Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars
AN ENTERINING MODERN VAMPIRE, 4 Nov 2007
Out-of-town criminals, upsetting the many people who grew up in the town are overrunning the small town of Allburg. Two young girls, Lucy (Ami Dolenz) and Cindy (Maya McLaughlin) go joy-riding and wander into an abandoned church. There is a town myth about swimming in the crypt below the church's grounds, and they both go for a swim. Cindy is attacked in the water by a strange creature, sending Lucy into a panic. Another small town nearby, River Junction, is starting to loose ground to non-religious people, which is fine with Mark Gardner, (Peter DeLuise) a former priest who now teaches young children. His friend, Father Frank (Ewan MacKenzie) is harboring Karen Thompson (Karen Black) and her daughter Cindy in the attic of his house during the day because they are vampires. Mark doesn't believe it, until Frank tells him a story about vampirism in both Allburg and River Junction, so Frank heads to town to investigate his friends' claims. While there, he runs into Lucy, who is running away from a vampire. Now convinced that Frank was right about the vampires in town, Mark, Lucy and the town drunk (Garrett Morris) have to find a way to stop the head vampire was spreading his disease from turning the town and eventually the while world into his vampire minions.
The Good News: The film had some pretty creative vampire effects. Rather than have the actor turn his face white and suddenly sprout fangs, here they actually turn into a sort of demonic figure with the fangs. I was getting tired of that old pasty-white vampire face that all the movies have portrayed. For some reason, the abandoned church's ruins really impressed me. The whole scene was a great example of Gothic-influenced film-making, something that I haven't seen since the late Mario Bava's earliest movies. It was a great scenery prop and created a rather spooky atmosphere. That was the best part of the movie because the not-lit interior, bright candles, and cobwebbed appearance of the pews in the church are important in creating the vibrant atmosphere created. The entrance into the crypt is also pretty good, as it follows the same Gothic darkness type of scare that the church scenes had used. The playing in the water, and what is in it, is rather well thought out, and jolting for the first few viewings. Pretty scary and creepy. I won't reveal what it is, as it is detrimental to the ending as well, but the beginning of this is a modern Gothic-inspired masterpiece. While not having a large amount of gore, the few scenes where there is gore is very believable and realistically done. The skin melting was the goriest scene, and for that alone, I recommend this movie, if just to see that wonderful FX job.
The Bad News: There film suffers from the major crime that most modern movies suffer from: an uneventful middle act. After the discovery of the crypt, nothing happens until a good thirty minutes later, an eternity in any film. It's so short that it hurts even more, since the film is barely an hour and a half long. It also isn't a film for fans of high-gore vampire films like 'Queen of the Damned' or 'Dracula 2000.' The only gore is provided in the ending of the movie. It also has very little jumps or actual suspense, another damaging factor for the film. There was only two times where I jumped in the film, which was the exact same thing, a vampire jumping through something unexpectedly. Not exactly a creative move, especially considering the fact that so much went into the Gothic beginning of the film.
The Final Verdict: While not terribly flawed, it has enough good points, especially the melting scene, to at least warrant this film a look. Not all vampire film fans will like the film, but it is one of the better vampire films around.
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