Vampires II : Adieu vampires

I first saw bits n pieces of this movie in the early 2k on cable tv n kinda disliked it.

Revisited it recently.

This is the sequel to the John Carpenter's Vampires.

This one is not at all action packed or brutal like its predecessor.

There is a lol scene where the character of Bon Jov blows up the head of a vampire and that too when the entire body was already in the process of being pulled out for death via sun.

What was the need for it i dont understand.

The lead female vampire is hot but we only get to see her tits via her thin dress.

All in all a lousy sequel.

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'll admit that Bon Jovi isn't my first choice when I think of "actors" to play vampire hunters but somehow his presence in this film works. Essentially, VAMPIRES: LOS MUERTOS is a retelling of John Carpenter's 1997 film VAMPIRES, featuring a vampire killer who gets together a team of fighters to go up against the undead menace. As the title would suggest, this sequel travels south of the border to engage in some Day of the Dead shenanigans and vampire action slightly influenced by the likes of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN.

I'll admit that I'm not a fan of Carpenter's original film, whose '90s-era excesses have dated very badly. This one's a definite step up from that, although it's still no great shakes. The story is so simple a child could have written it, just going back and forth between humans killing vampires and vampires killing humans. There's absolutely no depth, and not even any twists to enliven things.

On the plus side, the characters are drawn a little better than usual, and there are opportunities for the supporting cast members to get a look in (including a youthful Diego Luna, later to turn heartthrob in DIRTY DANCING: HAVANA NIGHTS). Bon Jovi, as ageless as ever, betrays his lack of training as an actor but isn't required to do much other than look cool and determined.

The vampires are a clichéd menace and the chief villain is pitiful. At least there's some gore to keep horror fans happy. More interestingly, the director has been well chosen: Tommy Lee Wallace, who once made HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH and IT, has a long association with the genre and gives this film a certain style it would otherwise have lacked.

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.

Let's look at the facts here.

Straight-to-video. Lower budget. Different director. Cast of nobodies. James Woods: no. Jon Bon Jovi: yes.

You're probably not expecting much. Frankly, it's just as well.

Despite some moody establishing shots, one or two genuinely classy action moments and the odd tenuous attempt to link this film to its predecessor, the whole thing is hamstrung by a total lack of ambition, dismal script and some of the worst acting I've seen in years. It's a poor man's retread of the original on a far more modest scale, and in sequel terms about as necessary as Highlander II.

And... you know... Jon Bon Jovi. What were they thinking? At least his character was called 'Derek'.