Vampire Family

People who liked The Hamiltons (2006) can easily pick this up because all the characters are back in action. And even if you haven't seen The Hamiltons you can see this without a doubt.

When things go awry at a diner and people are being killed the Hamiltons do have to hide themselves. Being on the run for the cops they leave the states for the UK and do come across another vampire clan. The Hamiltons now being called The Thompsons need their help but do they get it.

It do delivers on a few points but it never do becomes rather gory. Still it is watchable even as there isn't that much of red stuff. But it is the editing that aves this flick. In the beginning you will get confused by a few things but quickly you will here the story of Francis Hamilton told by himself. It do takes a while before the fighting starts between the two clans and the last part of the flick will deliver for fans over vampire flicks.

If you aren't into vampires then this isn't for you because nothing looks believable of course. Some parts I didn't like but like I just said, the last part is a must see for the ones with fangs. It won't become a classic but it's a nice start to begin your horror evening.

Gore 2/5 Nudity 1,5/5 Effects 3/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

I'm reviewing this strictly as the sequel to The Hamiltons, which I did see first.

Ok, my hopes were dashed pretty quickly after witnessing 8 minutes of digital effects, digital blood, and digital fangs. Then the title card came up.

The story of The Thompsons revolves around the same character as in the first movie, and that would be Francis. Only now, he is this assertive, brooding, badass? Talk about a 180. I was assuming this movie would pick up where the last one left off, as the ending to The Hamiltons screamed "there's more coming!" Nope, this one starts off in England, and primarily takes place there, but the family has splintered (er, just hiding out) to different regions of the world.

What follows is a whole bunch of timeline shifting. 2012. How popular was Quentin Tarantino in 2012? I would say he's the master of interweaving timelines. Here, in The Thompsons, it comes off as really unnecessary.

The crux of this movie is intriguing. Francis is sent to England only with a name and a town, to try and track down an ancient vampire clan, and maybe find some place that they can call home. Oh, they're real hospitable. And this is where it gets predictable. Wait, Francis was in a box... Damn you timeline! What is interesting, is that these particular, more powerful, vampires descended directly from the Thompson/Hamilton bloodline. Now, why it was crucial to breed with the Thompson's (weaker) daughter, did not make any sense to me (well, she is real foxy...). There is a good twist at the end, when David shows up in England with their dying youngest.

Do you need to see The Hamiltons first to enjoy this movie? Besides the fact that The Hamiltons is a superior movie, especially with character depth, the answer is absolutely not. Their entire story is rehashed, through a series of flashbacks and voiceovers in The Thompsons. One thing I really enjoy in sequels, are all the "references" that you can only pick up on only by seeing the original. No such luck here.

If a sequel tries to tell you a new story instead of rehashing/repeating what part 1 did, that is a good thing. Unfortunately this sequel is not only predictable (almost from start to finish), but also just above mediocre in general. That means it's not really bad, but it won't get your blood pumping either (no pun intended).

Since the main characters are established in the quirkier and better Thompsons, you'd expect this to go different places. And in a way it does, but that only is true in geographic terms. There's not a real story behind it all, it's a simple "match", that you will either like or you might find it too simple. Whatever the case, if you can bare with the characters (because you saw the previous film or just simply because you like the actors), than this is indeed watchable. Otherwise ... don't bother.

I haven't seen The Hamiltons so I can't comment on its relationship to this movie. The story of The Thompsons isn't told linearly but it starts more or less in the middle and then backtracks. I'll summarize the story linearly.

An American family of vampires (one girl, 2 guys, 1 kid) try to mind their own business and are driving around the desert when the kid gets shot accidentally when a bunch of thugs hold up a diner. Now the family is seeking help. Someone tells them to go to Europe and also gives them a name. One of the guys, Francis, travels to the English country side to look for this person who can help them. The twins (guy and girl) end up in Paris having fun. While the other guy watches over the kid.

Francis drives around, his car breaks down but he makes it on foot to some family pub where he draws the attention of the locals. The daughter who works there is attracted to him. But it turns out the owner and their two sons are vampires. They take him to the main vampire who offers to help if Francis calls his entire family to meet him in England. They make the trip but things turn ugly. The main vampire and his family don't have the Thompsons best intentions in mind.

A lot of the movie is told in Francis' voice overs. The filmmakers know how to put the creepy small town English country side to good use. I really enjoyed most of the movie, but when things become physical near the end, the movie loses steam. The main problem is that Cory Knauf who plays Francis (and co-wrote the script) is just too laid back. Even when he's being attacked and his life is at stake, he never loses his cool. He does a good job with the voice overs, but acting in dramatic situations is entirely beyond him. A huge plus is the attractive girls, and there are many here- all of them actually. Elizabeth Henstridge is particularly lovely, attractive and hot. What a gorgeous girl. She basically steals the show. There's some nudity too. The special effects despite being CGI are pretty good and the fangs for once look convincing. There's a lot to like here, the creepiness, the English locations, the story overall, the women. There are some plot holes and details that make no sense. I look forward to the third one and will have to check out The Hamiltons. This movie is a good effort and a very good entry into the vampire genre which has been so mercilessly abused.

First of all I must say that it is nice to have a vampire movie that is not tailor-made for a teenage girl audience with sparkly vampires and big hair. However, that being said, then I will flip the sword around and say that this vampire movie is far from being amongst the more interesting or appealing of vampire movies that I have seen.

The story is about a family of vampires who flee from USA after having made it to the news with a video of them killing humans. The vampires find themselves in England where they seek the help of another vampire family, but is blood thicker than water?

Having sat through "The Thompsons" now, I must say that I am filled with an overwhelming sensation of that this storyline was utterly and completely unnecessary. The story left no lasting impression on me, nor did it manage to rise above mediocrity in its concept and execution.

It should be said that the people in the movie were actually doing a great enough job with their given roles, though it is not award-worthy material here, far from it.

For a vampire movie, then there were surprisingly few effects in the movie. One good thing, and an interesting thing, about the movie, was that the vampires here were not immortal nor undead. So that was an interesting approach to the mythical vampire creature.

"The Thompsons" is the type of movie that you watch once, then shrug your shoulders and forget about the movie. It failed to make a lasting mark, despite having enough fangs to bite deeply with.