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2.0 out of 5 stars
Very Mediocre, Old-Fashioned Vampire Flick....., September 20, 2008
This review is from: Desert of Blood (DVD)
This movie reminded me of the old vampire movies of the 1960's, generally from Hammer Films, however this movie really didn't even rise to that level. They all have a familiar recipe: unknown cast; stilted, amateurish acting; attractive women in danger; rough scene changes and editing that often leave you confused about what has happened; discordant music; no regard for plausibility; etc.
The plot is familiar and trite: a handsome vampire is unearthed and released in the Mexican desert near a small town. Bent upon revenge for his premature burial, he wreaks havoc upon a group of tourists and scantily-clad beauties before finally being exposed to sunlight and destroyed. Yawn.
The simple fact that this movie relies on a 40-year-old style and premise, and yet does absolutely nothing to improve upon it, is reason enough to leave it on the shelf. It is not the worst movie I have seen in recent years, but it offers insufficient entertainment to warrant the 88 minutes it takes to watch it. Every scene has been done countless times before, and generally better. Unless you are a fan of childish, simplistic 60's vampire movies, pass this one by.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Mediocre but not unwatchable vampire flick, January 16, 2012
This review is from: Desert of Blood (DVD)
Desert of Blood is set in Mexico, a treasure hunter and his girlfriend come across a buried coffin and off course ends up accidentally setting a imprisoned vampire free. This bloodsucker, Diego, immediately gos to enact revenge on the people who imprisoned him in the coffin 35 years ago as well as to check up on his old love Sarita, as a result of this Sarita have a stroke (apparently in this movie 50 year olds are so fragile that if someone threaten them their bodies fall apart) and her nice Maricela along with to bimbo friends come down to Mexico to help care for her. Already now the plot of the movie should be pretty clear. Diego sees Maricela as a young Sarita and fall in love with her, trying to get the chance of love with her that he never got with Sarita. Now the problem with this movie is that it do not know what type of film it want to be. Allot of vampire movies have the main vampire character trying to reclaim his humanity or trying to live a good life and as a result end up struggling with his vampire nature, and done well that can make for amazing storylines, here however Diego never struggles with anything, he runs around and kills and torments people and then the next minute he decide he want to give up on all that and try to live a good life with Maricela, then as soon as he meet any resistance he give that up and keep on with the tormenting and killing. I swear Diego shifts moral alliance about as quickly as Anakin Skywalker. Another thing this movie could have done something good with but which the movie makers fumble is the use of a character who know that Diego is a vampire but who just can not say anything. This have been done to great effect before. John Polidori's Vampyre used this and it really creates a creepy vibe. Now in Desert of Blood Sarita know Diego is a vampire but because of her stroke she can not speak. You have a few scenes where she try to direct attention to old pictures of Diago and such, but generally this idea of someone who know the danger but who can to speak about it is never really explored much upon. Now a third big problem with this movie is that Diego is a douche, now in allot of vampire movies the villain kill people, or he is cruel, but you can still think he is cool, scary, or you have some sympathies for him. Diego however go around and act well like a whiny douche, he is a real hard character to like. In addition to this the romance in Desert of Blood is just dry, the acting is mediocre and the music is boring. Now despite all that are negative with this movie the story, while not good, at least hang together, the character interactions, while contrived, do drive the plot along and all in all this is watchable. I am a huge vampire fan and since i got this movie very cheap from a second hand store I do feel that I got my money's worth. Desert of Blood is mediocre from the beginning until the end credits roll across the screen, but as a standard, stereotypical vampire flick it works well enough to provide some entertainment. I would not recommend buying this movie at a full price, but if you can find it cheap and you like vampire movies, and if you turn your expectations way down, then it can provide a hour and a half of entertainment.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
Hippies keep the Darnedest things, March 16, 2010
This review is from: Desert of Blood (DVD)
You ever watch a movie and note the potential that the movie had? When I watched Desert of Blood I noticed that - and mostly because of the last fifteen minutes of the movie and the hook to it. The premise to the movie is simple enough: you have a group of G.I.s that are sent into Iraq. While there, they decide it might be a good idea to blow up some things including an acient relic standing in the desert. Obviously something doesn't like this and, well, everything in the desert starts to drop off a body at a time.
When things come down to it, the real problem is a budgetary one. This shows in a few places throughout the movie, but it really shows in specific scenes. There is one part, for instance, when the G.I.s decide to go into a small town and make their presence known. When they get to the town you see that it looks like an abandon hippie commune complete with a turned over tent or three, a bus, and other artifacts here and there. The thing about the movie is that it doesn't require a lot to keep it on course. Still, the idea behind the movie - the monster - isn't really clear like it should be.
When it comes to the monster, it comes out of the desert in a modest disquise and seems harmless. The harmless appeal goes away quickly when the thing begins killing off people in weird ways, however, and that is good. what is not good is the way the thing operates through the first 80% of the movie. The end of the movie - yeah - but the rest is a not so much.
Should you see it? Not really - unless you just want to. I thought it had a spark and the end made me happy but the rest - well, if it weren't for the end I would not have given it 2 stars (no offense to the actors here - they tried but what can you do?)
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