
Duration | 1h 40m |
Ratings | UK: 15, USA: R, Norway: 15 |
Source of story | A screenplay which riffs on the more traditional Dracula films. |
Director | Wes Craven |
Writers/Script | Eddie Murphy, Charles Murphy, Michael Lucker, Chris Parker. |
Starring | Eddie Murphy, Angela Bassett, Allen Payne, Kadeem Hardison, Zakes Mokae, Joanna Cassidy, Simbi Kali, Jerry Hall, |
Ratings | IMDb: 4.6 by 22,986 people. Rotten Tomatoes: 12% by 34 reviewers. Review2view: 5.5/10. |
Elevator Pitch: A ship with no-one in control grinds to a stop in a dock in Brooklyn, and on inspection the crew are found to be dead. Meanwhile a charismatic man, who we soon find has supernatural powers, walks the streets of the city, quickly adopting a black man as his “ghoul”. The man is Maximillian a West Indian vampire looking for a woman descended from a vampire there. We become aware that the woman is Rita, a detective who with her partner is investigating the deaths on the ship. Maximillian seduces her flatmate, Nikki, who is later found dead, and later charms Rita into visiting his flat where he intends to bite her. How will it end?
Content: No nudity although when Max seduces Nikki the sounds of the event intrude, and the sighs of ecstasy turn to screams. There are unpleasant looking dead bodies on the ship. There are comedic events, Maximillian takes on the persona of a street preacher and as a hold up man who Rita arrests. The ghoul loses bits of himself at various points, including a hand, an arm and an eye which someone stands on. Towards the end of the film Maximillian becomes more devilish looking and Rita more erotically vampiric. Parents should note the rating. It is unsuitable for young children.
A View: There is no doubt that there is a bit of confusion in the movie, which does not really have a target audience. As a result the critics generally voted it down, although it is said it now to have a cult following. I was ready to dismiss it, but stuck with it and found that as time went on I began to enjoy it once the comedic events were got out of the way and we wonder whether Rita can be saved from becoming a vampire. So probably worth a watch while having a beer.
Here are a few vampire films which have been reviewed on this site, and do not take themselves too seriously: From Dusk Till Dawn, Eat Locals, Fright Night .
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