Vampire Family

Forced on the run, a vampire clan arrives in London looking for help and recuperation only to find their hosts have far more diabolical plans in mind when they're captured and forced into a breeding program to ensure survival, putting the two families against each other.

Surprisingly, this turned out to be quite a decent enough vampire effort that does have some pretty enjoyable features about it. One of them is perhaps the most controversial of the film's changes, in how it deals with the vampires in here. Rather than being remorseless nocturnal bloodsuckers unsympathetic with humanity in the slightest, this one portrays two distinct differences that are rather unique: being a condition received at birth and thus being able to walk about in sunlight with no ill effects, and the second issue of having no real interest in humanity other than feeding time and being out and about without getting into the strange, rabid intensity around fresh meat. Here, they're given a little more of an ability to blend in with the rest of humanity and that's quite a fun option here as it goes against so much of what's known and given about the creatures in the folklore. While this change may not be for everyone, the fact that it's no excuse for how slow and uneventful the first half of this is really hard to take into account, which has the ever-familiar stamp of British class and restraint that makes nothing seem important to get worked up over and really drains this of its energy. That said, there's still some good parts here with some fine gore scenes from the multiple kills, a couple of outstanding action scenes coming from a multitude of brawls and gunfights, and a twisting, convoluted storyline that stays on-track throughout these twists and turns that keep this quite enjoyable though not entirely perfect.

Rated R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, Full Nudity and several sex scenes.

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.

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.

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

This is not a real review, it should be taken more as a collection of impressions on the film.

Considering first of all that there are enough vampire films now and this is just the umpteenth but at least do it well, the film is very very mediocre and doesn't seem to commit, it seems like they simply wanted to make a vampire film because vampires usually sell but without adding anything else. The plot is very banal even if the plot twist isn't that bad and really surprised me, I dare say that this is the only positive thing about the film. However, we must also talk about the ending which is very far-fetched because it seems they wanted to hurry up and close the film and therefore made an ending that was a little too incongruent with the story just to give a happy ending to the events.