Vampires II : Adieu vampires

Brilliant! I thought Tommy Lee Wallace was in his prime with this one. This proves that he can direct a very good film. I liked Fright Night 2, but Halloween 3 I really did not care for. The direction was fine, but the story suffered greatly. Anyway, this movie starts off beautifully, and has a tremendous amount interesting camera effects as well as some great angles that lend to a better narrative. Also the standard B-movie fare actors/actresses generally do not carry off well in their respective films, not so here. Not only not have B-movie actors (or at least those who act like it)we do have Natasha Gregson Wagner (a true beauty), and also have Jon Bon Jovi who has a great role. Both are superb! The supporting cast also is terrific. The pacing is good, the tension is there (it could have been more nail biting, but oh well), and for you guys who love the lesbian thing you have a nice tease in there. But i digress, a good film, and great bit of fun. Good amounts of gore and action...two fangs up!

I had some expectations for Vampires: Los Muertos. They weren't exactly high ones, however. I expected a let's-make-a-quick-buck rehash of Carpenter's original. I expected that there would be no way in hell that I could take Jon Bon Jovi seriously. I expected something terrible, especially considering Tommy Lee Wallace's track record with taking over for John Carpenter. I was wrong. I was wrong and I gladly admit it. I liked this movie. It was able to retain some originality while sticking rather closely with the source material. Bon Jovi convinced me, the entire cast was good (even Eddie from Family Matters), it had some unexpected gore moments, and Wallace doesn't butcher anything. It just didn't feel like a straight-to-video B sequel. It felt like a well done vampire flick that is nearly on par with Carpenter's original. Never in my life did I think I would be writing that. Sure it borrowed a little from other vamp flicks, but I don't care. The only thing that bothered me was the fact that I really missed James Woods. I would have enjoyed a direct sequel following James Woods and Daniel Baldwin's characters. But for now, this will do. I'm surprised Bon Jovi didn't write a theme for the movie: "Wanted Undead or Alive."

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.