John Carpenter’s Vampires (1998)

Rating 18
Length 1h48
Release 30.10.1998
Director John Carpenter
About Jack and his team of mercenaries must hunt down vampires and retrieve the Black Cross of Berziers, an ancient relic that, should it be obtained by vampires, will allow them to endure the sunlight.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Free with ads on Amazon Prime
Trailer:

Trick

• James Wood. I dislike him as an actor, as a person, hell I even hate his face. Now, if I cannot engage with, or empathise, with the protagonist I’m shit out of luck for liking a movie. I long for the day when I can deepfake this shit out of this and put my choice of actor in the role.
• Not his fault, but Daniel Baldwin is not the Baldwin we all want in the role. He suffers in the sense that he’s the ‘wish’ version of his brother. It’s like having Donnie in a role and being told you could have had Mark!
• I cannot put my finger on what it is, but the devastation of Crow’s team suffers narrative wise in the same way the first Tom Cruise MI outing does. Instead of moving the plot forward, it stalls it slightly. Almost as if we needed a movie before this allowing the audience to get a feel for this “universe” and almost become attached to the characters. You know before they’re taken away in a bloodbath.

Treat

• Annoyingly, my personal feelings aside, I must say that James Wood does do a good job as Crow. He provides the same elements and checks all the boxes that Russell would have.
• The story is brilliant. Not only does this story play on the popularity of vampires that born from the success of Dracula (1992) and Interview with a Vampire (1994) it also acts as a bridge to them for the fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997- 2003). The mythology and language is all there, with some sweet surprises along the way.
• The story gives you an “oh fuck”, Macguffin. It has a massive impact to the world of humans and vampires.
• Visually this film is to die for. The setting, the importance of the transition of the day, the ‘slayer’ lifestyle having an almost biker gang community. It’s Buffy meets Sons of Anarchy and I love it.

Final Thoughts

I truly hate that James Wood ruins this movie for me, because it really is John Carpenter on form.