Pedro del Toro, a family man and drug trafficking ally, is ready to get out of the crime life. But is the crime life ever ready to be done with you? As Alan, one of his henchmen, asks him to make one last deal to protect themselves from a rival family, a young girl shows up out of nowhere, just as a small team of Romanian killers known as the Arcana decimate every one of Pedro’s guards.

Lina explains to the survivors that the Arcana are after her because she’s a vampire a part of the Cuervo clan. But while Pedro wants to give in, Alan is going after the Dreadnok-looking army of killing machines.

This movie has quite the cocktail: young vampire vs. warrior caste of Romania bloodsuckers + Mexican mov drama + home invasion thriller. Shake it all up, throw some cool fight scenes, an arrow through the mouth and glowing vampires into the mix and you have a pretty full drink.

Director Rigoberto Castañeda and writer Michael Caissie have combined nearly every movie on their DVD shelves — a little John Carpenter stuck in a fortified place against the odds here, some of The Raid martial arts there, some post-apocalyptic movie looking villains here — and plenty of little hints as their source material, naming the family del Toro and the young girl Lina after Let the Right One In.

I had a blast with this, as its really intriguing to see vampires not be slow moving creatures of the night but instead ninja-like fighting machines. Making cocktails of disparate ingredients is always challenging; here’s to a film that pulls it off.

I saw Origin Unknown as part of Salem Horror Fest, where you can watch several shorts and features with their virtual pass now until the end of October. You can learn more about this film on the official web page.