Moonlight - Season 1 - Complete [DVD]

Moonlight is the story of Mick St John, a Private Detective who is also reluctantly a Vampire and the connection he has with a young Journalist, Beth Turner.

It's a vampire/human love story with witty scripts, fantastic casting and some great new spins on old Vampire lore so don't be mistaken for thinking the massive cult following for Moonlight is solely down to the attraction the female viewers have for the leading man, Alex O'Loughlin... although I would definitely not say no, I really mean it when I say this show has totally revived and regenerated the Vampire genre.

This show has such a huge following it's really sad that there doesn't seem much chance of a second season... You never know though. If the DVD sales go through the roof there is always a chance another station will pick up the show.

Wow, what a fantastic series. I was hooked from the very first episode, and believe me, i am not that easily pleased.

It is the story of a detective Mick St John, who despises what he is......... a vampire! his developing relationship with Beth who is an eager journalist striving for front page exclusives and Josef, Micks oldest, dearest, rich friend who accepts and embraces what he is.

This is truly a modern day vampire story and if you are a vampire fan, you will adore this, because its fresh, sexy, witty and the characters are fantastic especially Mick St John, Josef Kostan and Beth Turner who are the main three.

For me, watching Moonlight was like stepping out of reality for a while, and i have to say that i fully enjoyed it and im sure you will too, but there is one major drawback............... They are not making a second series so enjoy and cherish this one.

Fingers crossed though!!!!!!!!

"Moonlight" begins with a laid-back vampire PI being interviewed in his mind, defining what about vampires is legend and what is real. "I don't hunt innocents. But there's predators out there that need to be dealt with."

It's a quirky reversal of Anne Rice tradition, and it sets the tone for a very unique blend of vampire tale and urban mystery -- and sadly it ended too soon. Especially since Alex O'Loughlin is an absolutely inspired vampire detective, and the quick direction, good CGI and snappy writing save this from being another cheesy vampire story.

Mick St. John (O'Laughlin) is a vampire detective in L.A. -- where there has recently been a vampiresque murder of a college student. But though the student was obsessed with vampires, Mick soon realizes that she wasn't murdered by one. And with the assistance of Beth Turner (Sophia Myles) -- who insists he looks familiar -- Mick uncovers a weird little vampire-obsessed cabal at Hearst college, and a professor whose infatuation with undeath goes beyond mere fanaticism.

And there are plenty of other nasty cases -- an ex-con gunning for the vampire detective, a forced stay in the desert, "Black Crystal," a feral newbie vampire, a hooker-killing teenage vampire, a supposedly-dead cult killer, a killer gang going after Beth's boyfriend, a Hollywood starlet, an attempt to kill Mick's mentor, and a vampire who threatens to "out" every single vampire in L.A.

But no vampire story is complete without the nasty pasts and romantic tension -- Beth discovers Mick's true nature, and finds herself drawn to him until she's hit by a terrible personal tragedy. And Mick is confronted by a woman who looks suspiciously like Coraline (Shannyn Sossamon) -- his dead ex-wife, and the woman who made him a vampire.

Most vampire stories, whether on TV or in movies, are so abysmally cheesy that you could slice them up and serve them with wine and crackers. Fortunately "Moonlight" succeeds in being quite a bit better -- not a lot of vampiric superpowers (beyond enhanced senses and healing), fangs and glowing eyes. The writers even poke fun at some of the old cliches ("Garlic... is good on pizza").

The weakest part of "Moonlight" is the crimes themselves -- most are fairly ordinary murder mysteries. But the series does succeed in balancing out the vampire stuff with the private eye plots, and as the series winds on and becomes far more complex, the vampiric element becomes more essential to every story. Quick swooping camerawork, fast-moving plots, some nice nasty action.

And these vampires are done with tongue in cheek, whether it's their un-cliche living conditions (sleek minimalist apartments and mansions) or their easy use of modern technology ("If I hadn't become a vampire I would have missed out on the Internet, TIVO, World of Warcraft and GPS").

That slightly offbeat style is helped by the dialogue ("Can you fly?" "Just like Superman." " Really?" "No.... it would be pretty cool, wouldn't it?"). For the record, the best lines are all from Josef ("Well, the blood lust can be pretty heavy when you're first turned. And you could really lose it. I know I did. Damn, those were good times!").

Alex O'Loughlin is excellent as a vampire PI haunted by his past and his vampiric nature ("monsters don't get happily ever after"), but handling it with a wry sense of humor, brains, and enhanced senses. He even goes through some ups-and-downs that most fictional vampires don't, such as temporarily becoming sort-of-human, but fortunately O'Laughlin keeps him from becoming emo.

Myles is pretty decent as the pretty reporter who begins to wonder if a human and a vampire can find love, and Sossamon is brilliant as the mysterious Coraline. And Jason Dohring absolutely steals the show as the witty, happily amoral Josef ("She's delicious. '82 was a good year"), who nevertheless has his own sad past.

"Moonlight" manages to avoid the cheeze factor, and this all-too-brief series succeeds in being a unique blend of vampire love story and murder mystery. Definitely worth seeing.