Customer Reviews

Perfect Creature

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What does it mean to serve? This is the moral quandry that faces the vampires of the Brotherhood, a race of genetically-engineered beings whose moral duty it is to protect their fellow sentients - mankind.

This fascinating reworking of the vampire legend is set on an Earth similar to our own, but with some notable differences. The most important, of course, is the existence of bloodsuckers, who were created by primitive science and breeding projects sometime in the early 18th century. At first, these new creatures were hunted by mankind, burned at the stake and slaughtered. However, they eventually merged somehow with the Catholic (or possibly Anglican) Church, to create a new religion, one with a main tenet espousing vampires as God's servants to mankind.

The background of this alternate Earth is a little hazy, and that's the reason why I subtracted a star (I would've liked to know more about this world), but that doesn't detract from the story, which is a neat little tale about a female detective in the city of Jamestown (Virginia? Is this a Kingdom of Virginia? Or an uber-British Empire? A queen is mentioned...) who is investigating a series of Jack the Ripper-like killings with the help of a vampire 'priest', Brother Silas.

I won't give away plot details, because this movie is so much fun, you just have to watch it yourself and enjoy! The acting is well-done, with Saffron Burrows (yummy) and Dougray Scott as the leads.

Good special effects (airships!) round out what is a very cool little gem of a movie. Why does crap like Transformers get such wide releases, and awesome flicks like this languish in obscurity? It's not fair, I tells ya...

The plot is potentially tantalizing and fascinating. It's a vampire movie with more than a simple twist, it is a 180 turn, the vampires serve humanity (no not on a platter, but as the scientists and religious leaders). The whole movie feels like you are trying to catch up, having entered into the story half way through and having missed lots of important facts and details. This is not a real bother, just takes some time to put things together, the big problem is that the movie also feels like it stops a chapter short of a satisfying ending. The movie revolves around the nature of the brotherhood and the nature of the individual vampires, an individual versus collective motif. The question from the two brothers viewpoints is "is this who i really am?", either the one brother who conforms entirely to the collective's wishes or the other brother who goes rogue and kills.

It is a potentially neat and interesting theme. Even to look carefully at a piece of it would make for a spectacular movie. The problem is, despite some excellent photography and set work, the plot is fragmented enough that i really didn't get the big idea that the author intended. Resolving the movie satisfactorially must related the birth of the female vampire to the reason she is hidden from the brotherhood, a point i simply can't seem to fit into the rest of the movie, therefore being left with a serious deficiency. Now if this was a "normal" action movie or vampire movie, i'd ask myself "so what?", they don't rely much on plot and coherence for their value. This movie does, it proposes a view about service, about religion, about society that tries to make a big point, my problem is that i simply missed the point. At this point, i am blaming the movie, not myself.

The potential for a blockbuster movie was there, the plot is unique and could have explored interesting ideas. The sets and scenes are visually stunning and make the movie worth watching. But the ending is incoherent and unsatisfactory, like someone ripped the last chapter out of the book i just finished.

my rating is a 3 1/2, a 5 for plot potential and scenery and a 1 for coherence.

The look and the feel of "Perfect Creature" was refreshing. It is seldom that I see a movie, these days, that can make me feel the characters emotions and draws me into the story so thoroughly. I certainly would like to see more of Dougray Scott (yummy) to quote someone else. When will a sequel be made?

If what you are looking is a horror movie, you will likely be disappointed by this one. The strength of "Perfect Creature" does not lie in scares or gore (there is some of both, but likely not enough to satisfy horror fans), but in good direction and decent/good acting. And as another reviewer has written, the best quality of this movie is perhaps its being very "atmospheric".

The alternate Dickensian world where humans and genetically-engineered "vampires" coexist is interesting, well depicted and somewhat credible. At the same time, I found the movie promising but ultimately disappointing. Lots of potential depth not really exploited, with many underdeveloped and somewhat obscure metaphors scattered around the storyline. Who are these super-gifted and altruistic "vampires" supposed to represent in "our" world? The (one) Church? Science? None of these make much sense.

While the first half of the movie was compelling and promising, I found the second half (which I won't describe in any detail to avoid spoilers) too short, hurried and vastly incomplete. This could have been a great starter for a TV series, but as a self-contained movie there is not enough time to know their characters, their stories and their motivations. The ending is what I liked the least, leaving lots of questions unanswered, closing some plots but not others while opening new ones in a rushed way, blatantly to leave doors open for a sequel that may or may not appear.

Overall, not a bad movie, but the actors, the material and the direction of this movie deserved a better screenplay. It is not so surprising that in the US this one went straight to DVD, without being shown in theaters.

This vampire movie is heavier on the suspense than the gore (which is unique in a movie about 'bloodsuckers'). It also focuses on characters rather than just relying on shock and awe action. Edgar is a 'bad vampire' in an alternate world where vampires have managed to live side by side with humans. However, with all the prejudice still there from '300 years ago' when people tried their best to wipe out vampires, Edgar threatens to upset the balance. A clever Sci-fi/Horror that leaves room for a good sequel.

Chrissy K. McVay - Author

This movie was well acted and had some interesting dialogue. However, the major problem is the extremely slow and weak plot. The movie progresses too slow and the movie has very little character development and action. The special effects are sparse and rarely utilized to its maximum potential. It's not in the league as The Breed, Underworld, The Hunger, or Interview with the Vampire. Rent before you purchase it for your vampire movie collection. Grade: C-

Intersting horror movie made and set in New Zealand, albeit one with an alternate history. Present day humans living along side a religious order comprised soley of vampires. A crazy uber-vampire gets out of control and begins murdering humans as well as his own kind. This upsets the balance between humans and vampires. The atmosphere is eerily depressing in it's dystopian view of a present day New Zealand that is a cross between Victorian-era Britain and Britain during the 1940's. Saffron Burrows is captivating, but to be honest I love her in anything she's in. Dougray Scott is fine too. The problem with this movie though is that for a horror movie it isn't very scary. It was fairly enjoyable, but I can't really recommend it. However, for the special download price of 1.99, it was more than worth it.

The review on the cover says "Underworld Meets Children of Men". That's actually a fair synopsis. While superior to "Children of Men" this movie is a little short of the excitement of "Underworld", yet highly watchable--thanks primarily to Dougray Scott who elevates this movie with his extraordinary acting. It was a great addition to my Vampire movie collection. I'm even hopeful for a sequel although the fact that this movie went straight to DVD makes that doubtful.

Strong recommend for vampire fans.

This is a visually stylish movie that puts an interesting spin on the vampire myth. Unfortunately this new mythology is underused and this is, in effect, just another 'hunt the monster' movie. In this respect it is moderately successful but suffers a couple of major flaws. Neither Scott nor Burrows have been suitably cast. Both are talented actors but neither is able to bring their derivative characters to life, despite their best efforts. Scott is forced to recite some woefully portentous, painfully enunciated dialogue, and Burrows has to perform a stereotypical hard-nosed but damaged cop routine. Ally this with a rather predictable plot and the whole thing is bit of a let down. On a brighter note, the ending blatantly paves the way for a sequel. Let's hope they can improve on this promising but underdeveloped beginning.

This Is one of the most original thoughts I've seen on the vampire.
In fact the word vampire Is never mentioned. They are something different in this movie.
In the movie you rethink all of mankind and how we fear whats different, and they In turn fear us. The movie even has references to when the creatures were starting to be born at 1st they were killed like monsters.
That was 300 years to current time In the movie.
Now they are trained at birth to serve us. There Is alchemy Involved and a virus the creatures (And our church leaders)have created by accident.
The movie also does a awesome job at blending film noir as some described a Victorian England yet air baloons and Influenza Is humans greatest threat. This guy has some Immagination and a genius movie here.
Except as some have noted the ending was confusing. Left you wondering the directors point /or writers. And a sort of let down. but the movie itself grabs you. Thats what I want to hear In a review. AND IT DOES and you won't stop until the end. HAT'S OFF should be a classic but I don't think It got the exposure to become one.