Vampiros de John Carpenter

Ever since I saw a documentary on the making of horror movie special effects, I've wanted to see 'Vampires'. I wasn't disappointed. In this era of cheap computer effects it's really refreshing to see a movie where the special effects are done the old fashioned way. For some bizarre reason I really like Vampires. The plot is somewhat clichéd, the acting is nothing special and yet... I find myself watching this movie over and over again. Somehow the idea of a secret military force funded by the church, dedicated to fighting vampires is thrilling even though I'm not a religious man. I suppose it harkens back to the day of witch hunters. James Woods is great as the grim, dedicated man sworn to destroy all vampires and as the true shocker, the generic Baldwin appearing in the movie does a really good job as well! If you like gory movies, check it out!

Carpenter is not in his usual good form here despite excellent performances by James Woods and the rest of the cast. Woods is Jack Crow, a mercenary vampire hunter who leads a team of fellow hunters out to find and exterminate vampires.

Crow, who comes across as an atheist, is in the payroll of the Catholic church and is driven by his own demons that are more based on revenge rather than anything else.

The film shows the battle between the hunters and a very powerful vampire (Valek) who attempts to create a new order of invincible vampires that can rule the earth.

Despite the excess of gore and blood the film does not have the tense moments of other better Carpenter films (Escape from New York, Assault on Precinct 13). Nonetheless, Valek is a formidable foe that creates a number of scary moments. Perhaps a film only for the loyal Carpenter fans (myself included).

Vatican-funded vampire hunter Jack Crow (James Woods) and his sidekick Montoya (Daniel Baldwin) search for centuries-old vampire Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith) that killed their friends. They find a prostitute (Sheryl Lee) bitten by Valek and, using her telepathic link to the vampire, they try to track him down.

James Woods is really the whole show, hamming it up like the expected Carpenter cheesy macho anti-hero. Sheryl Lee is surprisingly good, as well. The worst casting is that of Thomas Ian Griffith as the villain. He's very much a post-Lestat romantic goth douchebag Dracula wannabe. Nothing frightening or exciting about him. More F bombs than a movie without Chris Tucker should probably have. This is John Carpenter's last above-average movie. It's still not a patch on his classics but it's entertaining enough.

The modern American west has been overrun by bloodsucking ghouls, and the Catholic Church hires a crew of fearless exterminators to hunt down the undead and drag them into the sun.

I can certainly sympathize with Jack Crow's (James Woods) partner Anthony (Daniel Baldwin). I do not know if I could resist turning into a vampire with Sheryl Lee doing the biting. She would make me want to avoid daylight for eternity.

This was an action-packed adventure with Thomas Ian Griffith as the chief vampire, and Oscar winner Maximilian Schell (Judgment at Nuremberg), as the Cardinal that did not want to die.

Oh, that Sheryl Lee! It was only brief nudity, but it was all she had to offer.

But then kind of sputters out a bit and devolves into a bunch of talking with a decent finale scene. It was ok, entertaining enough. I was genuinely so excited to watch this again after watching the first 15-20 minutes, thinking it's a bit of a hidden gem, eh, not exactly, but wasn't bad. If it kept the pace of the first 20 minutes it would have been an absolute classisc.