VAMPIRES

Year Released: 1998 MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 107 minutes Click to Expand Credits: Starring James Woods, Daniel Baldwin, Sheryl Lee, Thomas Ian Griffith, and Tim Guinee. Directed by John Carpenter and Gary Kibbe. Produced by Sandy King.

Scare master John Carpenter (“Halloween” and “The Thing”), retools the “Wild Bunch” as a supernatural, vampire versus mortal showdown. James Woods is magnetic as the mercurial vamp slayer in the service of the Catholic church — though he’s no altar boy. In the rolling, Western-like hills of California, Woods tackles the mother of all bloodsuckers (Thomas Ian Griffith basically as Count Dracula with a rescripted mythos) who’s out to find the coveted artifact that will enable him to walk in the sunlight without becoming a “crispy critter.” There’s plenty of gore and swanky babes (Sheryl Lee filling the Lucy role) in slinky outfits, but the languorous plot is a bore. Carpenter oscillates between high horror and lowbrow camp, which is more unsettling than the scenes of decapitation and dismemberment, and drives a steak through the heart of Woods’ fine performance in the process.

Posted on October 31, 2001 in Reviews by Tom Meek

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