John Carpenter‘s underrated horror film, Vampires, has been resurrected on Netflix. The film was originally adapted from the novel Vampire$ by John Steakley.

John Carpenter’s Vampires sees James Woods starring as Jack Crow, the leader of a group of vampire hunters. He leads the team as their “master slayer”, working to prevent a centuries-old cross from falling into the hands of Jan Valek (Thomas Ian Griffith), the progenitor of all vampires. The film’s supporting cast includes Daniel Baldwin, Sheryl Lee, Tim Guinee and Maximillian Schell.

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Carpenter took a unique approach to the film’s casting, actively avoiding “another musclebound meathead” for the lead role, which led to Woods’ casting. Clint Eastwood, Kurt Russell, Bill Paxton, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, and R. Lee Ermey were all reportedly considered for the role, but either declined or had scheduling conflicts. Sheryl Lee, who plays a prostitute with a psychic link to Valek, was cast after Carpenter saw her work in Twin Peaks.

Even with its star-studded cast, Vampires failed to take much of a bite out of the box office. With a budget of $20 million, the film pulled in $20.3 million domestically, barely breaking even. International receipts weren’t released for the film, but Carpenter said that the film was a “massive success” around the world. It was one of Carpenter’s only financially successful movies of the 90s, but it is the least financially successful film he’s directed.

Vampires was followed by two direct-to-video follow-ups, Los Muertos in 2002 and The Turning in 2005. The three films are largely unrelated in story and characters, with Los Muertos starring Jon Bon Jovi and The Turning starring Colin Egglesfield.

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Vampires Blended Action and Western Elements

Fans of the vampire sub-genre of horror might find that John Carpenter’s Vampires did not adhere to genre rules. Known for his horror work, with Halloween defining the slasher-film sub-genre, Carpenter tried to put a twist on the classic vampire story by having the premise and characters feel like they belong in a Western. Woods and his group of vampire hunters are killers for hire, paid to track down vampires like outlaws.

Vampires‘ experimental nature didn’t quite resonate with audiences the way that Carpenter’s more acclaimed movies, like Halloween or The Thing, did. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film is ‘rotten’, with only 44% of critics enjoying the movie. Audiences agree, with only 47% of more than 50,000 ratings on the film being positive.

John Carpenter’s Vampires is now streaming on Netflix.

Source: Netflix

Vampires

Release Date

October 30, 1998

Runtime

108 minutes

Writers

John Steakley, Don Jakoby