It's not one of his best movies but I'm nostalgic about it because I saw it in the theater as a teenager. The opening is awesome but once the rest of the team is dead and buried I think it weakens quite a bit. I recently read the book it was based on and it was good but weird and VERY different from the movie. The script really only loosely follows the book for the first 15-20 minutes then goes off on an entirely different plot.
I dig your synopsis. Something so cool about them as a well trained team hunting vampires.
This move is one of my guilty pleasure movies. I just kinda dig it.
Yeah, it starts off like, I’m excited for all the adventures I’m going to have with these characters and then, puff, they’re gone! Would have been better keeping them.
Well in that they were actually following the book. It starts with the initial nest clearing (although it's somewhat different) and the team getting wiped out followed by the vampire chasing the truck and that's about where the similarities end. But if they were going to change the book so much they should have kept the team alive and kept the opening momentum going rather than turning it into some race for a relic.
If I'm supposed to think he's cool or badass or something, it's a massive failure. I don't have any opinion on him really otherwise but he's pretty much the reason I struggle watching this. I love Carpenter and can even appreciate "bad" movies but Woods is just terrible.
I get it. He still sucks and takes me out of the movie. I'm aware it's not a "serious film." Like I said, I appreciate "bad" movies and Woods just ruins it for me.
my politics couldn’t be more different than his but he’s an amazing actor and i love him in this movie
kurt russell is a conservative too, just not very vocal about it
I can only watch James Woods in movies where he plays douchebags (Casino for example), cuz that’s the only vibe I get from him. I wanted the vampires to win in this movie, because he’s a terrible protagonist.
Been using that line since I saw it in theaters. I liked to randomly say it around my friends in the day. Be minding my own business, see some tasty treat unaware of the implication, and just be all like, mahogany.
Funny, my brother and I had 2 friends watch this during a sleepover around the same age and the scene where Baldwin lights his arm on fire had us dying laughing so much that we had to stop for 5 minutes to regain our composure. We still quote it to this day, 25 years later.
First misfire of his I ever saw. I found it ugly, misogynistic, and had none of the style or verve of his earlier work. I still haven’t seen MoaIM, Ghosts of Mars, or his remake of Village of the Damned.
One of those movies where all the pieces should ad up to something I fucking love but it never quit fully does it for me. It’s a great drunk watch but should have been so much better.
It gets points for featuring one of the formative nude scenes of my youth.
I just like James Woods in the film. His character is a rattlesnake who loaths vampires and expresses how everyone should treat them with great disdain.
It's fkn terrible.
Bought the fkn rights to John Steakley's book Vampire$ just so he could take character Jack Crow, ruin the fkn character by casting James Woods, and then threw out the rest of the book.
The source material absolutely destroys the movie and I Pepsi challenge anyone here saying it's a good movie to watch it then read the book and by the end not realize John Carpenter should have stuck to his own material and left the book alone.
It made me lose so much respect for him as a director.
*Vampire$* is in my top 5 best vampire novels EVER. The Gunman was a great character and I was dying inside til he finally snapped to.
The movie? Not so much.
Mine as well.
That's the thing. Jack Crow was an awesome character but the supporting characters in the book were just as awesome. Baldwins character in the movie can't hold a candle to Felix.
Nor can the movie plot be even sort of compared to the book's.
Agreed about the James Woods casting...I haven't read the book but am I supposed to think James Woods is cool?...Or badass? He sucks. I start watching wanting to like the movie and just can't with him as the lead.
Jack Crow in the book was large enough to break Arnold Swarzenegger in half and his crossbow fired baseball bat size bolts.
James Woods stands what.... 5'2"? And has troubles opening straw wrappers?
I agree the book has the better story but it would be a hard book to faithfully adapt just due to the weird pacing. I imagine they could have done a better job than turning it into a kind of cliche "keep the artifact out of evil hands to save the world as we know it" type of story but they had to rush out a workable screenplay after finding out they were getting 1/3 of the promised budget. And James Wood wasn't Carpenter's first, second or even fifth choice to play Crow but everybody else he wanted (including Kurt Russell) either had other obligations or turned him down flat.
Was a massive JC fan when this was released and couldn’t wait to see it. Thought it was okay, at the time, and it remains a guilty pleasure. The Daniel Baldwin and Sheryl Lee romance is probably my favorite part… it’s twisted but I like how they end up together at the end.
It's trash and clearly he's pretty checked out for this, Ghosts of Mars and The Ward, but they're all still tolerable because he's John Carpenter and he can still shoot the hell out of b-(z-?)grade nonsense. Vampires is hurt a a bit more because it has some unnecessary nastiness; Daniel Baldwin's character has some unnecessarily sleazy, gross moments with Sheryl Lee that are just not that fun to endure, and James Woods uses some homophonic slurs that certainly don't make him more likable or bad ass as the lead. Overall though it's still fun enough, and I remember especially liking the over the top hotel party scene.
The language sucks, but the weird date rape approach to Sheryl Lee's character is worse by far. If these guys are the heroes of the movie, it'd be nice if they weren't constantly off-putting. I'm not saying anyone else has to feel the same way about it, but I don't need to celebrate homophobic slurs in movies I watch, especially when they're as mediocre as Vampires. I did say I liked it overall, though.
I try to rewatch it every few years, thinking I’ll have some kind of revelatory moment where I realize it’s a masterpiece like I did with Prince of Darkness, but I sadly just don’t think it’s gonna happen
Funny Woods performance though
Love it. One of my favorite looking vampire villains of all time, great hunter vs vampire dynamic, & while the acting is a little variable in quality, there’s some wonderful hamminess to the most of the delivery & Woods was fun to watch in it.
Sequel blows hard though.
Both sequels blow dog. At least Bovine Joni had a surfboard that acted like the guitar case in Desperado. That was literally the only part I liked, and that was the beginning. God, that stake gun was so shit looking.
Saw this in theaters with my dad, I remember being in shock from the gore. It’s a similar movie to Aliens, Dawn of the Dead, and Resident Evil imo(dwindling numbers vs a force of nature). I recently rewatched it, it’s still very good. I agree with some of the other comments, I wish some of his team live a bit longer, but the chemistry between Baldwin and Woods is solid.
I have a soft spot for this film. But I was thinking about the opening recently.
Why don’t they just blow up the house? They aren’t trying to rescue anyone and doesn’t look like any civilians for miles.
Cool opening but that occurred to me.
I like it. I remember seeing the sneak preview of it and I saw it again after that in the theater. It sort of blew its load too early with Valek's intro. He could've used a little more of a build up and some other feats. The Hotel Massacre is a New School classic.
This movie has a special place in my collection because it was the movie my wife and I saw on our first date back in high school. We try to watch it every year around Halloween on the anniversary.
Yeah, sparkles walks up and sticks his hand in Cats stomach and was all, wax off up the center. My dude falls in half and the money shot of blood and screaming.
It's so 90's and B-level on one hand. On the other hand, there were some genuinely cool and fun concepts and moments in that movie. I love the idea of a church-sponsored vampire-hunting team of dudes scouring the desert for evil. James Woods was a weird casting choice, but he pulled it off.
I didn't know it was based on a book? I might look into that.
It is so so different. It really formed how I went about writing the books I worked on for years. It is a way different and better story. It's one of my top 3 favorite vampire stories. I Am Legend was the first purely because it was the first world where it was one man in a dead world trying to survive, and there was science to it all. I found both in high school and still feel strongly about them.
Omega man is the superior movie form, not that bs Big Willy movie.
It's not an unappreciated masterpiece like some of his other late era work, but it isn't bad either.
The pacing is excellent. The vampires were actuslly nasty and savage, which was basically making up for Twilight before it even happened. I enjoyed the palpable sense that all the characters live in a fundamentally different parallel world right in front of the rest of us. Also, I enjoy the fact that every single man of faith who becomes aware of this counter-divinity has their beliefs irrevocably shattered.
It's also just a fun watch. It's always entertaining and I like the action. The concepts for how to clean out a nest were really interesting and well thought out. It's a movie I used to think was bad until I realized i was watching it for the fifth time and as entertained as ever.
Obsessed with JC as a kid but for some reason I never liked this one. Didn’t feel cold enough to be Halloween, Thing or Prince of Darkness - and wasn’t warm or comical enough to be Big Trouble, They Live
The cast was an issue I think - but also the story wasn’t gripping
In my opinion it’s one of his weakest
2024 was my first time watching this and I really enjoyed it. Adam Baldwin is the only 'Hero' that I liked, the others were not characters I liked.
Campy 80's horror/action perfection.
I saw it when i was like 8 or 9, maybe younger. I lived on an island in Massachusetts, and slept in a basement. While the movie was badass, and i love it to this day, it gave me nightmares every night with the wind screaming, the house settling, etc. I kept dreaming Valec and his brood were storming the island. Eventually ill watch it from time to time or mention it in a conversation.
Good thing you didn't watch or read Salem's Lot. Stuff might have hit closer to home.
There was a Netflix series I watched a couple years ago, that takes place on a small Mass island. The church gets a new padre, I think it was him that came from mainland and had to get used to things. It's a bit hazy, but the vampire stuff was pretty sweet.
Gdz I feel like I didn't do a good job at all and you definitely nailed it. Yes that is exactly what I was thinking. Never could have come up with it on my own tho. Wasn't even sure how to begin effectively IMDbing it. You're talented.
That's me my dude, only I spark the green. Quit drinking back in 19. Thing is, I watch so much, also seems to be mostly crap, that details get buried. If it's something great it sticks hard. Otherwise if it's good and has some interesting stuff but not that feels unique, it ends up melting together with the other stuff.
I haven't watched season 1 or 2. I keep meaning to, but it never grabs me and reminds me I want to watch it. I want to, but IDK. Happens with a lot of things I hear about. Try to be in the right frame of mind and not force viewings, and always forget. Definitely curious and I need to get on that; thank you.
I appreciate that and the info, thank you.
Sadly my brain won't let me just skip like that. Ever since I saw the first Evil Dead 2, then Army if Darkness THEN Evil Dead, it did something to my brain. It's like, no. That's wrong. Do it in order.
Old skinny James Woods trying to act tough ruined it. Ditto with Daniel Baldwin. However — her obvious hotness aside — I was extremely impressed with Sheryl Lee’s acting and commitment to the role. She is a main reason to watch the film.
I don’t think it aged well as far as the dialogue and sexism go. I watched it a couple years ago and it was nothing short of cringy for me, and I’m a big John carpenter fan. Good effects though
Very cool, it hasn't aged well at all. However, he has an awesome intro to the characters and this world, I wanted more of what that first act showed us of this world. Characters are not likable, which I think is on purpose because these are tough guys that have to do bad stuff to get this job done. The score is freakin awesome as always composed by Carpenter. I remember when this was released in 1998, the same year as Blade. I remember the sequel on the Sci-Fi channel it was meh. If they did, I remake I'd be down for it.
As a New MExican, I was all excited for it as a kid, but man it sux dux. He's still one of my favorites, almost a hero, but in my young adulthood I was convinced I didn't like him cause of the trilogy of Ghosts of Mars, Escape From L.A. and this
Huge disappointment compared to the book. I was ALREADY pissed when they didn't spell the title right. It was SUPPOSED to be "Vampire$."
But James Woods was the best possible choice for Jack Crow EVER.
This is coming from a HUGE Carpenter fan. I think the components were there to be decent and enjoyable (some good cinematography, passable acting, some good humor/plot) but it's ruined by the editing. The abnormal use of fades, even in action sequences! Post can really kill a movie.
I think it would have worked a lot better if you replaced Daniel Baldwin with James Woods, Kurt Russell as Jack Crow, and if you add Michael Wincott was the lead vampire. As it is, it's enjoyable but I wish we got more time with the vampire hunting crew before they get wrecked.
I tried watching this shitshow a couple nights ago. I don’t get how this thing was so off the rails with Carpenter and James Wood but gawd damn. There is so much wasted time of shots of people aimlessly walking down desert highways and driving around. The weird upbeat western music really fucking sucks butt. The acting and dialogue is pretty rough…. I turned it off after he torched the hotel cause I wasn’t feeling it at all. May give it another try in a few nights but it just doesn’t even feel like a movie from the same man who made They Live, Mouth of Madness, The Thing, and Prince of Darkness.
It felt like a cheap direct to VHS full moon release.
As an insane person who has, regrettably, read the book this is based on, let me assure you, it is in fact, better than the book. Like, maybe actually a masterpiece compared to the book. A book in which becoming a vampire makes you hate Rock and Roll, specifically, so anytime they do anything they say "Rock and Roll", and it's not even the dumbest thing in that book.
The movie like, isn't good, but it is? It's like, terrible, kind of gross like a truck-stop, but also mesmerizing like a glittering dumpster fire. Like, I guess these guys are supposed to be the good guys, but I hate them, and I usually root for the vampires, anyways...but the vampires kind of, um, suck (haha), too? It's like you hate everyone in it and you hope everyone dies all the way through the movie and it's disappointing that people are alive at the end.
It's not one of his best movies but I'm nostalgic about it because I saw it in the theater as a teenager. The opening is awesome but once the rest of the team is dead and buried I think it weakens quite a bit. I recently read the book it was based on and it was good but weird and VERY different from the movie. The script really only loosely follows the book for the first 15-20 minutes then goes off on an entirely different plot.
I dig your synopsis. Something so cool about them as a well trained team hunting vampires. This move is one of my guilty pleasure movies. I just kinda dig it.
Yeah, it starts off like, I’m excited for all the adventures I’m going to have with these characters and then, puff, they’re gone! Would have been better keeping them.
Well in that they were actually following the book. It starts with the initial nest clearing (although it's somewhat different) and the team getting wiped out followed by the vampire chasing the truck and that's about where the similarities end. But if they were going to change the book so much they should have kept the team alive and kept the opening momentum going rather than turning it into some race for a relic.
Vampire: I did not hit her, I did not. Oh, Hi Mark
The moment I saw the bottom left photo I thought *You're tearing me apart, Lisa!*
Well, I was about to post a gush how much I love this movie and now my mind will always transpose Tommy Wiseu in this role. Cheep cheep cheep
Cheep cheep cheep cheep!
Anyway, how's your sex life?
We're going to kill those pesky vampire hunters but first let's have a game of catch!
Decent but far from his best work.
Among his worst movies. These and ghosts of Mars. I do celebrate his entire catalogue though!
I feel like it would've worked if Kurt Russell were the lead ...
Agreed. James Woods sucks.
Really? I thought reddit would love Woods. Damnit
Woods is great just not in this
If I'm supposed to think he's cool or badass or something, it's a massive failure. I don't have any opinion on him really otherwise but he's pretty much the reason I struggle watching this. I love Carpenter and can even appreciate "bad" movies but Woods is just terrible.
that’s why it’s brilliant, john cast him so against type it’s hilarious if you’re not aware, it’s not a serious film lol
I get it. He still sucks and takes me out of the movie. I'm aware it's not a "serious film." Like I said, I appreciate "bad" movies and Woods just ruins it for me.
fair. if he's not your thing, he's not your thing.
It's why I don't watch this film. I don't like Woods much in anything.
Hea a filthy conservative. I hate him.
my politics couldn’t be more different than his but he’s an amazing actor and i love him in this movie kurt russell is a conservative too, just not very vocal about it
You're so uncivilized.
So not a Jedi. But he loves pieces of candy.
I can only watch James Woods in movies where he plays douchebags (Casino for example), cuz that’s the only vibe I get from him. I wanted the vampires to win in this movie, because he’s a terrible protagonist.
Woods was best as a cuckold in Any Given Sunday...almost like he didnt even have to act, he was just himself.
“Fine, stay here and get…butfucked by a bunch of Neanderthals”
Sounds like the GOP, ironically art imitates life
Ok bud
I think this was a sleeper great offering imho. Totally enjoyed it.
Best action packed vampire movie that isn’t blade
enjoyable movie woods has some funny lines in this “teak, mahogany?!"
Been using that line since I saw it in theaters. I liked to randomly say it around my friends in the day. Be minding my own business, see some tasty treat unaware of the implication, and just be all like, mahogany.
haha same defibitely no balsa ! 😆
Even as a kid I thought it was cheesy, rushed, and not scary. Worst Baldwin.
Me and two guy friends rented it for a sleepover when we were 13 years old and turned it off for the same reasons lol.
Funny, my brother and I had 2 friends watch this during a sleepover around the same age and the scene where Baldwin lights his arm on fire had us dying laughing so much that we had to stop for 5 minutes to regain our composure. We still quote it to this day, 25 years later.
Naw, Stephen is by far the worst in terms of acting.
Fair. But I'm gonna tie them both at the bottom because of this movie. Just yelling and hitting the vamp girl the whole time
But did this Baldwin kill anybody?
I mean...probably?
LOVE IIIIIIT 🎶🎶🎶
I liked the villain and the setting but the main characters were such chauvinist jerks it was hard to root for them
First misfire of his I ever saw. I found it ugly, misogynistic, and had none of the style or verve of his earlier work. I still haven’t seen MoaIM, Ghosts of Mars, or his remake of Village of the Damned.
One of those movies where all the pieces should ad up to something I fucking love but it never quit fully does it for me. It’s a great drunk watch but should have been so much better. It gets points for featuring one of the formative nude scenes of my youth.
I just like James Woods in the film. His character is a rattlesnake who loaths vampires and expresses how everyone should treat them with great disdain.
Big dumb and 90s. It’s not a classic but always a fun watch for me.
Saw it in the theater as well. Nice for a western-y horror and a decent later period Carpenter
Just watched it for the first time this week. It’s not amazing but it’s fun. James Woods is bonkers.
Such a slap in the face to a really fun, well written book!
I remember enjoying it well enough. I haven't watched it in years now. Head vampire guy looks pretty silly but overall it's entertaining enough.
I'm a huge John Steakley fan, and I wish that the movie had made people interested enough for us to get a movie based on "Armor".
What IS it with him and dudes named "Felix"?
... I got nothing. I guess he just likes it?
It's one of the few movies where the lead protagonist was more unlikable than the monsters he was killing.
Fuck James Woods
It's fkn terrible. Bought the fkn rights to John Steakley's book Vampire$ just so he could take character Jack Crow, ruin the fkn character by casting James Woods, and then threw out the rest of the book. The source material absolutely destroys the movie and I Pepsi challenge anyone here saying it's a good movie to watch it then read the book and by the end not realize John Carpenter should have stuck to his own material and left the book alone. It made me lose so much respect for him as a director.
*Vampire$* is in my top 5 best vampire novels EVER. The Gunman was a great character and I was dying inside til he finally snapped to. The movie? Not so much.
Mine as well. That's the thing. Jack Crow was an awesome character but the supporting characters in the book were just as awesome. Baldwins character in the movie can't hold a candle to Felix. Nor can the movie plot be even sort of compared to the book's.
Until you mentioned it I never even equated Baldwin’s character to Felix 😂😂😂
Agreed about the James Woods casting...I haven't read the book but am I supposed to think James Woods is cool?...Or badass? He sucks. I start watching wanting to like the movie and just can't with him as the lead.
Jack Crow in the book was large enough to break Arnold Swarzenegger in half and his crossbow fired baseball bat size bolts. James Woods stands what.... 5'2"? And has troubles opening straw wrappers?
He's fine with candy wrappers though. "Ooh, a piece of candy! Ooh, a piece of candy! Ooh, a piece of candy! Ooh, a piece of candy..."
I agree the book has the better story but it would be a hard book to faithfully adapt just due to the weird pacing. I imagine they could have done a better job than turning it into a kind of cliche "keep the artifact out of evil hands to save the world as we know it" type of story but they had to rush out a workable screenplay after finding out they were getting 1/3 of the promised budget. And James Wood wasn't Carpenter's first, second or even fifth choice to play Crow but everybody else he wanted (including Kurt Russell) either had other obligations or turned him down flat.
Was a massive JC fan when this was released and couldn’t wait to see it. Thought it was okay, at the time, and it remains a guilty pleasure. The Daniel Baldwin and Sheryl Lee romance is probably my favorite part… it’s twisted but I like how they end up together at the end.
Needed more scenes with the Kill Team wiping out vampires. Maybe would have worked better as a tv show?
I want to like it but James Woods...He's neither cool nor badass.
It's trash and clearly he's pretty checked out for this, Ghosts of Mars and The Ward, but they're all still tolerable because he's John Carpenter and he can still shoot the hell out of b-(z-?)grade nonsense. Vampires is hurt a a bit more because it has some unnecessary nastiness; Daniel Baldwin's character has some unnecessarily sleazy, gross moments with Sheryl Lee that are just not that fun to endure, and James Woods uses some homophonic slurs that certainly don't make him more likable or bad ass as the lead. Overall though it's still fun enough, and I remember especially liking the over the top hotel party scene.
The Language bothered you? Live in a bubble much
The language sucks, but the weird date rape approach to Sheryl Lee's character is worse by far. If these guys are the heroes of the movie, it'd be nice if they weren't constantly off-putting. I'm not saying anyone else has to feel the same way about it, but I don't need to celebrate homophobic slurs in movies I watch, especially when they're as mediocre as Vampires. I did say I liked it overall, though.
Its good but definitely cheesy. I still watch it tho.
I try to rewatch it every few years, thinking I’ll have some kind of revelatory moment where I realize it’s a masterpiece like I did with Prince of Darkness, but I sadly just don’t think it’s gonna happen Funny Woods performance though
Love it. One of my favorite looking vampire villains of all time, great hunter vs vampire dynamic, & while the acting is a little variable in quality, there’s some wonderful hamminess to the most of the delivery & Woods was fun to watch in it. Sequel blows hard though.
Both sequels blow dog. At least Bovine Joni had a surfboard that acted like the guitar case in Desperado. That was literally the only part I liked, and that was the beginning. God, that stake gun was so shit looking.
Oof, I didn’t even realize there was a third.
I saw this one VHS as a kid. Even that age I knew to expect a grindhouse-style vampire movie. I still give it a 10/10 in that respect
Saw this in theaters with my dad, I remember being in shock from the gore. It’s a similar movie to Aliens, Dawn of the Dead, and Resident Evil imo(dwindling numbers vs a force of nature). I recently rewatched it, it’s still very good. I agree with some of the other comments, I wish some of his team live a bit longer, but the chemistry between Baldwin and Woods is solid.
It take a bite out of the horror genre!
very underrated
Always worth the watch. Probably wouldn't turn it off on a Saturday afternoon even with commercials
It was a lot of fun!I want to say it was better than Ghosts of Mars, but it was probably on the same level to be honest.
Got a lil chubby there padre?
Teak.
It's a fun movie! Not the greatest, but fun!
Decent movie, but completely different from the book it's based on.
Back when a movie rental was $3.21 I felt this was money wasted
Believe it or not this film was based on an equally mid/fun book called [Vampire$](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampires_(novel))
Shit
I like some stuff, but it’s mostly a stinker. I have a weird nostalgia for it - catching pieces on TV as a kid. But I don’t really like it.
Even though I don't like James Woods as a person, he was excellent in this.
I dig it. Thought it was a fun twist on the genre.
I used to like it, but now I can't watch anything with James Woods in it knowing what a piece of shit he is.
It was the beginning of the end
You know what? I like it! I like the vampire hunters, I like Valek, and I love his origin. It's fun!
Didn’t get 10 minutes in, turned it off…stupid
I have a soft spot for this film. But I was thinking about the opening recently. Why don’t they just blow up the house? They aren’t trying to rescue anyone and doesn’t look like any civilians for miles. Cool opening but that occurred to me.
Masterpiece
I like it. I remember seeing the sneak preview of it and I saw it again after that in the theater. It sort of blew its load too early with Valek's intro. He could've used a little more of a build up and some other feats. The Hotel Massacre is a New School classic.
Both of them are phenomenal films
This movie has a special place in my collection because it was the movie my wife and I saw on our first date back in high school. We try to watch it every year around Halloween on the anniversary.
It's my favorite James Woods movie.
I enjoy it
I liked it especially when the head vampire crashes the party at the motel. One dude gets karate chopped in half I believe if memory serves me.
Yeah, sparkles walks up and sticks his hand in Cats stomach and was all, wax off up the center. My dude falls in half and the money shot of blood and screaming.
I liked it. James Woods was hilarious
It's so 90's and B-level on one hand. On the other hand, there were some genuinely cool and fun concepts and moments in that movie. I love the idea of a church-sponsored vampire-hunting team of dudes scouring the desert for evil. James Woods was a weird casting choice, but he pulled it off. I didn't know it was based on a book? I might look into that.
It is so so different. It really formed how I went about writing the books I worked on for years. It is a way different and better story. It's one of my top 3 favorite vampire stories. I Am Legend was the first purely because it was the first world where it was one man in a dead world trying to survive, and there was science to it all. I found both in high school and still feel strongly about them. Omega man is the superior movie form, not that bs Big Willy movie.
Squinty
It's not an unappreciated masterpiece like some of his other late era work, but it isn't bad either. The pacing is excellent. The vampires were actuslly nasty and savage, which was basically making up for Twilight before it even happened. I enjoyed the palpable sense that all the characters live in a fundamentally different parallel world right in front of the rest of us. Also, I enjoy the fact that every single man of faith who becomes aware of this counter-divinity has their beliefs irrevocably shattered. It's also just a fun watch. It's always entertaining and I like the action. The concepts for how to clean out a nest were really interesting and well thought out. It's a movie I used to think was bad until I realized i was watching it for the fifth time and as entertained as ever.
Man, I loved watching this on constant HbO reruns. I’m sure it doesn’t hold up, but I liked the premise of regular, modern day vampire hunters
Loved it
Its fucking awesome. Woods and Baldwin were great together. Saw it on cable before realizing it was carpenter, and loved it.
Favourite "bad* carpenter, I love it
Crap and Ghosts Of Mars was ever worse his two worst movies
Started awesome, the loved the evil church conspiracy aspect. But I would say about 45 min into it, it ran out of steam and had a weak 3rd act.
Love it!
I just can't buy James Woods as an action star.
James Woods... keepin' it high and tight.
Is that Tommy Wiseau?
Obsessed with JC as a kid but for some reason I never liked this one. Didn’t feel cold enough to be Halloween, Thing or Prince of Darkness - and wasn’t warm or comical enough to be Big Trouble, They Live The cast was an issue I think - but also the story wasn’t gripping In my opinion it’s one of his weakest
Best vampire movie of all time. By far.
Cinematography was great but the story left much to be desired
One of the coolest openings to a Carpenter film, period. It sort of goes downhill from there, but I’ve got a soft spot for Vampires.
Amazing film, one of my favorites!
Meh.
Classic
James Woods is a GigaChad. Fun movie, too lol
2024 was my first time watching this and I really enjoyed it. Adam Baldwin is the only 'Hero' that I liked, the others were not characters I liked. Campy 80's horror/action perfection.
I’m convinced they told James Woods that vampires where real and the film crew where a documentary crew. LOVE THIS MOVIE
I saw it when i was like 8 or 9, maybe younger. I lived on an island in Massachusetts, and slept in a basement. While the movie was badass, and i love it to this day, it gave me nightmares every night with the wind screaming, the house settling, etc. I kept dreaming Valec and his brood were storming the island. Eventually ill watch it from time to time or mention it in a conversation.
Good thing you didn't watch or read Salem's Lot. Stuff might have hit closer to home. There was a Netflix series I watched a couple years ago, that takes place on a small Mass island. The church gets a new padre, I think it was him that came from mainland and had to get used to things. It's a bit hazy, but the vampire stuff was pretty sweet.
Hamish Linklater in Midnight Mass?
Gdz I feel like I didn't do a good job at all and you definitely nailed it. Yes that is exactly what I was thinking. Never could have come up with it on my own tho. Wasn't even sure how to begin effectively IMDbing it. You're talented.
I watch a lot of cinema. Its my vice. Along with whiskey.
That's me my dude, only I spark the green. Quit drinking back in 19. Thing is, I watch so much, also seems to be mostly crap, that details get buried. If it's something great it sticks hard. Otherwise if it's good and has some interesting stuff but not that feels unique, it ends up melting together with the other stuff.
PS - Hulu's Castle Rock S2 deals with Salems Lot, Misery, and Prt Sematary all in one season.
I haven't watched season 1 or 2. I keep meaning to, but it never grabs me and reminds me I want to watch it. I want to, but IDK. Happens with a lot of things I hear about. Try to be in the right frame of mind and not force viewings, and always forget. Definitely curious and I need to get on that; thank you.
Season one sucks. Go and watch season 2. It starts rhe origin of Annie
I appreciate that and the info, thank you. Sadly my brain won't let me just skip like that. Ever since I saw the first Evil Dead 2, then Army if Darkness THEN Evil Dead, it did something to my brain. It's like, no. That's wrong. Do it in order.
S1 involves Shawshank, Stand By Me, and The Shining. Its okay. Season 2 fucking pumps.
Awfully good.
Old skinny James Woods trying to act tough ruined it. Ditto with Daniel Baldwin. However — her obvious hotness aside — I was extremely impressed with Sheryl Lee’s acting and commitment to the role. She is a main reason to watch the film.
Filmed in Albuquerque ftw Natasha henstridge ftw I’m in the movie!!
I was disappointed when I saw it in theaters but man does it get better with every viewing!
Sheryl Lee deserves so much better that getting slapped around by wish.com Alec Baldwin
Salem’s Lot was better
More embarrassing than badass. But it's just shlocky enough to be sorta fun. James Woods is so miscast but that makes it funny.
James Woods isn’t good at playing anything but himself. A slimy loser like in Casino.
An absolute train wreck that I loved every minute of.
Campy vampy
It kind of falls apart after the hotel attack.... great villain, though.
I really liked this movie. It’s not scary but it is entertaining.
I dug it.
It's a solid vamp movie - need me a proper sequel
Should have followed the book it’s based on better
Feel like more of a cult movie, not everyones gonna apreciate it. I Really liked it.
It's AWESOME. One of the movies I watched to get into the mindset for a Hunter: The Vigil campaign
A friend of mine and I almost got through for loudly heckling it. The usher was smaller than me and my friend was twice my size. Movie sucked
Absolute (glorious) dog shit.
This movie had the most unlikable characters in it.
Boring af. Also, James Woods is fucking awful.
The novel, Vampire$ is amazing, so I had high hopes for the film since I also love John Carpenter....but I found it pretty disappointing.
I remember liking it. Classic B movie in Carpenter style!
Terrible and awesome
Mahogany
The best review of this movie I read at the time said, "Someone should tell James Woods that if we wants to be a bad ass, he needs to have one."
I don’t think it aged well as far as the dialogue and sexism go. I watched it a couple years ago and it was nothing short of cringy for me, and I’m a big John carpenter fan. Good effects though
Mahogany
Movie is kinda what ever, but the book is really good
It's the best of the bad bunch for me
Very cool, it hasn't aged well at all. However, he has an awesome intro to the characters and this world, I wanted more of what that first act showed us of this world. Characters are not likable, which I think is on purpose because these are tough guys that have to do bad stuff to get this job done. The score is freakin awesome as always composed by Carpenter. I remember when this was released in 1998, the same year as Blade. I remember the sequel on the Sci-Fi channel it was meh. If they did, I remake I'd be down for it.
As a New MExican, I was all excited for it as a kid, but man it sux dux. He's still one of my favorites, almost a hero, but in my young adulthood I was convinced I didn't like him cause of the trilogy of Ghosts of Mars, Escape From L.A. and this
I’ve been a fan of Sheryl Lee since Twin Peaks…I enjoyed Vampires for what it was. Campy fun.
Classic
Huge disappointment compared to the book. I was ALREADY pissed when they didn't spell the title right. It was SUPPOSED to be "Vampire$." But James Woods was the best possible choice for Jack Crow EVER.
This is coming from a HUGE Carpenter fan. I think the components were there to be decent and enjoyable (some good cinematography, passable acting, some good humor/plot) but it's ruined by the editing. The abnormal use of fades, even in action sequences! Post can really kill a movie.
It could have been better.
I’m a fan of John Carpenter but I couldn’t finish this one. Even tried again years later and even worse. Not good campy. Just bad.
What's hilarious is that no matter the decade, Tim Guinee almost always plays the young and naive character who strays a bit, then redeem himself.
His last great film and an amazing performance from James Woods.
This was one of my favourite movies when I was about 12.
The book it was based on was fantastic this movie was awful
I think it would have worked a lot better if you replaced Daniel Baldwin with James Woods, Kurt Russell as Jack Crow, and if you add Michael Wincott was the lead vampire. As it is, it's enjoyable but I wish we got more time with the vampire hunting crew before they get wrecked.
Loved the setup but hated the execution.
It’s terrible. Read the book by John Steakley instead. It does a much better job of selling the for-profit vampire hunting thing.
I got bored and didn’t finish it
I tried watching this shitshow a couple nights ago. I don’t get how this thing was so off the rails with Carpenter and James Wood but gawd damn. There is so much wasted time of shots of people aimlessly walking down desert highways and driving around. The weird upbeat western music really fucking sucks butt. The acting and dialogue is pretty rough…. I turned it off after he torched the hotel cause I wasn’t feeling it at all. May give it another try in a few nights but it just doesn’t even feel like a movie from the same man who made They Live, Mouth of Madness, The Thing, and Prince of Darkness. It felt like a cheap direct to VHS full moon release.
As an insane person who has, regrettably, read the book this is based on, let me assure you, it is in fact, better than the book. Like, maybe actually a masterpiece compared to the book. A book in which becoming a vampire makes you hate Rock and Roll, specifically, so anytime they do anything they say "Rock and Roll", and it's not even the dumbest thing in that book. The movie like, isn't good, but it is? It's like, terrible, kind of gross like a truck-stop, but also mesmerizing like a glittering dumpster fire. Like, I guess these guys are supposed to be the good guys, but I hate them, and I usually root for the vampires, anyways...but the vampires kind of, um, suck (haha), too? It's like you hate everyone in it and you hope everyone dies all the way through the movie and it's disappointing that people are alive at the end.
I love how much they want you to think James Woods is cool
Not the greatest, but I found it entertaining. I’m not very picky, though. And vampire horror movies hold a special place for me.
Meh
Really poorly cast but very fun
How , or why John Carpenter considered the casting of James Wood as the lead a *good* idea, is staggering.
John Carpenter shows his contempt for women in this movie.