Customer Reviews

Underworld (Widescreen Edition) / John Carpenter's Vampires

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It is interesting to see how movies have changed over time. The opening consist of a group of non-garlic vampire hunters finding what they believe is a nest of vampires. They walk into the the house with some great swagger music, but there is no slow motion swagger. What is this? 1998? Now rather than simply burn the place down from the outside in the safety of the sun, the hunters opt to sneak in the house and attempt to hook the vampires to a winch and drag them out into the sun. This makes for a better movie, but lowers my expectations of James Woods as Jack Crow (JC).

After the victory they have a party with booze and hookers only to be visited by the Head Vampire (Thomas Ian Griffith) of all time, who bites a prostitute (Sheryl Lee) in a place where only a client might see, and he happens to know Jack's name. Jack escapes with Sheryl and one of the team members Daniel Baldwin. They tie up Sheryl, sometimes naked, because they can. The plot turns into a cat and mouse game between Jack and the vampire.

The movie has some great vampire action, "B" performances, and a twist we see coming far too well. If you like vampires films, this one has some cult status that makes it worth the view.

F-bomb, nudity.

Hey, we all love John Carpenter's "The Thing" with the hidden alien force that slowly devoured all but two of the remaining scientists on the Antarctic. And "Escape from New York," "They Live," and "Prince of Darkness".

"Vampires" is an all around good horror/vampire movie, based around a vampire slayer team who manage to get killed down to a core group along with a Priest to help them. They go through some cool adventures and wind up killing 7 "Master" vampires, one of whom had lived for more than 600 years. The film ends with one teammember who had been bitten driving off in a van with his girlfriend (the vampiress who bit him) while the head vampire slayer and the Priest watch them go.

All around, this was a good Carpenter film; a lot was to be desired in comparison with his other amazing films (this was not a "Halloween"), but still, you can't help but see that this really was Carpenter: you have his trademarks - extreme suspense, some character development, and a good helping of gore and blood.

I recommend this film, with reservations. If you're bored and want a vampire movie that is well directed, go ahead. If you are new to the horror genre, watch another Carpenter like "The Thing".

This movie is an extreme success by Carpenter. Acting is great, script is great, plot is great, music score written by Carpenter is great. The ending is probably the best part of the movie!
(Don't listen to the previous close-minded viewer. He is a critic. He did not sit down to watch the movie, he sat down to nitpick at it. Keep in mind, this movie is ten years old. He probably didn't see it when it came out, and to compare it by today's standards is ludicrous.)

This movie is an extremely disappointing effort by Carpenter. Acting is bad, script is bad, plot is bad, music score written by Carpenter is bad. Could not watch to the end!