The fateful confrontation between faith and immortality.... (Vampires (DVD))

Name: Sarah_Louise

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Product:	Vampires (DVD)
Date:	02/03/03 (121 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Quite gory , Quite good graphics

Disadvantages: Too repetitive, Becomes predictable

It was quite a while ago when this was shown on TV, in fact it seems so long ago I can’t even remember when it was. I’m getting forgetful in my old age! :o)

I watched the first 30 minutes of it or so and then decided to go to bed. However, in the name of dooyoo research I decided to record it and watch it later. So, about 2 months after recording it I got around to watching it. So, now I’m here, months later, reviewing it for you all!

“Vampires” is more often referred to as “John Carpenter’s Vampires”. This point is quite important really because when it comes to searching for it on the internet it really helps if you type in the full title. However, just to be awkward, dooyoo has to be different. If you search for “John Carpenter’s Vampires” or even make it even more precise by typing “John Carpenter’s Vampire (1998)” you get “Let’s Talk about Feelings (1998) – Lagwagon” along with many other items that are nothing to do with the movie!

I bet you’d never be able to guess what this movie is about. Go on. I’ll give you three guesses….

What’s that?

Vampires?

Wow, you’re a genius! Just how did you guess it? You’re either a genius or psychic :P

Before I saw this movie I was under the impression it was quite old. I’m not sure why I thought this really because I’d not seen any trailers or anything. In fact until I was doing a web search for some background info for this review I was still under the impression it was relatively old. I was surprised to find it was released in 1998. I suppose its similar to Buffy really in some ways, after all, they’re both Vampire slayers. In other ways though its completely different. You won’t get Sarah Michelle Geller for a start.

So, after finally getting around to watching the m
ovie, what did I think?

Directed by John Carpenter (bet you’d never have guessed that!), all in all it’s not a bad movie. After destroying a nest of vampires in New Mexico, Jack Crow and team are ambushed by Valek (an unholy, vicious 600 year old vampire). Valek is the leader, as it were, in vampire terms. He’s the one to watch out for on a trip to your local grave yard at night. A crucifix hanging from your necklace and a piece of garlic won’t do you much good against this vampire. He’s nearing the end of his search for the Berziers Cross. It soon becomes a race against time as the Berziers Cross would give Valek and all vampires the powers to walk in the dayligh.

Most of Jack Crow’s team have been killed so he’s left with just one member to help him fight the vampires. Unfortunately, the one remaining team member is a young priest. He’s not exactly the best of allies. The race against time becomes intensified when they realise Katrina (a prostitute) has been bitten by Valek. She has yet to ‘change over’ though. The need to reach Valek before he reaches the Berziers Cross and in order to save Katrina, they need to kill him before she changes over. Will they make it?

I’ll let you take another guess….


This movie relies heavily on special effects (as you’d expect!), it doesn’t do a bad job really. It’s quite gory (Valek doesn’t just rely on his teeth to inflict damage, you can expect quite a few blood and guts scenes in this movie). The gore isn’t too bad though. It would have made me switch off a few years ago but as I think I’ve now hardened myself to horror movies it didn’t have me hiding before a cushion or anything! The scenes when the vampires are dragged out into the daylight are quite effective too but aren’t particularly gory as such.

The beginning and end aren’t too b
ad but the middle tends to get a little boring. It’s all a bit too repetitive to be honest. All the vampires are killed in the same way so once you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all really. The middle of the movie focuses entirely on killing as many vampires as possible. And, as you’d expect, they generally succeed, so you’ll have to watch vampire after vampire killed in the same way.

The movie has an 18 rating because of its gore and language really. There aren’t any full-on naughty scenes in this movie but there is a hint, after all, one of the main characters is a prostitute so what else would you expect?


So, if Buffy and Angel don’t make an appearance, who’s in it?

James Woods aka Jack Crow
Daniel Baldwin aka Montoya
Sheryl Lee aka Katrina
Thomas Ian Griffith aka Valek
Maximilian Schell aka Cardinal Alba
Tim Guinee aka Father Adam Guiteau


So, to conclude, all in all its not bad. If it was on TV again this year I wouldn’t bother watching it again. Maybe in a few years I’d watch it again as I might have forgotten who gets killed when. It does get a bit repetitive and hence it soon becomes predictable. Graphics aren’t bad and there is some gore so it makes up for it in that respect I suppose. Having said that I personally didn’t find the gore very repulsive at all.


I’d give it 3/5 stars, not bad, not great. Worth watching if you’re into horror, sci-fi and gore. Wouldn’t bother buying a copy though.

If you do wish to buy your own though you can get a VHS copy for £5.99 and a DVD copy for £15.99 from Amazon.

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