The Familiar, from Canadian writer-director Kody Zimmerman, is a great-looking horror comedy about a vampire buff who thinks he’s found the ticket to immortality and good times galore when he becomes the assistant to a centuries-old bloodsucker. Turns out it’s just a really crappy job for a wholly unreasonable employer. Sent on endless bloody errands with no appreciation shown in return, the put-upon subordinate would look at Anne Hathaway’s character in The Devil Wears Prada with envy.

Zimmerman’s own unhappy experience as a personal assistant to a Hollywood actor (discreetly unnamed on his website’s notes) inspired the film, and the antagonism between horrid boss and silently fuming employee plays with “been there, done that” veracity. As a comedy, the film is more likely to generate a small smile than any big laughs, in part due to a flatly read narration from lead actor Torrance Coombs. Coombs (who can be seen in the final season of Showtime’s The Tudors) is a bit better in his dramatic interactions, though co-stars Paul Hubbard (spewing vileness with panache as the vampire) and Brock Shoveller (as the assistant’s genteel predecessor) easily steal the spotlight from him.

What really makes The Familiar stand out is good old-fashioned filmmaking craft. Too many modern low-budget horror features try to skate by on dizzying handheld camerawork, chaotic editing or gimmicky premises – a trend sure to grow after the box office success of Paranormal Activity. But Zimmerman and company show more aesthetic ambition than that. Shot on professional grade HD video, the film had the professional sheen of a high-end 35mm production on the DVD screener I watched. Zimmerman’s years laboring in the industry may have given him tech and production connections many do-it-yourself filmmakers would envy, but he and cinematographer George Campbell show they know what to do with the tools.

Boasting solid pacing, active (rather than overactive) camerawork, striking composition and even some effective visual effects, The Familiar shows an assured directorial hand and should be a nice calling card for Zimmerman to move upwards in the film biz. The 22-minute film has been making the festival rounds since last October and if it comes to your area, it’s worth catching.