Vampire Journals (1997)

Purely Joyful Movie!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

MUST BE TWILIGHT PREQUEL as both stories contain feuding vampires and bad actors. Why do vampires only go after chicks that look like Denise Richards? Seems to me a fat chick would be easier to bag and would contain a few extra more days of blood. In this movie the bad vampire rips open the girl's top before he bites her neck, whereas the good vampire allows the victim to remove it. I also noticed the bad vampire got to sleep with two topless chicks. They didn't have sex, it was I bite you, you bite me, fake an orgasm then roll over and go to sleep. I guess when you get to be a few hundred years old, women don't expect too much. As far as movie ratings go, if you were to take away the nudity, subtract a star.This feature is also available as a William Shatner Fright Night DVD and as part of an 8-pack (recommended) Echo Bridge collection "The Midnight Horror Collection."

An avenging vampire (David Gunn) stalks a king of the vampires (Jonathon Morris) in Eastern Europe, and slaughters anyone who gets in his way.The Subspecies series is one of those rare gems in the Full Moon arsenal. I don't know if it is the director, or the absence of Charlie Band, or what, but somehow they seem to come out alright. Not that they are great films, but the look and feel of them is still better than your average horror film, which is notable.This film is a spin off of the series, but till very much a part of it with that look and feel. And even with Radu gone, he is mentioned and factors in, at least sort of. It feels like this series could have kept going, even beyond part four... and yet, instead we get a dozen cruddy Puppet Masters.

Vampire Journals tells the story of Zachary a vampire who has vowed to destroy the bloodline of blood suckers who made him the way he is.Along his travels Zachary meets Sofia a beautiful piano player. Zachary is immediately attracted to her but so is Ash the leader of an evil vampire cult. Ash takes Sofia and plans to torture her until she will agree to become his undead bride. Zachary makes it his mission to bring down Ash and his cult before he can succeed and save Sofia. Vampire Journals is a surprisingly beautiful looking movie. The cast is talented and the movie is well written. The movie is visually fantastic and is one of the most impressive looking vampire films.However I felt some parts of it were a little too close to Anne Rice for comfort,and there was some unnecessary gore,but all in all I would highly recommend it.It's a huge treat for vampire fans and is really one of the better Dracula/Vampire films.

I am a huge fan of the Subspecies films, and so it was with much eagerness that I sat down to watch this offshoot of the series. I have never been so thoroughly disappointed in all my life.The opening credits are great, set in a snowy, eastern European cemetery with moody shots of beautiful headstones. Sadly however, the credits come to an end and the movie begins.Whiny, self-pitying vampire Zachary is determined to rid the world of his own kind, especially powerful vampire Ash, who has set his sights on Zachary's would be girlfriend, Sofia. Sofia, a mortal pianist, has no idea what is going on until Ash imprisons her in his mansion. It is then up to Zachary to save her...because she obviously can't save herself. If you thought Brad Pitt as Louis in "Interview With the Vampire" was bad, he's got nothing on Zachary, let me tell you. Zachary slogs through the entire film, sulking and frowning and delivering such poor-me lines as: "I am Gods most forsaken creature." Yeah, well, we all have our problems. Go sit in the sunlight if you're so miserable, but please spare the rest of us your tragic whining. Sofia fares no better, klutzily stumbling through her performance and giving us a stiff, weak heroine. And Master Vampire Ash is ridiculous. The guy looks like Michael Bolton, which is really the only scary thing about him. The film moves slower than a three legged constipated turtle, and although the sets are beautiful, they are filled with lifeless (no pun intended) characters that I could not believe in, much less care about. I kept hoping that Radu would show up and give them all a good smacking-about-the-face, but sadly this was not to be. The Subspecies films work for the exact reason that this one does not: Subspecies gives us a strong, unrepentant vampire who never apologizes for what he is and enjoys what he does. It's easier to hate Radu than it is to like Zachary. This film gets a 1 on a scale of 10, and the 1 is for the scenery.