Vampires (1998)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers (WGA):

John Steakley (novel)
Don Jakoby (screenplay)

Release Date:

30 October 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Action | Thriller

Tagline:

From the master of terror comes a new breed of evil.

Plot:

A vengeful vampire slayer must retrieve an ancient Catholic relic that, should it be acquired by vampires, will allow them to endure sunlight.

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Team | Vampire Hunter | Priest | Vampire Slayer

Awards:

3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

James Woods	...	Jack Crow
Daniel Baldwin	...	Anthony Montoya
Sheryl Lee	...	Katrina
Thomas Ian Griffith	...	Jan Valek
Maximilian Schell	...	Cardinal Alba
Tim Guinee	...	Father Adam Guiteau
Mark Boone Junior	...	Catlin
Gregory Sierra	...	Father Giovanni
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa	...	David Deyo
Thomas Rosales Jr.	...	Ortega (as Thomas Rosales)
Henry Kingi	...	Anthony
David Rowden	...	Bambi
Clarke Coleman	...	Davis
Mark Sivertsen	...	Highway Patrolman
John Furlong	...	Father Joseph Molina

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's Vampires (USA) (complete title)
Vampire$ (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong vampire violence and gore, language and sexuality.

Runtime:

108 min | Germany:104 min (cut version) | Argentina:106 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English | Latin

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Netherlands:16 | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (VHS) (1999) | Finland:K-18 (uncut) (DVD) (2001) | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:R21 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Bonanza Creek Ranch - 15 Bonanza Creek Lane, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Film Office

Trivia:

Just before production began the studio cut the budget by 2/3, and the filmmakers had to furiously rework the story to fit. According to John Steakley, who wrote the novel, the finished film contained much of his dialogue and none of his plot.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: As Montoya rescues Crow from the cross he shoots into the front of the cross with an arrow, this implies that this side of the cross would crash to earth first (with Crow facing earthwards), but the backside of the cross lands in the next shot on earth.

Quotes:

Jack Crow: Let me just ask you one thing - after 600 years, how's that dick workin', pretty good?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Benchwarmers (2006)

Soundtrack:

Padre's Wood

Fade in, Fade Out

I'm a big fan of John Carpenter. But in his latest films, I've noticed somewhat of a clumsy way he directs his films. It's almost as if the films were rushed and some scenes or even shots, just weren't filmed. He fades between all of his scenes... Sometimes, leaving us wanting more, but he just fades to the end of it. Sometimes, the scenes he uses could have been completly cut out and not used with the fade-technique whatsoever.

Anyway, I just had to get that off my mind. Off to the plot:

Jack Crow is a Master Slayer, meaning that he kills vampire for the catholic church, and has been doing that for his entire life. After he cleans out a nest of Vampires in New Mexico, his team gets ambushed my a powerful vampire named Valek. Valek kills the entire team of slayers, except for Jack and his friend Montoya. They also manage to bring a hooker along with them, who got bitten by the vampire. Using the hookers telepathic link with her master, the two try to hunt down Valek and find out what he's up to.

This film is gory. Really gory. Most likely John Carpenters goriest film to date, counting The Thing. Some might think that gore is an unnecessary way of filming, but in this film: Gore is not used to "impress" or "Show off". It's used as a background thing. I didn't feel that it was a way of using the gore to create "terror". And if you happen to like gore, you'll find one redeeming factor in this film.

The acting is good. James Woods is really funny as Jack Crow at times, altough Daniel Baldwin isn't really "great", nor is Tim Guinee. But the acting holds up. There's not much else to say other than that James Woods is funny... at times.

The action in this film is quite abundant, yet it's not that great. It can be enjoyable but at the same time the action is very repetive. That doesn't bode very well. Another thing abut this film is that it's too damn long for an action/horror film. Its almost 2 hours long. They should have made it 90 minutes instead, as that would be more fitting of a movie of this "type".

Well. The film is boring sometimes, yet it has some redeeming factors. All in all I give it a six. Nothing great, but if you're a John Carpenter fan you'll like it. And you might want to see how his style has changed. Dramaticly.