I guess every big-name director (at least from this time and age-range and not named Steven Spielberg) has to try their hand in at least one Western, and this is the only way Carpenter knows how...with Vampires!
Jack Crow (James Woods), bad-ass boss of a vampire-exterminating crew. They don’t fuck around. They got some good gear, they got some protocols, they even have a priest on hand to, well, not really do much actually. And they are going up against particularly vicious bastards, these vampires. They don’t die easy. But after a good hunt, they celebrate with some booze and some whooores, there’s some unexplainable happenings, and shit gets a bit more twisted on multiple fronts. The Church is involved, and there’s some lore (so much lore), and a worthlessness of garlic. But damn, those vampires gots some stinky breath. Overpowering, you could say.
This one is a bit better than I remember it, but has the same Carpenter problem that plagues his latter films, where some of the actors might not be the best for the roles. James Woods here? Spot on as he plays the vampire-victimed hard-ass seeking revenge. Daniel Baldwin and the chick from Twin Peaks (the tv show, not the bar)? They maybe a bit off. And that’s unfortunate, because with a couple of different actors in there this could’ve been a better movie. It’s still pretty decent, with great practical effects work by the KNB guys and some of the best-shot New Mexico shitholes you’ll ever see. Well, maybe not ever but they look durty and purty. And it does a pretty good job being an action horror movie but with less gay vampires, so there’s that.
