Starring: James Woods, Daniel Baldwin, other people.
Director: John Carpentar
Writer: Dan Jakoby
Studio: Columbia/Tristar
Vampire hunting seems too easy sometimes. Even wafer thin little numbers like Sarah Michelle Gellar can do it. But John Carpentar reminds us that's all glitz and glamor made for the Hollywood crowd. He takes us back to the hard working, blue collar, whore hopping, truck driving vampire hunters that helped build this country. God bless them all and their pointy sticks.
Ian reminded me why I hate vampire movies repeatedly throughout our cinematic sojourns together. It's one of those genres that irritates the hell out of me when it's just lazily retread over and over again, and sometimes nudity is used to distract the viewer from the lazy suck being hurled at your eyes. This movie actually tries to do something a little different. Vampire hunting is treated like an all day job here; it's like being an exterminator with very high mortality rate. There's some other stuff about Vatican vampire conspiracies, but the actual hunting is the highlight for me.
Writing: It's a serviceable script, but Carpentar's had better to work with. It's quirky in an off beat macho way which balances out the fairly obvious plot.
Direction: John Carpentar delivers the goods. The action pops, rocks, and rolls, and the effects look great.
Acting: This movie is 95% James Woods. His portrayal of vampire hunter Jack Crow makes the film. He manages to take this gruff caricature and turn into a bizarre action protagonist that asks the supporting cast about their erections. He's the kind of bad ass that wears black leather in the desert heat because that's his look. He's tough, weird, and pretty damn awesome. There are other actors in this film, but it's all James Woods.
Editing: Clean cuts; the master at work. (Yes, I really like John Carpentar.)
Soundtrack/Score: Another Carpentar classic; he turns about a minute of country music into a full film score. God bless him.
Self-Awareness: James Woods and John Carpentar are pretty self-aware. I don't think Daniel Baldwin is.
Overall Rating: This one's just fine, but it's definitely the kind of flick you enjoy with a few drinks and few friends.
-Pete
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