Rish Outfield's reviews
Maybe you ought to check out my review of Near Dark, as I‘ll touch on the same stuff here as there. It's interesting how the vampire legend is treated in various films. In some (Interview with the Vampire), vampires have superhuman strength, in some (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) they are considerably weak. In Blade, sunscreen allows vampires to walk during the day, in Near Dark, they sit in the shade and they're fine. Crosses work in From Dusk Till Dawn, but not here. Holy Water works in Bordello of Blood and The Lost Boys (squirt guns in both, if I recall), but not here. They can become bats in the Dracula films (even Dracula: Dead and Loving It), but not here. In some films, if you stake one--they turn into dust, in others, you have to leave the stake in forever, or they'll pop back to life. Can they fly? Can they hypnotize? Do they look like people or are they deformed? Can they go invisible? Do they have to sleep in their native turf? Do they have a reflection? What does garlic do to them? Do silver bullets work? If you're bitten, how long does it take to become one yourself? Just how do you become one, anyway? I just don't get it--how do real vampires react when they watch this stuff? Maybe it's a big laugh to them, who knows?
Oh yeah, this movie was alright. James Woods is his usual gruff self, and Twin Peaks' Sheryl Lee was it. There was a somewhat-touching moment at the end, but I still left unsatisfied. What was the question?
Best Scare: Gee, I don't remember. Probably something to do with vampires.
I'd Recommend It To: If it looks good to you, go and see it. What are you listening to me for?

The tyranist's thoughts
Halloween and Big Trouble in Little China are two of my all time favourite movies. It stands to follow that Vampires would probably be pretty good then. It was. It wasn't great the way Halloween was or even as scary. But it did have that good John Carpenter feel. I have to admit that James Woods played the part of the Master Slayer well. I didn't think he had it in him. And Sheryl Lee? Her quivering vampire turning had me sold.
What I really liked in this movie, though, was the history. They took the time to include little bits that showed us the history of the Slayers and the vampires. It expanded the movie in a very good way. A lot of vampire movies just have vampires and never bother to explain why they exist or why the people trying to kill them exist. The Catholic church element of Vampires makes the whole story so much more believable.
I recently rewatched this when it came out on DVD and had the pleasure of listening to John Carpenter talk about the movie on the commentary. He pointed out something that helped make even a little more sense of the movie for me. He sees this movie as being "the Wild Bunch meets Dracula." And that is exactly what I noticed this time through (I watched it once without the commentary before I listend to John). It has a very Western feel to it. In the way things are framed and in the layout of the story. The setting is obviously old west. There is even a brothel scene (of sorts). I found that it becomes a much better movie when it is viewed through this lens. And the scene at the end where he lets Montoya and Katrina go in spite of the fact that she has turned and he is turning takes on a whole new level of importance. It even had me a little choked up this time around. If you can lay your hands on the DVD take a moment to listen to John Carpenter and it will change your opinion.