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Vampire Journals

Vampire Journals

List Price: $9.98
Your Price: $9.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: a gothic treat
Review: This movie has to be one of the best vampire flicks I have seen in a long time. With the rich opulent homes to the cemetaries dominated by dark angels this movie had everything. Although the plot of the vampire bent on killing his kin has been done before i have never seen it executed with such style before. If you're not put off by a little gore and nudity then this movie is for you.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best vampire movies of all time!
Review: This movie is one of Full Moon's best, for any Full Moon fan it is a must see. It is one of my all time favorite movies. Enhanced by the use of actuall european locations, this oppulant story breaths life back into the dreary, everyday, ho-hum vampire legend. First rate actors, rich costumeing and beautiful direction all blend to perfection.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Vamp Journals
Review: This movie is really close to the World of Darkness. If you like the whole White-Wolf style of Vampire like I do, then you will love this movie. Can you say Lasombra.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: a major let down
Review: This movie makes me want to get my hands on Full Moon's Subspecies vampire movies. It's not the best vampire movie in the world but it holds your interest and has a few gory moments (which are always good!). If you love vampire flicks you should probably add this to your list (especially if you've seen the Subspecies movies).

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Entertaining
Review: This movie makes me want to get my hands on Full Moon's Subspecies vampire movies. It's not the best vampire movie in the world but it holds your interest and has a few gory moments (which are always good!). If you love vampire flicks you should probably add this to your list (especially if you've seen the Subspecies movies).

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Good and bad aspects ...
Review: This straight-to-video movie (not based on the book) is a strange mixture of the quite good and the rather bad. Filmed in Romania, it takes advantage of the wonderful old grand houses there, with their marble walls and floors and inlaid wood-work and gold leaf. (Perhaps also qualifying as "scenery" are the several gratuitous naked female torsos on view, which seem to be present only for commercial reasons.) However, it is shot in full-screen (4:3) and recorded in mono, so your expensive home theatre equipment will not do you much good.

The story is archetypal for the modern vampire genre: a lone "good" vampire, a vampire enclave racked by resentment and power struggles, a bleak ending. The film makes few concessions to those unfamiliar with the tenets of the genre, which may cause a jarring effect.

Full Moon Productions continue their tradition of casting the best actors in the supporting roles: Starr Andreeff is convincing in the tricky role of a human who serves the vampires from avaricious motives, while Kirsten Cerre manages to sustain a note of high terror through the second half of the film, believably and without becoming repetitive or shrill. Kudos also to the actors who play the parts of Cassandra, Dimitri and Anton. It would be great to see these actors in bigger and better productions. The two main parts, however, are miscast: the "hero" is callow and simply unconvincing (I kept expecting him to finish his lines with the word "dude"), while the "villain" is impressive, but with a rather humourless, one-note performance.

The photography and lighting are mostly successful, the lighting achieving remarkably beautiful effects, but sometimes the techniques are classic "B-movie" stuff, with lurching hand-held shots and overuse of up-from-under angles, that cheapen the look of the film. The photographer has clearly come up with some great work-arounds for his budget limitations; if only these could have been applied more consistently.

I should also mention the simple trick used to show the vampire travelling as a shadow, which actually worked well and suggested the techniques of the classic German expressionist films of the 1920s. On the other hand, in the props department, the "Sword of Laertes" seems to have no more weight than a plastic toy! The script veers in a similar fashion between poetic and silly.

This film lets itself down in its opening and closing sequences: the opening sequence is confusing and looks rushed; the closing scene is abrupt and arbitrary. A little more time and attention here could have improved the effect of the whole film.

Perhaps the greatest weakness of 'Vampire Journals' is its musical score, which was created on a synthesiser, and which plays almost continuously through the entire film. If the film had been allowed to breathe occasionally in stately silence its better qualities might have tipped the balance, making this a successful film, rather than an interesting failure.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: an okay vampire flick
Review: Vampire Journals is a take-off of the Subspecies series from Full Moon, but it stands on it's own as it only makes one brief reference to that aforementioned series. As a horror film, I would say the movie is sub-par. It's never really scary; it's more of a gothic Dark Shadows-esque drama featuring vampires and the sad life they lead. Some of the dialogue is hilariously bad, but the story is fairly well written and paced and the acting is well above average for a Full Moon flick of this caliber. Lots of blood, lots of nudity, and moderate gore should please splatter enthusiasts, however mainstream horror fans should stay away. But if you are a fan of Full Moon, I can't help but recommend this film.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: BLOODY DIARY
Review: When you have a "Full Moon Studios" picture, you never know what you might be getting: something unique (Puppet Master) or something truly awful (The Creeps). VAMPIRE JOURNALS is one of the better horror flicks generated by Charles Band's band of merrymen.
Lushly filmed and lit, with an eerie and haunting musical score, the story plays out like an Anne Rice novel with a "good" vampire and of course a very "bad" one. An unusual twist is that the vampires don't go out and search for their victims; they lure them to the Club Muse where they have orgies and brothels, etc. The "hunt" is reserved for the head vampire, Ash, and his sometime companion, Cassandra.
Ted Nicolau directs with a somber flair, and gives us beautifully lit segments that truly conjure images of the night and its loneliness. Jonathon Morris as Ash is a suave, smooth speaking vampire, egocentric, powerful and merciless. Kisten Cerre is the doomed Sophia, lovely in a plain way, and she gives a credible horror damsel performance. David Gunn, too reminiscent of Adam Ant, does well in displaying the conflict of being a good mortal but still a vampire needing to feed. Starr Andreef as the human Iris lends a sensuality and duplicity as Ash's human compatriate. Special effects are minimal and amateurish, but Nicolau relies on the dialogue and atmosphere to weave his unusual, if somewhat derivative, tale.
An interesting entry in the vampire genre, which has suffered immensely in the last few years.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Should satisfy your vampire cravings for a while
Review: While this production does not display the high standards of script writing one expects from most major releases, this small release is full of delectable vampire imagery and flair. With the complexity and literary depth of a TV pilot, the Vampire Journals is only for true vampire fans, as most other viewers will be turned off by the shallowness of characters and the story's lack of significance. However, this production does have many scenes of neck biting, sword fighting, a few beheadings, and more than enough shots of vampires drinking blood to satisfy your vampire movie cravings for a while. END

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A wonderful story!!
Review: Within the past 3-4 years I have seen approximately 15 vampire movies. Ranging from the original Dracula story to the more modern ways of Ann Rice. I have come to find that I always go back to Vampire Journals as my favorite by far. It goes away from the world of vampire's being totally evil and bloodthirsty demons to giving them the heart I feel they have always deserved. I hate to see triumph being the murder of the vamp. and in this movie I feel all my expectaions were met. And also being a fan of the "sappy" love story this movie is no disappointment in that field either.


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