I'll admit that Bon Jovi isn't my first choice when I think of "actors" to play vampire hunters but somehow his presence in this film works. Essentially, VAMPIRES: LOS MUERTOS is a retelling of John Carpenter's 1997 film VAMPIRES, featuring a vampire killer who gets together a team of fighters to go up against the undead menace. As the title would suggest, this sequel travels south of the border to engage in some Day of the Dead shenanigans and vampire action slightly influenced by the likes of FROM DUSK TILL DAWN.
I'll admit that I'm not a fan of Carpenter's original film, whose '90s-era excesses have dated very badly. This one's a definite step up from that, although it's still no great shakes. The story is so simple a child could have written it, just going back and forth between humans killing vampires and vampires killing humans. There's absolutely no depth, and not even any twists to enliven things.
On the plus side, the characters are drawn a little better than usual, and there are opportunities for the supporting cast members to get a look in (including a youthful Diego Luna, later to turn heartthrob in DIRTY DANCING: HAVANA NIGHTS). Bon Jovi, as ageless as ever, betrays his lack of training as an actor but isn't required to do much other than look cool and determined.
The vampires are a clichéd menace and the chief villain is pitiful. At least there's some gore to keep horror fans happy. More interestingly, the director has been well chosen: Tommy Lee Wallace, who once made HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH and IT, has a long association with the genre and gives this film a certain style it would otherwise have lacked.
I'll admit that I'm not a fan of Carpenter's original film, whose '90s-era excesses have dated very badly. This one's a definite step up from that, although it's still no great shakes. The story is so simple a child could have written it, just going back and forth between humans killing vampires and vampires killing humans. There's absolutely no depth, and not even any twists to enliven things.
On the plus side, the characters are drawn a little better than usual, and there are opportunities for the supporting cast members to get a look in (including a youthful Diego Luna, later to turn heartthrob in DIRTY DANCING: HAVANA NIGHTS). Bon Jovi, as ageless as ever, betrays his lack of training as an actor but isn't required to do much other than look cool and determined.
The vampires are a clichéd menace and the chief villain is pitiful. At least there's some gore to keep horror fans happy. More interestingly, the director has been well chosen: Tommy Lee Wallace, who once made HALLOWEEN III: SEASON OF THE WITCH and IT, has a long association with the genre and gives this film a certain style it would otherwise have lacked.