Mahogany
Summary
John Carpenter’s Vampires is one of my favourite underrated films; the characters are all tough as nails, the gore plentiful and Thomas Ian Griffith shines as the villainous Valek. It’s endlessly quotable and this 4K makes the film look and sound better than ever.
Plot: Recovering from an ambush that killed his entire team, a vengeful vampire slayer must retrieve an ancient Catholic relic that, should it be acquired by vampires, will allow them to walk in sunlight.
Review: I used to watch this movie on repeat when it first came out back in 1998; it had been a few years since I last watched it, and I just picked up the new 4K from Shout! Factory.
John Carpenter’s Vampires doesn’t get spoken of the way his more well-loved pictures do like The Thing or Halloween, but this has always been one of my personal favourites.
James Woods plays vampire hunter Jack Crow whose entire team gets wiped out after an ambush so he vows to hunt down master vampire Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith) and destroy him once and for all before he gets his hands on a cross that will allow his kind to walk in daylight.
James Woods is so perfectly cast as Jack Crow; he’s essentially a loudmouth asshole who is rude and belligerent to everyone he comes across including his friends (no acting required). He’s always been a difficult character to take to, but he has a tough job so it’s understandable as to why he is the way that he is. It’s refreshing to see Woods play a (slightly) more heroic character as we were always so used to seeing him play bad guys in movies like The Specialist.
Daniel Baldwin plays his loyal friend Montoya who is the other survivor of their crew that ends up developing a soft spot for hooker Katrina (Twin Peaks’ Sheryl Lee). She gets bitten by Valek, so Jack and Montoya use her to get to him. As it had been so long since I watched it, I forgot just how mean they are to her in this film; she really gets treated like crap with Montoya even punching her and knocking her out at one point.
It was only on this viewing that I noticed Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa was one of the crew as well, but it was such a small role you’d have to look for him to notice him. Chad Stahelski also has a role and the action was done by Jeff Imada who also worked on the Bourne movies.
Thomas Ian Griffith was wonderfully creepy as Valek and although he doesn’t have much dialogue, his demeanor just worked in making him an effective and nasty villain. Vampires does not spare the bloodshed either with some imaginative gore-filled set-pieces with one standout having Valek slicing someone in half with his hand.
Vampires is a mixture of modern Western, horror film and action film with its desert settings and perfect twanging guitar music score; there is never any doubt that this is a John Carpenter film and to this day he remains one of my absolute favourite directors.
I love the banter as well with some hilarious one-liners and Jack’s bullying of the Padre (Tim Guinee) throughout as it helps to toughen him up so he can kick some ass for the climax.
The 4K looks and sounds like this came out this year, perfectly remastered; the blood red skies look better than ever and Carpenter’s ice cool score sounds fantastic.
In terms of special features there are several hours worth to keep you entertained.
- 4K Restoration from the Original Camera Negative
- Presented in Dolby Vision
- Audio Commentary with Director John Carpenter
- Time to Kill Some Vampires: Interviews with Director John Carpenter, Producer Sandy King Carpenter and Cinematographer Garry B. Kibbe
- Jack the Vampire Slayer: Interview with Actor James Woods
- The First Vampire: Interview with Actor Thomas Ian Griffith
- Raising the Stakes: Interview with Special Effects Artist Greg Nicotero
- Padre: Interview with Actor Tim Guinee
- Original Making of Featurette
- Theatrical Trailer
- TV Spots
- Still Gallery
Carpenter always makes for a fascinating interview as there is no bullshit to him always coming across as honest. I love seeing Thomas Ian Griffith interviewed too which isn’t something we get to witness too often.
Overall, John Carpenter’s Vampires is a blast with Thomas Ian Griffith making for an enjoyable villain and James Woods at his loud and obnoxious best. It’s packed with violent kills and a perfect Carpenter score making for essential viewing in my book. The 4K is the best the film has ever looked or sounded, so this one is necessary to add to the collection.