Notable Cast: Veronica Polo, Anthony Rotsa, Victory Vidal,
Fele Martinez, Marta Flich, Almudena Leon, Caroline Munro
As I’ve said before in various reviews, I’m not inherently
against remakes. Really, I’m not. In the case of many low budget or older
films, there are ways to modernize or change a film without deterring from its
core intentions and that breeds some creative material in many ways. Vampyres, a modern day Spanish remake of
the 1974 exploitation cult film, had a lot of potential to raise the bar on the
original and it was obvious that the director and producers had a lot of
respect for the films of exploitation past – when one looks at all of the
cameos from cult character actors that appear in this film. So it’s an
unfortunate turn of events when this updated sensual vampire flick rarely
embraces its own artistic hints and simply goes for the simple solution. For
those looking for a film with gore and skin, it will certainly fit the minimum
requirements of entertainment as a modern day exploitation film. For those
hoping for a little bit more, i.e. me, Vampyres
is a lackluster horror film with little outside of the basics to appease a
growing appetite for better films in the exploitation arena.
Harriet (Polo) is with her friends and looking to spend a relaxing
vacation camping out in the woods and getting back to their roots. However, two
of their friends didn’t make it. Not only that, but there are two mysterious
women in a local house nearby that are bringing home different men every night and
it’s a bit suspicious. Could the two things be connected?
Boo!
Let’s be honest with ourselves upfront when it comes to Vampyres and its cinematic peers though.
It’s not like the exploitative spin of sensual feminine vampires produced some
brilliant cult cinema throughout the decades of its existence. It certainly
has brought forth some decent cult films that approach the subject in a variety
of slightly more artistic ways than just skin and gore. In recent years, there
seems to be something of a small revival of the genre with films like Kiss of the Damned and the remake of Embrace of the Vampire finding their way
into mainstream releases so it’s not necessarily all that surprising that a
remake of Vampyres would get a US
release. Even then, many of the other modern spins on the genre or remakes tend
to be more robust cinematic experiences than Vampyres. This latest adaption is something of a vague and flat
film, lacking the narrative punch and artistic atmosphere to compete against
some of the other modern vampire releases. The plotting is simple, almost going
as far as to pander to the slasher formula of young folks camping in the woods,
and the characters might even be simpler. The biggest issue that plagues the
film is the lacking depth of anything that would represent logical human
interactions. Characters make inane decisions, plot progression points are
either forced or ignored for the sake of pummeling out the film in 89 minutes,
and there is no chemistry on screen for either the protagonists or the
antagonists. If anything, there needed to be an underlying tone of atmospheric
infatuation between characters to make the sensuality make sense in the film
and it’s not there. Even the two vampires seem to lack onscreen chemistry with
one another and it makes the entire film fall flat. When there is no onscreen
presence to be found in the film and the plot is muddled simplicity at best,
this film exists to be nothing much more than the exploitation it’s pandered
as and that’s massively disappointing.
Now, not all of Vampyres
is bad. Director Victor Matellano desperately tries to make the most of his
very limited budget by using all of the elements that his setting has to offer.
Dark cryptic basements, lakes, and the wooded road all make for great settings
for the film and it gives Vampyres the occasional realistic tone that grounds
it. He also attempts to do a few artistic things visually using camera shots
and strong gore effects to the benefit of the film to keep it entertaining
enough for its short run time. There are certainly suggestions at a much more
invested movie that are hinted at in the script, including some secondary
characters that might have been better suited for the movie with a bit more
development, and while the film doesn’t actually utilize most of these things…
they are there.
If only she had a bigger part...
It’s obvious that Matellano and company have a love for the
original and try to keep this version of Vampyres
true to the that vision. It retains that low budget dream like quality and
balances it out with extensive gore and nudity to plant it firmly as a new age
exploitation flick. Unfortunately, the film is not much more than that and it
suffers from it. It is hindered by all the same issues that prevented the
original from being considered a classic that rose above the genre and this one
seems quite okay with doing the same. For fans, this will be a decent watch to
pass some time however, as a remake, it doesn’t really add anything to make
someone what to watch it over its predecessor.
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