John Carpenter’s Vampires (1998)
56%RT Audience Score: 47%
Awards & Nominations: 7 wins & 6 nominations
Nothing but one showdown after another
John Carpenter’s Vampires may not be the most critically acclaimed movie out there, but it’s still a fun ride for those who love a good dose of gore and machismo. With James Woods as the gruff and tough vampire slayer Jack Crow, the movie delivers plenty of over-the-top action and snarky one-liners. Sure, it’s not going to win any awards for suspense or plot, but who needs that when you have a bunch of badass vampire hunters taking on the undead with stakes and guns? So grab some popcorn, turn off your brain, and enjoy the bloody mayhem.
Production Company(ies)
Ashton Productions, The Mirisch Corporation,
Distributor
Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Historic Plaza Hotel – 230 Plaza Park, Las Vegas, New Mexico, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong vampire violence and gore, language and sexuality
Year of Release
1998
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital DTS
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:1h 44m
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Language(s):English, Latin
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Apr 15, 1998 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 15, 2002
Genre(s)
Horror/Action
Keyword(s)
starring James Woods, Daniel Baldwin, Sheryl Lee, Thomas Ian Griffith, Tim Guinee, Maximilian Schell, directed by John Carpenter, written by John Steakley, Don Jakoby, horror, action, western, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Paul Tatara, Lisa Schwarzbaum, Nick Schager, Roger Ebert, Marc Savlov, James Berardinelli, Eddie Harrison, David Nusair, Sean Mulvihill, Matt Brunson, MPAA rating R, produced by Sandy King, vampire, Catholic Church, undead, New Mexico desert, Jan Valek, vampire kingpin, Jack Crow, vampire slayer, stakes, bloodsuckers’ hearts, roadside motel, incredible powers, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Dolby Digital, DTS, Surround, Scope (2.35:1)
Worldwide gross: $20,308,772
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $37,269,460
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,466
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 4,064,281
US/Canada gross: $20,308,772
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $37,269,460
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,193
US/Canada opening weekend: $9,106,497
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $16,711,706
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 740
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $20,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $36,702,820
Production budget ranking: 1,020
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $19,764,469
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$19,197,828
ROI to date (est.): -34%
ROI ranking: 1,593
Daniel Baldwin – Montoya
Sheryl Lee – Katrina
Thomas Ian Griffith – Jan Valek
Tim Guinee – Father Adam Guiteau
Maximilian Schell – Cardinal Alba
Sandy King – Producer
John Carpenter – Director
John Steakley, Don Jakoby – Writers
Director(s)
John Carpenter
Writer(s)
John Steakley, Don Jakoby
Producer(s)
Sandy King
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
7 wins & 6 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (52) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (22) | Rotten (30)
So, John Carpenter’s Vampires stinks, and “Paul Tatara’s Review of John Carpenter’s Vampires” won’t be a review so much as it’ll be a check list for posturing teenage boys.
February 9, 2018
Paul Tatara
CNN.com
TOP CRITIC
September 7, 2011 | Rating: C-
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
A suspense-free snark-fest desperate to turn its protagonist – vampire slayer Jack Crow (James Woods) – into a Snake Plisskin-style icon of supernatural-badass cool.
June 5, 2011 | Rating: C-
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
TOP CRITIC
The movie has a certain mordant humor, and some macho dialogue that’s funny… But the movie is not scary, and the plot is just one gory showdown after another.
January 1, 2000 | Rating: 2/4
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
TOP CRITIC
January 1, 2000 | Rating: 3.5/5
Marc Savlov
Austin Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
January 1, 2000 | Rating: 2.5/4
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
TOP CRITIC
…the action is hard and fast, and there’s an elegiac, weary mood that makes this film stand out from the horror crowd…
June 11, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Eddie Harrison
film-authority.com
…fares best in its over-the-top yet completely captivating first act…
December 30, 2020 | Rating: 2.5/4
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews
Vampires is unmistakably the work of Carpenter, full of gory action and gruff characters.
October 8, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Sean Mulvihill
FanboyNation.com
The picture isn’t anything special, but by the standards of late-career Carpenter, it’ll have to do.
September 28, 2019 | Rating: 2/4
Matt Brunson
Film Frenzy
Vampires is a mixed bag. It’s clear that John Carpenter is still having fun whilst making this movie. And John Carpenter having fun is something the world generally benefits from.
January 27, 2019
Ed Travis
Cinapse
This is Carpenter in prime form. Easily his most violent film, it features iconoclast heroes with a streak of misogyny and unrepentant machismo, which provides a perverse comic book irony. These guys are emissaries of the Vatican…
August 26, 2017
Sean Axmaker
Stream on Demand…
Plot
A bunch of vampire hunters aided by the Vatican are asked to hunt down a master vampire and his goons of vampires who are ripping and tearing humans apart. While the leader of the vampire hunter does the slaying and takes orders from the Vatican as his parents were killed by vampires and he was raised by the Church, the Church has an agenda of their own regarding a centuries-old cross from falling into the hands of the master vampire.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Nothing goofy or funny or odd is mentioned about the film in the Fresh Kernels summary.
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