Well here's yet another look at John Carpenter's VAMPIRES. WHEN IS IT GOING TO SHOW IN THE USA???!!!!????!!!! Well, take another look.... sheesh, I'm tired of this, I want to see the film. BAD!!!
Hi everyone! Mr. Sparkle here, making my debut with another review of "John Carpenter's Vampires." I may throw in a spoiler or two, so keep your eyes peeled.
I just returned from Europe last night after a month-long backpacking trip. My last stop was in Paris, and while walking the streets a few days ago I saw a billboard for "Vampires," and James Woods' name was above the title. Having heard next to nothing about this movie before I left the states, I was somewhat skeptical -- surely James Woods, whose recent films include "Contact" and his Oscar-nominated performance in "Ghosts of Mississippi," had been pouring his energy into more prestigious fare of late. I figured that maybe he had filmed a few lazy cameo scenes in "'Vampires," and that the filmmakers had put his name above the title just to sell the movie. I was wrong; Woods is the main man here, and he does anything but walk through this movie. His performance is in the "Specialist" mode: act like a badass, improvise your way through just about every scene, and walk away with the movie He plays the head of a team of vampire slayers, and he makes this movie.
(***SPOILERS FOLLOW***)
Daniel Baldwin, as his sidekick vampire ass-kicker, does a pretty good job too, although there's an extended kinky scene in a hotel room with Sheryl Lee that had me wondering what REALLY drove him to run around naked in that hotel hallway following his real life crack binge. The movie is very violent and gory, and there is a motel massacre near the beginning that really pushes the NC-17 barrier, along with a scene shortly after that in which Woods cleans up the scene of the massacre and beheads all the victims. The movie is has a misogynistic overtone as well, especially considering just about every female character is a hooker, including Sheryl Lee. Most of them walk around topless, and Lee is usually referred to as "bitch," "whore," or "hooker." And there is no denying that the movie is really campy. So if any of this bothers you, you may want to stay away from "Vampires." Fortunately, it didn't bother me much.
I would say that watching "Vampires" was a perversely entertaining experience thanks mainly to James Woods. I'm not sure why he chose to do "Vampires" (other than to work with John Carpenter), but I'm grateful he did. //,p.Other notes: Carpenter's score is pretty kick-ass, too; and to the other reviewer who didn't know what other films Thomas Ian Griffith (who plays master vampire Valek) had been in before, he was the bad guy in "Karate Kid, Part III" and he's been in a bunch of straight-to-video action flicks, usually as the hero.
Well, that's it for my first review. Hope you got something out of it!
*** MR. SPARKLE ***
