John
Carpenter's Vampires
(1998/Sony/Columbia/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: B Film: B
PLEASE
NOTE:
This Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Twilight Time,
is limited to only 5,000 copies and can be ordered while supplies
last from the link below.
James
Woods stars in one of John Carpenter's less popular but still awesome
films, Vampires.
Released in 1998 theatrically before the vampire genre had been run
into the ground, this modern day take stars Woods as a
Vatican-sanctioned vampire slayer assisted by a wise-cracking
sidekick (Daniel Baldwin) and a naive young priest (Tim Guinee) who
are pitted against a centuries-old vamp (Thomas Ian Griffith) in an
attempt to retrieve a religious relic that will allow the nocturnal
types to stalk the world in the full light of day. The film also
stars Sheryl Lee, Maximillian Schell, and Tim Guinee.
The
special effects by the legendary KNB studios are pretty great and
couldn't have been too far removed from making From
Dusk Til Dawn
at this time. The vampires are traditional in look (no fancy
Guillermo Del Toro vampires here) and catch fire when exposed to
sunlight. The Hunters themselves are fun characters to whom have
made a sport out of vampire killing, collecting skulls and hunting
them like game when the film first opens. Once the Master comes
along, the tone changes when our heroes lose their sense of power and
are lost to his brutal strength.
I've
seen this film on various formats and can't applaud this transfer
enough, it simply looks stunning with amazing detail. Presented in
1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and a
lossless English 5.1 DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) track the film has
really never has looked or sounded this good before, especially as
compared to the many past DVD releases that were on the weak &
pale side. This transfer is not afraid to be dark and has the
capacity to do so without compromising detail & depth. There's
also an English 2.0 DTS-HD MA Stereo track on the disc as well, but
the 5.1 mix is the way to go.
Extras
include...
Isolated
Score Track of Carpenter's memorable soundtrack
Audio
Commentary with Writer-Director John Carpenter
The
Making of John Carpenter's Vampires
Original
Theatrical Trailer
Collectible
booklet with original artwork and Julie Kirgo essay
This
is a great vampire film with lots great action and is essential to
add to your horror movie library especially with this out of this
world release by Twilight Time.
To
order this limited
edition Blu-ray, buy it and other great exclusive releases while
supplies last at these links:
www.screenarchives.com
and
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.facebook.com/jhl5films
