Vampires
Long after his Hall Of Fame status was cemented as being undoubtedly the greatest sci fi / horror genre director to ever live, John Carpenter began to go into a severe tailspin when it came to the actual quality of his work: the Lovecraft inspired classic In The Mouth Of Madness notwithstanding, the 90s saw him endure a sharp decline in his output as the decade saw him go from the lame Chevy Chase As Action Hero opus Memoirs Of An Invisible Man to the somewhat disappointing remake Village Of The Damned to the rehash sequel Escape From L.A., and even Carpenter himself had publicly stated that he was just about ready to walk away from it all because it âjust wasnât fun anymoreâ. But soon after a script came across his desk that inspired him in ways he hadnât thought possible in years, a concept so good that it compelled him to pull it together one more time and go on to direct what is considered by most to be his last true classic film ever in 1998, and what was even more exciting was it being in a horror subgenre that he himself had never even attempted before, that being the vampire film itself, a genre that was obviously already riddled with classics from many decades past due mainly to all the different takes that prior writers and directors had successfully done on it. So what could Carpenter do with it that would be new and different? Well, for one thing he made a key decision early on to NOT make so much a straight up horror film out of the story, but rather to reposition it as kind of a modern day Western instead, going on the notion that vampires are really just little more than modern day desperadoes always searching for a hiding place while constantly living in fear that paid bounty hunters (whom themselves can be considered to be rather unsavory types) will sooner or later hunt them down and then utilize the tried and true tricks of the trade in order to stake them, kill them, and then drag them out into the sunlight so that they will be set ablaze by the all powerful rays of the sun. Moreso, while Carpenter seemed to understand and even acknowledge that not all that much tinkering and improvement could be done with the undead vampire beings themselves (outside of making them particularly animalistic and savage here, especially when cornered), what he DID do was go above and beyond in order to create the world of the vampire slayers themselves, an unseemly lot led by Jack Crow, played by the one and only James Woods. And it is in THIS masterstroke casting decision that Carpenter by default managed to completely elevate the quality of the entire enterprise, as Woods (whether playing a hero or a villain) has always been among the most rawest, edgiest actors to ever live, and here in what would be amongst his signature roles he turns the intensity level all the way up to the stratosphere, enhanced no doubt by what would be a most unusual working relationship and understanding between he and Carpenter: first they would shoot any scenes with Woods as Crow going exactly by the script as it was written, and then turn right around and actually reshoot the entire scene once again, only this time on the filming Carpenter would allow Woods to just completely improvise all of his dialogue right there on the spot and allow Carpenter the option in the editing room to go with whatever worked best from scene to scene, which actually turned out to be the type of arrangement that very much delighted Carpenter, as he reportedly found much of Woodsâ personal takes on how the character should talk and act to be truly much better than what was written and usually would incorporate these takes into the actual film itself. This in turn makes Woodsâ Jack Crow an intimidatingly badass character for the ages, not afraid to talk shit at the drop of a hat while still backing all of it up by being more than able to hold his own in hand to hand mortal combat with the undead. The film starts off with Woods and his slayer team (all guys who would most likely be considered degenerates by normal society except for the mandatory priest member whose job is to offer last rites on the dying creatures) cleaning out a ânestâ full of vampires somewhere in New Mexico but without being able to locate the âmasterâ who is in charge. They head for a nearby roadside motel afterwards and throw a big party complete with booze and hookers (and stupidly grinning state cop who had rounded all this up for them) when suddenly the master vampire DOES show up, catching the crew with their pants completely down and gorily wiping most of them out except for Woods and his number two guy (Daniel Baldwin). Turns out that besides the slaughter he has left behind, the vampire (Thomas Ian Griffith, best known for his Cheshire Cat grinning bad guy in Karate Kid 3 and a slew of low budget action movies) has also freshly bitten one of the hookers (Sheryl Lee, responsible for one of the outright BRAVEST female performances ever as Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me), and thus Woods and Baldwin quickly scoop her up because new victims always maintain a strong telepathic link with the one that turns them and so now theyâre determined to use her to track down their prey (even as they both openly acknowledge that she herself is pretty much dead anyway). On that note, it must be said that (despite Woodsâ crazed yet entertaining performance) the film almost seems to carry a seemingly depressing, somehow somber feel to it through much of the way, some of which can be attributed to our two heroes Woods and Baldwin for not only being unafraid to make their characters unlikable, but also for the daringly strong sexist and misogynist undertones in how they both mistreat Leeâs doomed prostitute, up to and including actually slapping her around, but it all still works nonetheless in the ultra macho, testosterone fueled context of this story that is being told here (and besides, vampires have always done quite well when it comes to seducing most females anyway), even as that theme is subverted by having Baldwin manage to tragically fall in love with the poor girl anyway (especially after seeing how deathly frightened she actually is). Meanwhile, Woods must answer to his superiors at The Catholic Church (the ones who are running the whole operation and who obviously keep many secrets from the general public) as represented by a cackling cardinal played by the legendary Maximilian Schell. He assigns a young, uncertain, and borderline effeminate priest (Tim Guinee) to work with Woods and keep a close eye on him, and it isnât long before Woods rightfully ascertains that the little guy is withholding information from him, literally beating the weakling half to death before he is finally told the truth: that Griffithâs vampire is quite literally THE first vampire ever, having been created by The Church itself over 600 years ago in what was apparently an exorcism gone bad on a severely heretic priest, and that Griffith is now looking to âcompleteâ the ritual so that he and others of his kind may actually be able to walk the Earth unabated by even sunlight itself. While Griffith and his fellow vamps can be considered in some ways to be almost generic when it comes to those of this genre (even as Griffith is allowed to have some good lines towards the end), it is Woods and his unabashed, hardass attitude that magnificently holds the viewerâs attention from beginning to end, with him managing to somehow be riveting even in his quieter moments, while Baldwin gives able support to their interactions, and even Lee does a nice job as her character goes from being really scared to developing a nice little bloodlust of her own (one can tell that she encourages Baldwinâs affections partially just to have someone who will always be there to protect her). But the piece de resistance is the music itself, easily the best ever for a Carpenter flick (and that says a lot when you include Escape From New York), as Carpenter went and put together his own little band here (including Blues Brothers regulars Steve Cropper and Donald Dunn) and just cranked out an excellent score that is dripping with the proper mood and atmosphere required to bring the hard truth to light that other enterprises like Buffy never really could, and that truth is that true vampire slayers who hunt the undead for a living with such an intense passion and zeal also happen to have just as little regard for that of our own natural human lives in this world as wellâŚ
10/10