Before watching this documentary, I had never even heard of "The Impaler" - which I'm sure is the general consensus for most people, despite what Sharkey's ego says. I was under the impression that pretending you were a vampire was relegated only to the realm of bored Goth teens, who make up fake pseudonyms like Lord Ravensbloodholm or Katrina Everdark. Sharkey's inner Goth teen is much less creative, choosing to merely rip off the nickname of the original vampire, and also claim lineage to Dracula as well.
The most frightening thing about Sharkey, as evidenced in this documentary, is how much he truly buys into his own hype. Even when the filmmakers put him to the test and he fails miserably, he's still somehow able to come up with a flimsy excuse as to why his skills are not up to snuff. At times it's extremely comical, other times you can see a small psychotic glint in his eye that belies his calm exterior. Those are the moments when you shudder, realizing that this man has the potential to be dangerous.
Sharkey would have you believe that he is going to be our next president, and although he's tried unsuccessfully, he insists that his time has not yet come. I can only hope that America's fascination with electing strange individuals into public office draws the line at a man who has been arrested for threatening to impale the president, and who appears to have a penchant for young girls.
All in all, this documentary was very well made, extremely entertaining, at times laugh out loud funny, but overall very eye-opening. We're conditioned to see people like Sharkey and just laugh and dismiss them, thinking that they're just some weirdo that isn't worth paying attention to for more time than it takes to make fun of them. But we have to keep in mind, that exact idea is how people like Dahmer and Gacy were able to get away with their crimes for as long as they did. I'm not calling for a witch hunt of every weirdo you ever come across, but when they have a record and clearly are not repentant about their past crimes, we need filmmakers like these to remind us to keep a close eye on them. Sharkey may not be the mystical vampire lord badass he claims to be, but that doesn't make him any less of a threat to the public.
Highly recommended.