Dampyr: O Filho do Vampiro

This movie is yet another tedious cover of all the vpure movies of the past, the most obvious being John Csrpenter's Vampires. This movie follows that plot almost scene for scene.

That would be fine if there was some meat to chew on, so to speak, but this movie is all bare bones. The acting is - as do many of these entries into the vampire world - dead. The action is just plain dumb. For example, the protagonist charges towards the villain (a vampire) 3 or 4 times, only to be hurled back 50 feet. And what does he do when he gets on his feet again? Yup. He charges at the vampire AGAIN. No matter it didn't work the previous 4 times. And you have the usual humans-encountering-vampires fight. Humans fire their machine guns, the vampires laugh. Well, you can figure out what happens next.

And one can easily predict the dialogue, or the following scene. It drones on and on. The trajectory resembles the recently launched rocket that flew 500 feet towards space - and promptly exploded. If it was an ekg, it would be a flatline. My husband watched, while I just listened. I asked four times how it was, and his response was "bad." There is no genuine tension or climax in the movie. How anyone could get this at 10 is beyond me. I can understand being entertained (and even that is questionable), but objectively? A poorly done film with little plot, bad acting, endlessly derivative. This is a 5 at best. A 3 is a fair rating. Keep in mind, I'm not the demographic for this, whom I would imagine to be 18 year olds who like to watch things explode, or guns firing endlessly. For the rest, this will not cut the mustard.

I rarely watch Subtitled movies, as I tend to multi task and miss bits. But this was a bit special, and had my attention all the way through. For me it had echoes of John Carpenters Vampires, 30 Days of Night and another Russian movie, Night Watch. The acting is top notch, and I liked the way the story developed. A few people have commented it is a bit slow, and lacks bite. But for me, the character and story development helps build the atmosphere. I have watched a lot of Vampire movies, and this is definitely up there. The cinematography was superb, with lots of atmospheric scenes, dark woods and swirling fog. All in all a very enjoyable watch.

Dampyr is a B-movie that wears its B-movieness with pride. It is solidly in the category of "so bad it's good", with every possible cliche and Godzilla-sized plot holes.

At first, I had high hopes for the 1990s Yugoslavia war setting hoping to see a blend of history and fantasy, but 10 minutes later, it became clear that whoever wrote the script, had a very vague idea about history, Slavic names, how human beings talk, or how to write a script. Were the soldiers Serbs? Croats? Who knows, and none of them wore uniforms, nor indicated who they were fighting for nor the actual country they were in. The war is a vague event with a bunch of plainclothes fashion models drive around in Al Qaeda-style pickup trucks with big guns and kewl 1970s music, occasionally shooting a surviving civilian. What, you didn't know? War is hell.

But once you stop expecting any semblance of logic and assume it's a parody, it turns out to be a tolerable experience. Commander Dolce & Gabbana (background: requisite dead family) and a vampire slayer (background: Jesus with a drinking problem; never asked himself why he's been alive for hundreds of years without aging) are joined by a hot blonde vampire (background: hot; blonde; vampire) to take on a bad vampire. That's it. The rest is what you'd expect it to be, plus plot holes. Turn off your brain, watch, and enjoy, with an optional drinking game for cliches and plot holes.

For fans of the genre, it's pretty much a mishmash of other stories. Hints of Blade, Vampire Hunter D, so on with maybe a touch of Constantine. Definitely scripted to be the start of a series, but would be surprised if someone sprung for the desired sequels. Does meet Netflix criteria, however - Cheap to make. Production quality is fine for the Eastern European origins (on par with Blade 1). Worth the watch if nothing else catches your eye, but don't expect an Oscar quality script or performance. I'm sure any plot holes (big enough to drive a truck through) will be filled in its intended sequels or possibly filled in by its comic book origins.

It's 1992 in the Balkans. Emil Kurjak (Stuart Martin) and his soldiers find a town ravaged by vampires led by Tesla Dubcek (Frida Gustavsson). Meanwhile, Harlan Draka (Wade Briggs) and his sidekick Yuri travel from town to town. He performs as the Dampyr, a vampire hunter. It seems to be a fake performance until Emil puts him to the test. He has to take down Gorka, Master of the Night (David Morrissey).

I like the first half. I like the premise of Harlan and Yuri as traveling snake oil salesmen although I would keep their act more as a fake scam in the beginning. I would cut out all the early reveals of vampires. I want Harlan to have a fun shocking reveal. I like all the characters stuck in that small town. I definitely do not want Harlan to be separated from Yuri. I don't buy Tesla's turn. I don't like expanding the movie out into the bigger world and I definitely don't like the setup to an interconnected cinematic franchise universe. Let's see how this movie does first before we pile on a whole new franchise series.