Comment by Magic Marmalade:
Getting in with the wrong crowd!
A triumph of economy.
Just got a super-cheapo charity shop DVD copy of this, and watched it again...
...And what struck me most is how lean this is... everything about it, from budget, to script, performances and pacing.
It basically jumps straight in, with a lonely cowboy dude guy noticing a mysterious girl, "wooing" her, getting bitten by her, trying to get home, while noticing he's not feeling so great, the girl's "companions" - vampires by their proper name (never referred to as such in the movie) - decide they don't want him bitten, so catch him in order to kill him, realise they might want him bitten after all, so long as he proves himself a proper vampire, he decides he does, then he doesn't, they don't like this, and decide to kill him anyway, and so chase him down and persecute him while his family (Father and sister) are looking for him, after this initial mysterious disappearance.
...Well, that's the plot taken care of!
But this wastes zero time in set up, back story, origins for each of the characters, there are no "character arcs" (They are what they is), no sets to speak of, no special effects (except the masterfully shot and presented fiery finale. There are no stakes to break the vampires' hearts. no garlic, no crucifixes or holy water, or any of that old jazz...
...This is literally, a handful of actors and crew who have driven through a sparse southern US state at night, looking for moody, deserted locations to grab a shot or film a scene... in the can, and thank you very much!
(The budget appears to have mostly been spent on a smoke machine and a flood light to back light it by - tremendously effective in the otherwise empty nightscapes)
The lack of back story or characterisation works perfectly for these vampire characters, as it gives them the air of the unknown, and and therefore a
mystique, which makes them horrifying.
Only their actual characters (Characteristics / personalities) and the occasional line from each, alluding to some origin and story is given, and what these allude to, as well as the implications of how they not only came to be individually, but how they became a group, are, though not explicitly stated, even more horrifying for it.
Bill Paxton is is the real star of the show, hamming it up to the max as a deranged psycho -biker vampire (say that when you're drunk! :), and is incidentally, the only one of them who doesn't even give one clue as to where he came from, or came to be... not one line - which makes him even more terrifying even than the rest!
The most disturbing character is the kid vampire - apparently may be the oldest of the lot, stuck in a child's body, and this character seems to imply things in places we just don't want to go to!
PC it ain't, Twilight it ain't, and these are not swoon-able romantic figures, although they are tragic - but not in a way that elicits from the audience any sympathy for these particular devils...
...No, these are proper monsters, tragic in a pathetic, horrifying way, eliciting only disgust and fear.
Just shows you, with such meagre resources, a great idea, properly utilised, a great, moody horror movie, in the Carpenter-esque style can be achieved.
Bags of atmosphere, all making for an ideal late night watch.
(Would make a great study piece for film students, in this regard).
