Vamps (2012)

What can I say? I thought I'd give this a try because of all the glowing reviews on IMDb - maybe have an enjoyable 'chick flick' night in with some popcorn and a few laughs. Besides, a movie with Sigourney Weaver and Malcolm McDowell couldn't be all bad? Boy, was I in for a big disappointment! Whilst the premise had potential (2 girly vamps, surviving in modern NY and abstaining from human blood, while trying to live 'normal' lives), the execution was dire - the acting was amateurish and I'm afraid that Alicia Silverstone is past the age of this kind of role - she acted more mature in "Clueless"! Sigourney must have cringed when she saw the finished result, she was given terrible material to work with and wasn't able to improve on it. Malcolm McDowell's cameo as Vlad Dracul was actually quite funny, but there wasn't enough of him to save the film. Dan Stevens as 'son of Van Helsing' just looked bewildered and sorry to be there, which I'm sure he was - this was not a good choice for a break-through role in Hollywood. Sincerely, don't waste your time - if you want a comedy vamp film, dig out "Love at First Bite" - if you want Sigourney being nasty, watch "Working Girl" - well, just watch ANYTHING other than this woeful mess!

Fmovies: I saw this movie at a screening and I hate to be the one to tell you this, but this movie is bad. Real bad. I mean it's not good at all. I really wanted to like it. I mean how could a Amy Heckerling/Alicia Silverstone comedy about chick vampires be bad, right? Well, trust me it is. The jokes try so hard to be young and relevant, but come across sounding like what an old person thinks is hip and current. The acting isn't much better. S. Weaver pretty much phoned it in and the rest of the cast if forgettable. I wouldn't be surprised if this film never sees the light of day. I'm betting on a straight to DVD, or better yet, straight to Netflix Instant release. Please don't waste your valuable time seeing this movie. I can honestly say it sucks. No pun intended.

If your in the mood for something frothy, let me recommend this flick. Amy Heckerling tells a nice story, with sharp direction, candy colored set design, and some enviable fashions. It is a vampire movie with heart, but has some welcome nods to movies of horror's past. Alica Silverstone, is back! She is as cute and sweet, as ever, and has the air of timelessness, the role needed. Richard Lewis, does an amazing job, his best role in years. I kind of fell in love with his character. In interviews he seems like a scattered mess, but he was perfect in this role of an ACLU lawyer, who was the Silverstone character's love interest, many years ago. Krysten Ritter, just proves she is the girl to watch, I have yet to see her do any wrong. Matthew Crawley from Downton Abbey, is her love interest, a Van Helsing. And it makes for fun bit with his fam, headed by the wonderful, Wallace Shawn, wish this guy was in every movie. Great music. The sweet nerd from Revolution, plays a hipster Renfield, and Justin Kirk, plays a Russian vampire, sire (funny stuff). Perfect popcorn flick for girls of all ages.

Vamps fmovies. Well it was a silly movie,but in a good way since I enjoyed it! It's story of two vampire girl friends living as normal as they can in the nights of NY (being roommates, they share an apartment, and sleep in two coffins, ahahah). Some things they were doing were actually hilarious. The ending could be said to be bitter-sweet, but definitely left me with a good vibe. No masterpiece of vampire movies, but right for a fun night. Alicia Silverston and Krysten Ritter were a good vampire couple, and I can't say anything bad about the supporting cast. I hadn't seen Sigourney Weaver in a long time, so it was quite a surprise. She is quite good at comedy, should do more!

I must say that "Vamps" was actually better than I had expected it to be. Sure, this is a chick flick, but still it was actually enjoyable.

Why? Well because of the cheesy and campy story, but also because it actually boasted some pretty impressive names to the cast list! And for a chick flick vampire romantic comedy it actually had some adequate special effects as well.

The story is about two ladies, Goody (played by Alicia Silverstone) and Stacy (played by Krysten Ritter) who are roommates and vampires! (Wouldn't a better term be coffinmates, then?) Living in New York, the two vampires have to deal with modern life and dating in the modern age. But something is threatening the vampire community, and can vampire find love in the Big Apple?

For a movie of this caliber, the story was actually fun and entertaining, despite being as campy and cheesy as it actually is. But what really made the movie work was the list of people credited to the cast; Alicia Silverstone, Krysten Ritter, Sigourney Weaver, Marilu Henner, Richard Lewis, Wallace Shawn and Malcolm McDowell.

Something did strike me kind of odd though. Why would Vlad Tepes be living in New York, that was just a bit too far fetched. And also since they stayed fairly true to vampire lore and mythology, how come the vampires cast shadows? How come when they cast no reflection, you could clearly see the reflections of Goody and Stacy in the restaurant window when they carried out the Chinese guy? Or how come Goody's gloves were off in one scene, then magically appeared on her hands in the next, only to be off again moments after during the dancing scene? And finally, during the hilarious nosebleed scene, how come the blood was down to almost touching the upper lip in one scene, then magically retraced and just under the nostril in the next?

Despite these visual mistakes, "Vamps" is actually a fair enough movie. But hand on heart, then I am sure that you'd enjoy this movie a whole lot more if you are a woman.

Any rating of this film would be flawed, because it is a collection of extremes rather than a smooth average. Some of the scenes or references are great, especially for some older people, while some are simply horrendous. The cast is great, but the performances average. Some of the ideas and dialogues are incredibly interesting or funny, while others are simply garbage. You would have to watch it to truly tell if you liked it or not.

I never liked Alicia Silverstone, but at least before she was young and sexy. In this film she plays a vampire that has found a reason to live in her much younger friend and colleague in blood sucking. They are good vampires, meaning they only terrorize mice. They are part of a Vampire Anonymous organization where they count the years sans human blood, together with Vlad Tepes (which no one even remotely pronounces correctly) and a bunch of others. Things get more complicated when their maker Sigourney Weaver becomes mass homicidal and one of the vampires falls in love with a Van Helsing and becomes pregnant.

There is much to be said about references on older films and characters and history. That part was truly emotional. Unfortunately it wasn't done well and most of it would mean nothing to iPhone people anyway. And who else would look at a film with vampires that is labelled a romance? Also some of the acting was horrendous and some of the characters superfluous. There were some very funny jokes, peppered here and there, but overall it felt rather dull.

Bottom line: I had expected either a Sex in the City with vampires or a sexual exploitation of the genre. I did not expect deeper meaning or funny dialogue, and I was pleasantly surprised. But only bits and pieces were thus, while the rest was utter nonsense.