Vampires - Carpenter’s last (nearly) great film

Once upon a time the name ‘John Carpenter’ was synonymous with classic action/horror films in the seventies and eighties.  Now, you barely hear from him – largely because his name has become equally linked with mundane and wasted opportunities when it comes to his output.  It’s worth noting that 1998’s (unsubtly-titled) ‘Vampires’ was his last commercially-successful film.  Personally, I liked a few of his later films, too, but this one does stand out as the last – largely accepted – decent film.  In case you’re stumped as to what this film is about, it’s about those insidious bloodsuckers – vampires – long before they twinkled in sunlight and stared moodily at the human love of their life (Okay, so there is actually a bit of human/vampire luuuv thrown in there for good measure, but, don’t worry, it’s nothing like ‘Twilight!’).

Here a grizzled James Woods plays our heroic vampire slayer, along with an indeterminate Baldwin.  When the rest of their team get butchered in a ‘routine’ slaying procedure, they smell a set-up and start their own investigation.  So, if you know anything about vampires (and, face it… whether you’re a fan of the monster or not, you know the basic rules) you’ll see all the tropes here – the stakes, the bursting into flames in the sunlight and the general Gothic demeanour of the undead.  Now, it’s by no way a high-budget affair.  The sets are just regular places around the mid-west of America and what money went into the production must have gone into the sparsely interspersed gory moments.  Therefore, if you casually watch part of it, you may be lured into thinking it’s just another low budget straight-to-DVD horror flick.  However, what possibly raises this above every other similar film of the day is the setting.  I’ve mentioned that there aren’t many fabulous and spectacular sets designed just for the film.  It’s set basically in a modern day ‘Wild West.’ Therefore, if you came across this film and there wasn’t anyone sucking someone else’s blood, you may be tricked into assuming that it was a cowboy film.  This does give it a bit of a look and feel of its own and probably went some way to save the film, but, the location is probably just a minor point, the star is James Woods – and he carries the film completely.

James Woods is at his grumpy best.  Don’t expect a light-handed touch when dealing with everyone from the local priest to the highest vampire in the land.  He’s basically an anti-hero who doesn’t let much stand in his way between him and his slaying activities.  Woods star alongside Sheryl Lee (best known for dying a lot in TV’s ‘Twin Peaks’ and, as I said, some Baldwin or other, plus your typical tall, pale dude with long black hair for them to battle.  But, it’s Woods all the way.  Technically, there’s nothing special about this film and nothing that you haven’t seen before in any other vampire-related movie.  However, if you like your horror gritty, realistic and not pulling any punches then you should get something out of this (either that or you’re just a fan of James Woods, then this should be at the top of your ‘to see’ list!).

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that