Perfect Creature

...but not nearly a perfect feature. Once again we have a story that promises to take us in one direction, but the writer or director throws a pick and we’re forced into an entirely different direction. Ahem, apparently this is a “nice” vampire picture, where vampires act in appreciated governance of what seem to be illiterate humans in some hodgepodge of incongruous eras from the first half of our 20th century. Ergo, you have to wonder if the film is set in a distant time in the past, perhaps some period in the future, or maybe in some alternate universe a la Star Trek (Ugh). Then there’s the story.

Vampires have lost the ability to procreate, so chemistry is used to alleviate this natural pressure. A potential serum goes wrong, and an almost rabid vampire results. He’s so strong, such a perfect creature, that his brother can kick his wazoo with only minimal to medium effort. Really, every plot-twist and story device acts independently to tear away any believability. We sit before the screen ready to believe in a premise, but faith only carries so far in the face of a story’s self-destruction.

The acting wasn’t bad, per se, but not great, either. The movie doesn’t give any answers, and doesn't really hint at the questions for which we seek the answers. This is due to a lack of background. We have no real paradigm and so don’t know the rules. But the movie simply shrugs away our attempts to understand. The few scenes that do make an attempt to enlighten the audience are out of synchronization with the rest of the film. They were probably shot post-production when the exec’s noticed that they the film was directionless (I realize I'm giving movie exec's too much credit).

I’m sure this will face a remake at some time in the future, where it might be improved tenfold, but right now, I give it a 5.5 outta 10. The cinematography was good, and creating a new universe-whatever-it-was had to be difficult. And after all, it passed a rainy Sunday.