(Director John Carpenter, starring: James Woods, Thomas Ian Griffith, Daniel Baldwin, Sheryl Lee)
by deadseraph
At the risk of pointing this zine in the direction of cliched Gothdom, I decided to review John Carpenters Vampires. This 1998 film is based on the novel Vampire$, by John Steakly. Suppose I should be reviewing new films, but, well, videos are cheaper . . After destroying a vampire nest in New Mexico, a team of Catholic Church sponsored Vampire hunters (led by angry bastard James Woods) are attacked by an old and powerful Master Vampire. Vampyric violence a plenty here, as the Master, Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith), kicks some mortal ass!
Blah blah blah Vampires evil plan, blah blah lets thwart it for the good of mankind, blah blah final deadly confrontation - get the picture? I quite enjoyed this film, but I know that some people thought it sucked (oops! sorry). It may not be for everyone - people who dont like their Vampire lore being messed with shouldnt bother, because film does a bit of an Anne Rice, in the sense that it totally rewrites Vampire history and lineage. Those who arent frightened of new approaches to the Vampire 'thing'(and we should all be used to it by now!) should enjoy this aspect, at least. The film certainly contains some elements that are uncommon to other Vampire flicks. Director Carpenter says,
"it is the closest I have ever come to making a Western",
so there is a hint as to the rather unique nature of this movie. There are a lot of dumb fucks (more than usual...) trying to shoot vampires with guns. The action is shot continually from the 'good Guy’ point of view, but we can glean through that the underlying tragedy of the Vampire, tugging away at our heart strings (oops again!).
I havent read the book, but Ive seen a few reviews online and overall the buzz is 'Like the movie, love the book. It seems that the plot was drastically changed (for the worse, as usual) when the movie script was drafted. Overall, without comparison to the book, John Carpenter's Vampires is a wonderfully violent, occasionally sensual foray into the world of the Vampire.
But be warned, my children of the night - it is very Hollywood. Certainly worth a look, though.