Wampyre story

Siamois

It's been a while since I have seen so many cool concepts thrown into a horror film. We get everything from action to dialogue-driven historical context. The film throws ample nods to "wampyres" as they evolved in culture, including German cinema. It is no wonder that several viewers have debated whether this is a "zombie" or "vampire" flick when actually, these two modern phenomenon grew originally from the same source.

Joel Shumacher's latest project is rather ambitious. The starts starts in pre-WWII America with German immigrants that sets a cold, creepy mood with a slow pace. It then shifts to modern times and quickly gains a lot of speed. Unfortunately, the narrative at the beginning is not terribly helpful for what unfolds later. And several plot holes and incongruities make it hard to suspend disbelief. As a result, all the weird ingredients that could have made this an absolute classic (Norse rune magic, Nazis, vampires with slave zombies and some sort of unwilling cultists) instead just become a nice little horror that could spawn several direct-to- video sequels.

The main weakness of Town Creek is the numerous inconsistencies when it comes to the powers and weaknesses of the main antagonist. He holds certain powers over death but they are poorly explained and seem to only serve as device to advance the story as needed. There's talk of a third eye, but it's unclear what it does. There's talk he can't feed off his own blood and bones belonging to his family line are introduced but with little effect. There's talk people are forced to feed him but the whole process is confused, since they were apparently able to hold him thanks to runes. Why feed him at all then?

Watch for several cool references to beliefs and artistic representation of "wampyres" as seen through numerous cultures and eras and as social commentary on nazi Germany. It is worth it just for that. But big fans of classic horror will lament what could have been with one more pass at the screenplay.

score 6/10

Siamois 24 January 2010

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2196473/