Vampires (1998)

Plenty of prestigious filmmakers have tackled the vampire genre. Werner Herzog rebooted  F. W. Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922) with Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979). In between, skinternational audiences watched Roman Polanski’s The Fearless Vampire Killers, or Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck (1967). Twenty years after that Kathryn Bigelow made Near Dark (1987). Next came Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) directed by Francis Ford Coppola, followed by Vampires (1998) from veteran schlock (in the most positive sense of the word) director John Carpenter. Adapted from John Steakley’s novel “Vampire$” (1990), the latter flick melds western and horror themes in way that is both familiar and fresh. When New Mexico is overrun by bloodsucking ghouls, the Catholic Church hires a crew of fearless exterminators to hunt down the undead and drag them into the sun. James Woods is fittingly sanguine and sardonic as Jack Crow, the leader of the posse; Daniel Baldwin is Tony Montoya, the young gun ready to pick up Jack’s mantle should the master let it drop; and Sheryl Lee is convincing as both a vampire and a victim when her hooker character Katrina is bitten by the Prince of Darkness, aka Jan Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith). As you can guess, fast-paced explosive action, flying body parts, and flesh flashing ensue! We especially like the scenes with Ms. Lee. In addition to touting her cleavage, the bewitching babe shows off her beauteous gluteus as she lays bound and gagged, face-down, in bed. What can we say? Vampires does not suck!