Customer Reviews

Vampiro (Vampire)

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

 

 

I felt that I had to write a review for this movie, since the only other review (at the time of this writing) seems to be written more to appeal to writers and other critics than it is for people who are actually into watching movies (you and me).

In short, this movie is BAD. If I told you anything different, or tried to 'church it up' like the other review, you'd probably want to hunt me down and slap me in the face with the DVD (since the other review makes it seem like a really good movie).

So, why would I rate a bad movie with 4 stars? Simple. It is the most FUN I've had watching a movie in a long time. If you watch this movie thinking you've landed on a hidden indie "jem" you're in for disappointment. If, however, you have a few friends over for drinks and pop this movie in, you'll be in for a real treat. It's one of those movies that is so bad, it's good! And it keeps getting better/worse with every scene. If you're into movies that make you laugh, but are not classified as "comedies", then you'll appreciate this one.

The acting is flat and bland (in many cases you'll assume the actors were "friends" of the director and not actually real actors -- which might actually be the case). It will remind you of a home-made movie at times.

I can't decide if the script is lacking or if the editing is lacking -- since there are considerable holes in the plot/timeline that will have you asking questions from one scene to the next. I'd like to blame this on the editor, but it could be a script flaw or a production flaw if they simply didn't shoot all the material scripted.

There are a lot of editing mistakes in this film (at least I'm going to assume they were mistakes) as characters seem to repeat dialog from one cut to the next. When shooting a film the crew might shoot the same scene multiple times using different camera angles... but when you edit the film to make sure that the dialog isn't repeated. I'm not sure this was the case here. These 'errors' (if that's what they were) had us cracking up a bit.

There are also areas in the movie that make no sense at all... like when two girls are in a car, it's pitch black outside, and the windows are all steamed up (you can't see who is in the car, much less make out their gender) -- yet these two cops pass by at quick pace and somehow are able to see exactly what's going on with those "two girls back there"... and when the camera cuts to a wide shot you see the cop car parked just a few feet away from the other car. I don't want to ruin that scene totally, but let's just say that we had to pause the movie because everyone in the room was laughing so hard.

There were a lot of scenes just like that -- so funny that we had to pause or rewind the film just to see it again.

Oh...and the one-liners we've picked up from this movie are priceless. You know those movies people watch that are goofy (like Dumb and Dumber) -- it may not be the best movie in the world, but the one-liners from those movies live on. That's how the one-liners (unintentional) were in this film.

So, I'm not saying I could do better -- I'm just saying that this wasn't a "good" movie, but I'm not going to try to pretty it up just to sound like I'm some fancy reviewer that understands the creative genius of the creators. I'm just saying that I was originally going to turn this movie off and toss it in the trash after watching just 10 minutes of it... but for whatever reason I decided to watch some more of it and I'm glad I did. When I thought it was going to be a serious vampire movie I was disappointed. When I found humor in just how bad of a movie it was, I started to really enjoy it... and soon fell in love with it. Someone liking/hating a movie usually depends on what their expectations were of the movie -- so I'm just trying to set the right expectations (unlike the other reviewer) so that you're not disappointed... you know exactly what you're getting into with this one.

Buy some beer/wine/booze. Invite some friends over for "bad movie night" and have a blast. A true future cult classic!!

I must say that I was impressed with the opening credits' artful photography on a boat. The story takes place in East L.A. and the characters are Mexican. The male lead, Casanova(Damian Chapa) is very compelling and the two female leads, one a young girl (Alma)who, although she had acting lapses, has the right looks and look and is effective, regardless.The other lead actress (BLanca) a big-legged curly-haired blonde, is delightful. The basic plot is half-human Vampire Casanova (Damian Chapa) is hunted by his vicious Vampire sire, Tex, who is a very uninteresting character who could have been played by anyone. But he and his cronies are just there as heavies. The real drama is between the Lead female, Blanca, her Lesbian lover, Sexiana, Casanova,and Alma, the hundred year old "12 year old" beloved "child" and companion of Casanova's.
Simply, the plot revolves around the hide and seek of Tex and Casanova with the females as pivot points. What makes this for me are the encounters between Casanova and the two leads. He is a very compelling, handsome man at moments, when he is not panicking over the possible loss of his Blanca or Alma. The photography of his thoughtful moments with Blanca and with Alma's mother (in flashback) allow one to get the flavor of his character, which is a good man/vampire who really cares about people. If you are a devotee of this genre, you will enjoy this film. It has some sexy dancing and obligatory violence - but it is the depiction of Casanova's and the lesbian's relationships that make it interesting. There is also some Spanish language, accents and flavor with really good music.