`VAMPIRES' DELIVERS THE BLOOD AND GORE.Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic For his latest release, ``Vampires,'' veteran fantasy-film director John Carpenter set out to cross a horror movie with ``The Wild Bunch.'' He's succeeded in a goofy, purposely offensive kind of way. It's hardly a great film - and certainly no classic of either the fright or the western genres - but taken in the properly twisted spirit, it's smart and nasty Halloween fun. Filmed in none-too-fussy wide-screen against beautiful New Mexico landscapes, the picture charts the declining fortunes of a medium-tech, low-brow band of modern vampire hunters. Led by the obsessive, brutal and totally out-of-control Jack Crow (James Woods at his most entertainingly irritating) and the stolid stol·id adj. stol·id·er, stol·id·est Having or revealing little emotion or sensibility; impassive: "the incredibly massive and stolid bureaucracy of the Soviet system" , marginally more sensitive Tony Montoya (Daniel Baldwin), they bust up rancheros full of bloodsuckers with state-of-the-art crossbows and power winches that haul the goons out into disintegrating sunlight. While celebrating a recent nest-cleaning at a motel beer-and-hookers blast, however, most of the team is eviscerated by a supervampire named Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith). With only the aid of an untrained Vatican envoy, Father Adam (Tim Guinee), and a bitten prostitute, Katrina (Sheryl Lee), who hasn't quite turned into one of Valek's minions yet, Crow and Montoya must take on a small army of the undead un·dead adj. No longer living but supernaturally animated, as a zombie. before it becomes too powerful to stop. Emphasizing grotesque effects, sadistic sa·dism n. 1. The deriving of sexual gratification or the tendency to derive sexual gratification from inflicting pain or emotional abuse on others. 2. The deriving of pleasure, or the tendency to derive pleasure, from cruelty. action, misogyny misogyny /mi·sog·y·ny/ (mi-soj´i-ne) hatred of women. mi·sog·y·ny n. Hatred of women. mi·sog and Woods' incomparably foul mouth, Carpenter has a high old time hurling tough-guy movie cliches at the wall and seeing which ones make the biggest splat See asterisk. 1. splat - Name used in many places (DEC, IBM, and others) for the asterisk ("*") character (ASCII 0101010). This may derive from the "squashed-bug" appearance of the asterisk on many early line printers. 2. . He also gets the ultimate kinky romance going between Montoya and Katrina amid all the carnage and mad machismo machismo Exaggerated pride in masculinity, perceived as power, often coupled with a minimal sense of responsibility and disregard of consequences. In machismo there is supreme valuation of characteristics culturally associated with the masculine and a denigration of , as well as an interesting, blood-brotherly dynamic percolating among the three main guys. Those little niceties ni·ce·ty n. pl. ni·ce·ties 1. The quality of showing or requiring careful, precise treatment: the nicety of a diplomatic exchange. 2. aside, though, ``Vampires'' just wants to get down and dirty and turn the screen into one big graveyard smash. It could've had higher aspirations, of course, but it probably wouldn't have achieved them as well. THE FACTS The film: ``John Carpenter's Vampires'' (R; violence, language, nudity). The stars: James Woods, Daniel Baldwin, Sheryl Lee, Thomas Ian Griffith, Tim Guinee. Behind the scenes: Directed by John Carpenter. Written by Don Jakoby, based on John Steakley's novel ``Vampire$.'' Produced by Sandy King. Released by Columbia Pictures. Running time: One hour, 47 minutes. Playing: Citywide. Our rating: Three stars. CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: James Woods, front, and his band of slayers This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details. This article has been tagged since September 2007. are on the trail of the undead in ``John Carpenter's Vampires.'' |
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