Cheap John Carpenter's Vampires (Superbit Collection) (DVD) (John Carpenter) Price

Related Products

Customer Reviews of John Carpenter's Vampires (Superbit Collection)

"Time to kill some vampires. You with us, Padre?"
Directed by John Carpenter (Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York), Vampires (1998) stars James Woods (The Onion Field, Videodrome, Any Given Sunday)...Kurt Russell must have had a prior engagement...as Jack Crow, vampire hunter extraordinaire and master of the colorful invective. Also appearing is one of the lesser Baldwin brothers, Daniel, to be exact ("Homicide: Life on the Street", Mulholland Falls), who had an interesting turn last year on VH1's celebrity reality show "Celebrity Fit Club" possibly...scratch that...definitely indicating ongoing substance abuse issues, Thomas Ian Griffith (Behind Enemy Lines, xXx), Sheryl Lee ("Twin Peaks", "One Tree Hill"), Tim Guinee (Blade), whom I best remember from his role on the television show "Law and Order" as an infinitely creepy, manipulative killer who defends himself at trial (it was a 2001 episode titled "Hubris"), and Maximilian Schell (Judgment at Nuremberg, The Black Hole), godfather to actress Angelina Jolie. <
> <
>As the film, set in the American southwest, begins, we see Jack Crow and his Roman-Catholic ordained and funded crew of mercenaries arriving at a dilapidated, isolated farmhouse they believe to contain a nest of vampires (and they're right). After cleaning house the crew of misfits celebrates with a drunken whoopee party in a nearby seedy motel, only to get slaughtered as a really powerful vampire (master of the nest they most recently destroyed), donning a velour overcoat, shows up effectively spoiling the festivities (nothing kills a party like having your melon torn off). Jack and another of his team, one named Montoya (Baldwin), manage to escape, taking along Katrina (Lee), a prostitute at the party who has since been bitten, as she's now Jack's only link to the one who decimated his team. Eventually Jack discovers, through his church connections, that the vampire that attacked him is one bad mofo, a six hundred year old European blood fiend named Jan Valek (Griffith), and has come to the new world in search of an religious artifact that when used in a ritual, will allow him to become even more powerful that he already is...(hint, he'd no longer have to use SPF 1000 during the daytime). As Jack, Montoya, Katrina, and a priest named Father Adam (Guinee), the last a new addition as the old padre didn't survive the events at the motel, track Valek across the Southwest, seems Valek's been a busy little imp calling forth some of his brethren masters to not only assist him in locating the religious artifact mentioned earlier, but to be a part of the ceremony that will give him what he utmost desires. Jack and his motley eventually do catch up to Valek in some podunk town only to discover they've walked into the middle of vampire central, and the only way out is through Valek and his thirsty, bitey minions... <
> <
>While I did enjoy this film, it's certainly not among Carpenter's best or most memorable. Even so, a half-ashed effort from Carpenter is generally better and more entertaining than a full on effort from any number of directors currently schlepping out features these days (Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars may be the exception). Woods is fun to watch, as his trademark intense, semi-psychotic, flippant, profanity-spewing manner, seen in any number of previous features, is definitely present here (he always seems to be set at `eleven'). He does portray the typical Carpenter anti-hero well, but I can't help but wonder how much different the film would have been had Carpenter had Kurt Russell, who Carpenter's used in a number of films, in the lead instead of Woods, as Russell presents a generally more readily identifiable (and likable) character than Woods in a role like this (can you picture James Woods starring in Escape from New York or Big Trouble in Little China?). As far as the others, they did all right, but no one really stood out over another. I've never been a big fan of any of the Baldwins (they're all showboating, pretty boy, prima donnas in my opinion), so having Daniel here (the least of the bunch) really wasn't a positive aspect for me. As far as Valek, played by Thomas Ian Griffith, he certainly was a menace, but the character seemed to lack any personality traits that differentiated him from any number of vampires I've already seen in other films. Something else...at one point in the film Wood's character lays it out for Father Adam, in terms of what they're up against with the vampires...in doing so he jabs the effeminate portrayals presented in such films as Interview with a Vampire, in a roundabout way, but honestly, the vampire depicted here doesn't seem to be a fountain of manliness, but really a European dandy with a taste for hemoglobin. As far as the story, there are some interesting twists and turns, all punctuated by Woods and his gift for profanity laden gab, along with quite a bit of blood soaked violence. I particularly liked the fiery effects used when the vampires where exposed to sunlight (seemed the more powerful the vampire, the more explosive the effect). The converted armored car/battle wagon used by Jack and his crew was kind of cool, as was some of their sophisticated weaponry (when I say `sophisticated', I mean a flashlight built into a fancy crossbow or such). There's plenty of action and things move along well, strung together with some original scoring by Carpenter himself (Carpenter does a lot of his own music, which tends to fit with the material well, but can become repetitive over time). While this isn't the best of modern vampire films I've seen (I've always been partial to Near Dark), it's entertaining and worth a look, especially if you're a fan of Carpenter and/or Woods. <
> <
>There seems to be a few DVD releases of this film floating around, but the one I own is the Superbit version. What's this Superbit business, you ask? Well, it involves how the material is compressed and transferred to the DVD (there's an insert that gives more details), providing what is supposed to be high-end picture, which is good, right? Well yes, but if you dig on special features, then it might not be so good as the material (both in terms of the audio and video) that makes up the film requires usage of a lot more space on the disc, effectively eliminating any room for extras (I guess adding a second DVD with just extra features isn't a viable option). As a result, the picture, presented in widescreen (2.35:1) anamorphic, looks very clean and sharp, and the audio, available in both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS, comes through well, but there are no extras, other than subtitles available in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. I'm thinking this Superbit technology may end up being a moot point with the rapid introduction of high definition, but I'm no techno wiz...all in all three and a half stars for the film, plus an extra half for the DVD, for a total of four stars. <
> <
>Cookieman108 <
> <
>By the way, there was a puesdo sequel put out titled Vampires: Los Muertos (2002), with Carpenter and his wife Sandy King listed as executive producers, written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace (Halloween III: Season of the Witch, Fright Night Part 2), that stars Jon Bon Jovi, and incorporates elements from this story, if you're interested. I haven't seen it, but it's out there... <
> <
>One last point...at the beginning, I don't understand why Jack and his crew bothered searching the vacant house for vampires, risking their necks...why not just douse it with gas, burn it down and be done with it? Because it wouldn't have been as fun, I suppose... <
>

---

Vampires (1998)
Director: John Carpenter <
>Cast: James Woods, Daniel Baldwin, Sheryl Lee, Thomas Ian Griffith, Maximilian Schell, Tim Guinee, Mark Boone Jr., Gregory Sierra. <
>Running Time: 108 minutes <
>Rated R for strong vampire violence and gore, language and sexuality. <
> <
>John Carpenter's "Vampires" concerns itself with a Vatican-sponsored, anti-vampire hit-squad led by the gruff and obsessive Jack Crow (played by an inspired James Woods). As it turns out, the Vatican inadvertently created the vampire during the excommunication ceremony of a priest named Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith), an event that occurred roughly six hundred years ago. Realizing that the creation of vampires might be seen as a blemish on the church's reputation, the Vatican determines to correct their mistake by destroying all vampires. This leads to the creation of the unit that Crow now commands. The film begins when Crow's unit sacks a deserted house that currently serves as a vampire lair, killing all of its undead residents. Crow and team then retire for an evening of celebration at a local hotel where their revels are interrupted by a surprise visit from Valek who is more than a little annoyed with them. Valek destroys the entire crew with the exceptions of Crow, his best friend (Daniel Baldwin), and a hooker (Sheryl Lee), all of whom escape to fight another day. As the movie progresses, Crow hunts down Valek, who is himself hunting for the black cross that was used in his excommunication ceremony (which, by the way, was never finished). If Valek can seize the cross and use it to complete the ancient ceremony, he will be able to empower vampires to walk in the daylight. <
> <
>This film has two things going for it: 1) An interesting plot in the existence of this secret organization of vampire hunters and the nature of their prey, and 2) James Woods' outstanding performance as the obsessive, vengeance-driven Jack Crow. That being said, these two elements, even combined with John Carpenter's direction ("Halloween", "The Thing"), are unable to salvage this movie. "Vampires" is essentially a gratuitous sex, violence and gore fest strung together with a few interesting ideas and suspenseful scenes. The language is as coarse as in any movie ever; early every female who appears in this movie is, at some time or another, nude; and the nude scenes are a good bit more than just brief glimpses. The hotel scene at the beginning is a veritable orgy of sex and alcohol, and the violence and gore that follow throughout the movie may make some audience members cringe. There was little in the way of true suspense in this film although there were a few minor scares as viewed on the big screen. All in all, it really lacks the master touch that Carpenter bestowed to such films as "Halloween," "The Fog," "Escape from New York," "The Thing," and "Prince of Darkness." These movies make use of violence and gore to one degree or another, but they are also suspense and plot-driven, and none of them, not even "The Thing," comes close to the gratuitous violence and rivers of blood that flow in "Vampires." On a lighter note, there is a good bit of unexpected humor in this movie, most of which comes from James Woods. The vampire hunters' weapons and methods are different and interesting, and there are actually a couple of tense scenes, but these could not overcome the disgust factor that much of the rest of the movie created for me. This is certainly not a movie for children or the otherwise faint-hearted, and even if you're used to violence and gore, you may still find this movie unsettling. All in all, this movie was really sort of a "Die Hard" with vampires, and certainly did not live up to Carpenter's lofty reputation. Does not equal that of "Salem's Lot" or "Dracula" by any stretch of the imagination, but will certainly be enjoyed by those who enjoy a good gorefest and the ever-entertaining lead.

---

very good vampire film
Carpenters Vampires is a interesting and entertaing film. James Woods (Jack Crow)a tough ruthless vampire hunter carries this film.Thomas Griffith as Valek the 600 year old vampire was a nasty killing machine. The only one I thought was lousy was Daniel Baldwin (Montoya)who looked like he had a bad hangover and his acting showed it.