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Vamps
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Anchor Bay Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (8th January 2014). |
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The Film
 If there’s one director who has consistently had her finger on the pulse of generations, it’s Amy Heckerling. Cinephiles took notice of her talents after “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” (1982) became the de facto high school picture, setting a template that was ubiquitous throughout the 80's. Her ability to identify so many strong, unique characters, and give them all voices, in a single film was exemplary. She brought together an amazing cast to bring these kids to life, many of whom went on to become international mega stars. Then, over a decade later, she captured the zeitgeist of another generation with “Clueless” (1995), perfectly distilling the essence of what made the 90's tick. The film was a smash, catapulting star Alicia Silverstone into the stratosphere. Her career post-“Clueless” wasn’t as robust, though, thanks to a poor decision to star as Batgirl in the infamous, unintentional comedy “Batman & Robin” (1997). Heckerling has worked sporadically since her debut in 1982, probably because she made enough coin on her initial features (which includes the massive hit from 1989, “Look Who’s Talking”… man, I hated that movie) to afford not having to work all the time. Regardless, the duo has reunited, along with a few other familiar faces, to put a spin on the age-old, dead-horse genre of vampires. “Vamps” (2012), starring Alicia Silverstone and Krysten Ritter, does a commendable job of injecting some fresh fun into a toothless trope that has been filmed to death. The picture does buckle under the weight of its own dogma at times, requiring a bit more breathing room to make it slick and efficient. But it still retains much of the humor and social commentary Heckerling has been known for, making this one worth checking out for fans of her work that want a little more to see. Goody (Alicia Silverstone) and Stacy (Krysten Ritter) are a couple of nightlife vamps who like to party 12/7. (You know, because the sun forces them to be hidden away for 12 hours a day? I’ll just see myself out…) Goody was bitten by her stem, Ciccerus (Sigourney Weaver) back in 1841, and turned into a vamp during a time of disease and famine in the country. Only a stem can turn people, by the way. Stacy was turned by Ciccerus sometime in the 90's, but Goody doesn’t want her to know how old she is because she doesn’t want to be viewed as some old hag, despite the fact she never ages. Most of the vampire lore is glossed over, with the exception of the fact that if their stem is ever killed, the girls would begin to revert to the actual ages. Stacy considers 40 a death sentence, but for Goody it would literally be death since she’s around 160 years old. The girls both attend Sanguine Anonymous meetings, designed to help stave off their inclination to feed on humans. Instead, they work as exterminators and feed on rats (just stick a straw right in the jugular!). Goody is upset she doesn’t know love, having only been in it once with her hippie ex-boyfriend, Danny (Richard Lewis). Of course, she bumps into Danny one night, who is at the hospital dealing with his wife dying of cancer, and they immediately reconnect. Stacy, meanwhile, makes friends with a boy in her class. A boy named Joey. Joey Van Helsing (Dan Stevens). His father, Dr. Van Helsing (Wallace Shawn), works as head of Homeland Security, keeping the country safe from bloodsucking fiends. But Goody and Stacy aren’t so vicious, causing him to maybe reevaluate his relationship with the undead. Ciccerus, however, has proven to have an unquenchable appetite for humans, leading to a confrontation between her and everyone else. This isn’t a film that’s easy to sum up in a quick paragraph. It’s marketed as a socialite vampire flick, but there are more layers to it than that. It’s almost disingenuous to dismiss it as something seemingly trivial; Heckerling does better work than that. The thing is she clearly didn’t want to make the same old vampire movie again, and in doing so created a set of new rules that occasionally feel like they hamper the plot a bit. It isn’t so much that there’s a lot to remember, just that by now most viewers (like me) are tired of re-learning every new rule filmmakers decide to reinvent – stems can only turn a person, normal vamps can’t; vamps refer to themselves as E.L.F.’s (extended life form); if a stem dies you revert to your actual age; stakes only work on some vamps; garlic and crosses are used but ineffective. In addition to extra rules, the film also wastes time in these “Sanguines Anonymous” meetings, where we’re introduced to Vlad Tepish (Malcolm McDowell), a character that has no arc and adds nothing to the story. The members of the meeting group all become leery that they’re received summonses – jury duty, immigration, etc. – making the audience think it’s a trap to ensnare the vampire community of NYC. But it’s really just what they say it is, and the reason it’s played as a big deal is because they can’t go out in the sunlight to perform these tasks. Is that really an issue for a vampire? Why not just throw away your jury summons and call it a day? That’s what most people do anyway. And why does every male vampire look like they’re wearing a pound of eyeliner? Still, there’s a good amount of fun to be had here. Personally, my favorite moment came when Weaver, who gets a craving for a pizza guy, calls one up and freaking Taylor Negron shows up to reprise his role as the Mr. Pizza Guy delivery man from “Fast Times”. He even asks, “Who ordered the double cheese and sausage?”, which was Spicoli’s order in Mr. Hand’s class. Awesome. Brian Backer even pops up as Mark “Rat” Ratner, now a dentist (!), for a date with Weaver near the end of the film. The best thing about these cameos is they feel like fun fan service, not a desperate attempt to cling on to Heckerling’s glory days. My favorite bit of casting would have to be the great Wallace Shawn as Dr. Van Helsing. Here’s a storied character every bit as famous as Dracula himself, often portrayed by men of a certain stature. But then we get the short, rotund Wallace and he just goes absolutely wild with the role. As head of Homeland Security, he has been maintaining the vampire hunting credo his ancestors passed down so many generations ago, albeit with cutting edge technology and a real zeal for his work. Plus, man, is that guy ever just so fun to watch on screen. “Vamps” might not be the type of film that has the staying power of Heckerling’s other projects, but there are enough trace elements of her style for fans to feel satisfied once the credits begin to roll. Silverstone and Ritter are both easy on the eyes and the ears, which is a bit surprising considering they’re the Hilton sisters of the netherworld. A strong supporting cast buttresses the subplots, allowing solid comedic actors to do what they do best.
Video
“Vamps” arrives on Blu-ray with a 1.78:1 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encode that is generally pleasing, one major gripe aside. There’s a scene where Sigourney Weaver’s character is introduced that looks absolutely ghastly. Noise is in abundance, giving the image a grid-like pattern that makes it nearly unwatchable, like someone up-converted a VHS to HD or something. During that same scene, colors look drained of life and everything is washed out. That anomaly aside, the remainder of the picture is acceptably sharp, especially the exteriors filmed in NYC and Times Square. Colors don’t have much pop, though saturation appears good enough. Black levels get a little hazy at times. Some of the shots in the film can vary in quality from one scene to the next, making it appear uneven to the eye. The worst it gets, outside of the aforementioned shot at Weaver’s, is the bad CGI work that sticks out like a set of fangs.
Audio
The English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround sound track (48kHz/24-bit) is unremarkable in its effort to get the job done. There’s a solid separation of dialogue and effects, with warm, supportive bass emanating from the LFE track to anchor the audio. Oddly, club songs seem to only take advantage of the front end speakers, eschewing any real activity the rears might have enjoyed. Even when there’s action occurring on screen, nothing is bombastic enough to warrant much of a rise out of your system. Like I said, it gets the job done well enough to get a pass. Subtitles are included in English for the hearing impaired and Spanish.
Extras
Surprisingly, not a single thing aside from bonus trailers, though. Always trailers (1080p): - “10 Years” runs for 2 minutes and 33 seconds. - “High School” runs for 2 minutes and 32 seconds.
Packaging
The single disc comes housed in an Blu-ray eco-case.
Overall
It would be easy to look at the box art for the film and think it’s “Clueless” with vampires, but this was actually a fun little film that employed many of the tricks Heckerling has kept up her sleeve all this time. Replay value might not be there, but a single viewing is no slog if you like her work.
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