Neil Jordan stakes his claim to vampire innovation

Long before Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart sank their pearly whites into The Twilight Saga, British director Neil Jordan was entertaining A-list bloodsuckers on the big screen with Interview With The Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles.

Almost 20 years later, Jordan plants a stake back in the genre with this intelligent and moody thriller.

Ballsy single mother Clara Webb (Arterton) arrives in a rundown seaside resort with her daughter Eleanor (Ronan) in tow.

In order to make ends meet, Clara sells her body to residents and holidaymakers, earning just enough to keep the pair off the streets.

Every now and then, she sinks her teeth into an unsuspecting punter and we discover, in flashback, that Clara is in fact a vampire who was much abused in the 19th century by a libidinous captain (Miller) and has wrought revenge on mankind ever since.

Eleanor is her equally-bloodthirsty ward, who refuses to abide by the ancient code.

The vampires hit the jackpot when they meet a lonely misfit (Mays) who lives in the decrepit Byzantium guest house, which would make a perfect base for Clara’s illicit operations.

So while the older bloodsucker recruits local girls from the streets, Eleanor drifts around the resort, catching the eye of a young waiter, Frank (Landry Jones), who is waging a long, protracted battle with leukaemia.

When Darvell (Riley), a face from Clara’s past, turns up at the guest house, battle lines are drawn.

Byzantium is a slow-burner, with occasional explosions of graphic violence when Clara or Eleanor sate their bloodlust. The fractured chronology hampers dramatic momentum, but Jordan navigates a clear path between past and present, drawing us into his heroines’ predicament.

Ronan is spellbinding, conveying most of her emotions through her eyes, while Arterton takes the flashier, brassier role as vengeful protector.

Pace quickens in the blazing final act as fates collide on the coast and everything – except for two centuries of sin – is washed away.