In horror movies, and sometimes in life, a girl alone at night is a victim. Shadows are ominous, noises are frightening, and footsteps are a threat—if they speed up, she's in real trouble. The night doesn't belong to her.
Which is just part of why Ana Lily Amirpour's debut feature film A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is so exhilarating. The Girl (Sheila Vand) is a taciturn, hijab-clad vampire in a tiny Iranian town called Bad City, gliding through the deserted streets like a not-so-friendly ghost. The night is her domain, though the men she encounters might assume otherwise. The Girl does what she wants, and usually what she wants is to drink somebody.
