The Caretaker

Like many fans of the horror genre i have been disappointed on quite a few occasions by films that sound good but don't deliver when it comes to watching them (there is so much crap out there) i bought this DVD from a pound store then decided to read some of the reviews here first just in case i was wasting my time, some of the reviews sounded optimistic so i gave it a chance, and from the start i knew this was going to be better than most of the rubbish out there, the camera work was excellent with some beautiful scenery captured throughout, the story was interesting and the vampires just scary enough (although i would have preffered a couple more scenes with the characters fending off vampires) with good makeup effects, and the acting was pretty good for a low budget flick, all in all it was a decent horror film, hope to see more good horror stuff from this Director, he did a great job!

While there is no denying that Vampires play a central role in this movie, I would challenge its pigeonholing as a genre film. Underneath the gore and fangs and horror is a simple story about humanity and survival. Each of the characters is unlikeable yet fragile, likable yet horrifying, showing us the complexity of human nature and human relationships. The actors and filmmakers did a wonderful job of bringing these characters to life and imbuing them with a sense of reality, as opposed to the sometimes stereotypical caricatures that often find their way into these type of films. On top of that the filmic style and colour palette used by the filmmakers gives the film a beautiful, rich visual feel.

One of my favourite Australian films to date, I hope it gets the recognition it deserves!

An interesting story but badly scripted. Extremely unlikable characters. Confusing dialogue and actions.

The idea if a vampire virus isnt massively original (Stakeland etc) but the idea of caretakers looking out for each other was ok. Just not very well written. The Dr Vampire kept spouting pointless dialogue trying to sound deep and profound but ended up feeling forced and amusing. The girlfriend and boyfriend arguing constantly was beyond irritating. I just didnt care and it added nothing to the story. Daft.

No gore or FX to speak of. Cheap cgi face smoking in sun and rubber limbs.

Then last but certainly not least there is the music. Oh my god the music!! Ha ha. The music was so loud and inappropriately placed. Poorly mixed and amateur. Struggled to hear the actors over it and repeated itself over scenes where it was unnecessary. So distracting.

Avoid. Really no redeeming or watchable parts. I just wanted it to be over.

On and on this film went, long past the point where I cared about it, until a sort of numbness crept in, where you really start to notice the world around you in your front room. Like: When was the last I hoovered the floor, or that wonky picture needs to be straightened. In the end, I just fidgeted around on my phone, as the lifeless (no pun intended there) characters met their respective fates and the ordeal was over. If the fact that I had more than one eye off the screen during the last 40 minutes means you ignore my review, then so help me... I don't give a hoot.

It's just a badly written, wretchedly edited, poorly acted piece of... dung which is NEVER scary, about from the implied idea that it was worth releasing in this condition. There is not one aspect of it which is worthwhile, and the only reason I haven't scored it less is when I compare it to some of the VERY worst horror movies I've seen, it's not QUITE as horrendous as that. This is hardly a recommendation, though. Steer well clear. 2/10

First off I have to say The Caretaker does well in that it had very much a different take on the over populated Vamp horror flicks we have. It certainly was not a 'by the numbers' flick and was certainly not predictable. The characters included were indeed not stereotypical and indeed there were some good elements seeded in the script. So fair play to them. With a bigger budget and a lot more polish who knows. However although there was a peppering of the odd bit of decent acting among our unlikely crew this was a awash in a protagonist so strong, sharp and dramatic in it's execution, so everywhere at every time that moments of little gems of the odd nice line from it's supporting cast faded into the background. And that protagonist was the Music. Maybe it was where I seen it but on my turn it down such overwrought angst in musical notes constantly. It was bordering on painful and really put this viewer through the wringer. So had potential - with better lighting, cinematography, colour palette, few less utterly weird character backgrounds (someone has issues somewhere) and better SFX this may have been decent. Essentially it is a B-movie with some moments I will remember however. Only watch if you're a die-hard Vamp fan and you may enjoy.