice Guy [Dom Hetrakul] offers to show her the way to her hotel. He leads her on a short cut
down a deserted alley, then suddenly turns into the vampire Niran, drinking her blood
and carrying her off on a motorcycle. Connor tries to follow, but he is stopped
by another vampire, obviously intent on killing him. Just as the vampire is
about to succeed, a bald-headed man appears and chops off the vampire's
head. Connor begs for his help finding Amanda, but he warns Connor to
leave Thailand immediately and threatens to kill Connor if he follows him. Of
course, Connor steathfully (i.e., ten steps behind) follows Kiko [Roger Yuan] home to Kong
Sai House.When the police refuse to consider Amanda missing until 48 hours have
passed, Connor goes back to Kong Sai House, only to find everyone asleep. While
snooping through the house, Connor is attacked by a female vampire [Stephanie Chao] (who turns
out to be Sang, but Connor doesn't know that yet). Connor gets away from her by
jumping out a window. As Connor lands on the ground below, he is stopped by vampire slayer Raines [Patrick Bauchau] who insists on testing Connor's blood to see if he
is infected. When Connor comes up clean, he begs Raines to help him find
Amanda but, like Kiko, Raines warns him to leave Thailand. Amanda is as good as
dead, he says. If she resists, the jai tham will bleed her dry; if not, they'll
turn her, and then Raines will slay her (he gets $10,000 for every vampire he
kills). Either way, Amanda should be considered dead to Connor.Connor won't accept it and returns again to Kong Sai House. While there,
he sees a photo of Niran in front of the Techno Games Arcade near the Phang Nga
market. Figuring that Niran might have taken Amanda there, he snoops around. He
finds Amanda being held in a cell with skeletons, carcasses, and other humans
in various stages of being drained of their blood. Basically, he's stumbled
into the jai tham's pantry. Amanda and Connor escape but are attacked outside
by two jai tham on a motorcycle. One drives off with Amanda; the other stays
to kill Connor. Just as Niran and the rest of the jai tham arrive to join the
fun, Sang appears. Connor grabs a motorcycle and, with Sang riding behind him,
they succeed in outrunning the jai tham.Both Amanda and Connor are now faced with decisions. Amanda must decide
whether to allow Niran to turn her or to keep on drinking from her, which
causes acute pain. Connor has to decide whether or not to join the song neng in
hopes of winning the battle with the jai tham and helping Sang to kill herself
so that all vampires (including him) will be turned back into mortals. The
alternative, if Sang is not successful, is that Connor will remain a vampire
until the next Songkran eclipse rolls around in 800 years and Sang can try
again. Connor's decision is made doubly hard because he's got the hots for
Sang. Amanda decides to continue resisting, and Connor decides to become song
neng. This requires being bitten by Sang and, apparently, having sex with her,
too.The day of the eclipse is upon them. The song neng have made a deal with
the slayers. Since Sang's embrace of the sun must take place in the same
spot where the curse began 800 years ago (a couple blocks away), the song neng
have made a deal with Raines. Raines and his slayers will line the buildings
and walls that overlook the site, which looks like an archeological dig, in
order to kill any jai tham who try to stop Sang. Connor, Kiko, and the rest
of the song neng will help Sang get to the required spot. The eclipse starts at
3:00, and they will have 17 minutes to do the job. All is set.Suddenly, the sun is covered and the city falls dark. The slayers are in
position. Connor and the song neng move out from under the trees. The jai tham
arrive on their motorcycles. In the melee that follows, Connor and Niran fall
through a weak spot into a pit where they continue fighting. Time is running
out, and Kiko realizes that the slayers have double-crossed them. Suddenly, the
slayers open fire, shooting everyone, song neng and jai tham. Only Connor and
Niran remain protected in their hole. Connor manages to impale Niran, but when
he surfaces from the pit, Connor finds only bodies. He shouts for Sang, but
there is no answer. Raines walks up, gloating over how much he will get for all
the vampire heads AND those in the future. If Sang ends the curse, he explains,
there's no more vampires, and we're in the vampire hunting business.Connor locates Sang as Raines turns his crossbow on her. Connor offers to
shoot Sang so that she doesn't have to suffer. Raines hands his bow to Connor.
Connor aims at Sang but suddenly swings his aim to Raines. Forcing Raines to
carry Sang to the designated spot, Connor gives her one last kiss before the
sun reappears and Sang is toast. She explodes, taking Raines with her. Connor
hurries back to the jai tham's pantry and rescues Amanda.Epilog: Connor and Amanda are on an airplane flying back to the States.
Amanda looks out the window, and her eyes appear to be totally black. Is she or
isn't she? [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl]

Tags: cult, violence

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