Il cacciatore delle tenebre

I'm amazed at some of these reviews, a low budget vampire movie starring James Woods is a modest success in 1998. Four years later we get a lower budget sequel starting Jon Bon Jovi.

Plot In A Paragraph: In Mexico, vampire slayer, Derek Bliss (Jon Bon Jovi), is hired by an unknown client provided he build a team of slayers. Father Adam Guiteau (from the first film) is shown to have been killed in this one. This team ends up including the vampiress Zoe, who is fighting her affliction with medication, Father Rodrigo, and Sancho, a teenage boy in finding a large nest of "suckers" and their powerful leader, a vampire princess named Una (Arly Jover). She is seeking a legendary black crucifix: the Berziers Cross, the same crucifix used unsuccessfully in the first movie to perform a ritual which will enable vampires to walk in sunlight and be invulnerable.

It's, silly, rude, crude, over the top violent and ridiculous. But it's also fun. Jon Bon Jovi will never be an Oscar winner, but he has enough talent and charisma to get by in fare like this!! In fact he is the best actor in this movie.

Before I go on I have to admit to being a huge Bon Jovi fan. In fact thats what attracted me to the DVD case in the first place. I probably would have bought it anyway being such a big horror fan and having enjoyed the first Vampires title so much.

But this isn't half as good. Not even Jon could save this film for me. My main problem would be that it simply isn't scary. Apart from Jon's character Derek Bliss none of the other characters make an impression and you couldn't care less whether they die or not, especially the annoying vampire / drug addict woman. The female vampire simply isn't scary or sexy. Rather she looks like an anorexic 14 year girl, no wonder she is so desperate for blood then. Another huge problem is that everything is just "too bright". There is no atmosphere or sense of dread. I know the first Vampires being set in New Mexico wasn't exactly the twilight zone in terms of creepiness but yet it still managed to be dark and foreboding when it needed to be. This film has no tension like that.

The story is basically the same as before. Vampire wants Berzier's cross to be able to walk in daylight. However the story has less cool bits this time. There is no wow factor in knowing this is the master of all master - the original vampire, as in the first film. You really don't care who or what this one is. There is no army of masters. Instead she hides out in some old ruin which looks more like a Disneyland attraction then a creepy temple.

So there you have it really. Lack of scares, lack of atmosphere, lack of interesting story. A real let down for me personally.

Gotta take my hat off to Carpenter....putting his name up as exec producer here. Gives new meaning to the term low budget! Little more than a juvenile re-make of the original. Vampire Hunter (Jon Bon Jovial), girl who has been bit but not turned....Priest-for-a-partner, snatch of the old "locked into the vampire's wavelength" nonsense and a few sporadically exploding vampires that wouldn't look out of place on Guy Fawkes night!

But man...have a look at the hack editing, the childish and garish colors everywhere (MUST have been made ostensibly for the Mexican video market)the totally awesomely vapid acting....its a classic! For some indefinable reason though, the film takes itself soo seriously its almost enchanting.

In the upshot, about as frightening as Sesame Street, as intelligent as Mike Tyson and as relevant as a 1972 typewriter! The one decent scene...the two girls about to KISS and they wimp out!

I was expecting a poor sequel, similar in nature to the Dusk to Dawn franchise, but I was somewhat surprised. This movie follows the same pattern as the first John Carpenters' Vampires (1998), but features none of the same actors. John Bon Jovi does a quite credible job as the vampire hunter, and Natasha Wagner performs well as the partially infected vampire, rounded out by a resonable supporting cast of hunter assistants, who actually manage to survive the second scene. The problems with this movie mainly come from lack of motivation of several of the characters, particularly Zoey, and strange mistakes made by the villan Arly Jover (from Blade), who up until the final was quite intelligent and managed to fool the hunters at every point. And a general lack of energy from the cast. If you liked the first one you will like this as well. Well worth a rental for anyone who likes the vampire genre.

This was just on the verge of disappointing. The story builds itself around a similar plotline of the first, in that the vampire master is looking to find the mythical black cross which will allow them to walk during the day. They are opposed in this quest by the battle-hardened loner/slayer. In this case the slayer is portrayed by rocker Jon Bon Jovi. He has built an acting career around smaller, supporting roles and has done quite well in them. Unfortunately I don't think he was ready for the lead at this point. Or at least if he was he deserved a shot with a better storyline. Here the story is weak, the direction is weak,the chemistry is non-existent, and the dialogue flounders terribly. I liked the predecessor which starred James Woods and I am looking forward to purchasing Bon Jovi's newest album...can't say the same for this movie.