Harefooted Halloween: Vamp

What I Liked: This movie doesn’t take itself seriously.  There’s a lot of fairly well done sarcastic humor as well as a few clever sight gags.

A lot happens in only ninety mins.  Our hero Keith (Chris Makepeace (Meatballs)) has to battle an entire town full of vampires in one night traveling through the streets, sewers, back alleys and various buildings so you really feel like you’re on a journey.

The wacky extreme pink/purple and green lighting grew on me the more I saw it.  There’s a somewhat fantasy angle to the entire piece and this use of lighting is one of the main aspects.

Everyone’s performances are infused with the right amount of horror, confusion and levity.  They all ham it up to some degree and the combined effect is fun to watch.

What I Didn’t Like: It’s a little confusing and unnecessary that the protagonists somehow spin their car out into this sleazy and possibly imaginary vampire town.  This element doesn’t come back around again like they have to spin themselves back to reality at the end or that it was all a dream.  So why even go there?

There were times when it seemed like the filmmakers didn’t quite know what to do next and things stall.  This has a very stream of consciousness type of vibe but it doesn’t flow the easiest.  The story, characters and how everything fits together could’ve been thought out more.  If this thing didn’t have so much charm it would be hell to sit through.

Overall Impressions: Ok, tell me if this plot sounds familiar: a group of people go to a strip club off the beaten path only to discover everyone working there are vampires.  The club members hide it at first and entertain the crowd for a while but then they let the charade go and their faces transform into hideous demon beasts out for some eats.  Yea it’s From Dusk Till Dawn only this came out ten years earlier.  I tried to find out if there’s any connection between the films but the only thing I could dig up was Vamp producer Donald P Borchers (Children of the Corn, Crimes of Passion) on YouTube claiming Quentin Tarantino stole the idea.  So who really knows?  The films are plenty different though other than the main premise.  Both can be a good time if you’re in the right mood.

And Vamp is definitely the weirder of the two.  From the awkward strip Grace Jones (Boomerang) performs all dolled up in exceptionally striking makeup, to the killer elevator scene, to the sewer rat guy, to the love interest’s inexplicable upbeat energetic attitude throughout the entire ordeal, it’s all sorta bizarre.  But it’s a good kinda bizarre I think and if anything it certainly stands out in the pack.

Writer/director Richard Wenk didn’t have much luck with the directing part after this picture but he ended up being a big Hollywood screenwriter with shit like The Equalizer, The Expendables 2, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and 16 Blocks to his name.  It’s too bad Vamp fell into the abyss with no one remembering it today ‘cause I liked it.  It’s pretty out there and absolutely not for everyone but if you’re feeling adventurous give it a shot.