No chills, no thrills

So, here is a movie with the director's name as a part of the horror experience! Sadly, John Carpenter's Vampires are anything but the fe...

So, here is a movie with the director8217;s name as a part of the horror experience! Sadly, John Carpenter8217;s Vampires are anything but the fear-inducing melee of fang brandishing, blood thirsty ghouls that they are intended to be. They are blood suckers all right with huge fangs, but fear inducing? The horror element is lacking even when Ian Griffith, the master of the clan makes an appearance.

Jack Crow James Woods, the veteran team leader of a vampire demolition squad is on a Vatican sponsored mission to drive stakes through these living corpses. Real vampires do not flee at the sight of the cross, we are told. To ensure that the bodies of these living dead, as they are classified by the priest on the squad, they have to be exposed to the sun. And no, none of them have the presence of mind to sport a Ray Ban!!

So, this is the plot that Carpenter adapts from John Steakley8217;s novel, Vampires. The desire of Valek, the master vampire 8211; a priest who turns against the church in the 14th century, is to possess a certain Black Cross that will allow him to move in daylight without exploding into a ball of flames. And Jack Crow, who has seen his father turn into a vampire after being bitten by one, has enough determination to ruin these plans. So what if his entire team, save one, is terminated by Valek in the first 10 minutes of the movie. He plans his tactics through Katrina, a hooker Sheryl Lee, who is bitten by Valek and can therefore trace his movements telepathically.

Lee8217;s vision takes him to somewhere in New Mexico and there he discovers that his contact in the Vatican has jumped sides and will be the one to perform the rituals to give Valek the powers of the black cross.

Meawhile his one and only aide, Tony Daniel Baldwin, has fallen prey to Lee8217;s charm and bite. That gives the conscientious Tony, 48 hours to help Crow achieve the demolition task, before being doomed to a nocturnal life as a vampire. A very predictable movie with a very predictable end. What makes it enjoyable is the presence of James Woods and the heavy strains of the guitar in the background. And for those of you, who are curious about how vampires are to be demolished, there is a lot of physical battling with the undead variety and target practice, sharp-shooting included, that just keeps you waiting for more. But scare you, no way.