| Product: |
Vampires (DVD) |
| Date: |
01/11/00 (26 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: nothing to set it apart, really :(
Disadvantages: predictable, not scary
I borrowed this movie off a mate some time ago, but never got around to watching it - it's been sitting on the shelf for weeks. However, finding ourselves at a bit of a loose end this evening, we decided to give it a go (after all, it is Halloween!)
Jack Crow (James Woods) is the leader of a band of Vatican-sponsored "vampire slayers". As the film begins, the vampire hunters descend on a (seemingly) abandoned shack in the middle of nowhere, which is apparently the "base" of a "vampire master" and his associated "goons". After a few minutes of extreme gore and burning bodies (the preferred method of vampire execution here is to spear them with a harpoon and then drag them into direct sunlight - none of that crucifix & garlic malarkey!), the job is done and our heroes retire to a sleazy motel for an evening of rest & recuperation (or, more accurately, a gaggle of prostitutes and copious amounts of alcohol). Unfortunately, it turns out that they missed the "vampire master", who shows up unannounced and massacres virtually everybody present - only two of the team are left alive, so (along with a bitten-but-only-half-converted hooker from the party), they set out to exact revenge.
Given the fact that the film was directed by horror-supremo John Carpenter, "Vampires" is quite a let-down. The plot is predictable, the tension non-existent, and really it's more of a macho "Guns and Fist-Fights" movie than a real horror flick ...There isn't really any "horror" content as such - no "jump out of your seat" moments - just gore. (although, admittedly, it's very impressively done "gore" with no expense spared on the effects!).
That's not to say it's a bad film - the story is engaging enough to keep you watching to the end, and it was a reasonable diversion to an otherwise dull Halloween evening - but there's better examples of
the genre out there. One to borrow rather than buy, I think.
Summary:
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