Sleepless Nights (2002) (V)

Director:

William Hopkins

Writer:

William Hopkins (writer)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Those lips at your throat... may not be your lover's.

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Crossbow | Scientology | Bitten In The Throat

Cast

Jacqueline Anderson	...	Kaitlin Moore
Richard Ryan	...	Jeff Burke
Matthew Thomas	...	Christian Grey
Bart Shatto	...	Dr. Jacob Sloane
Duke York	...	Malgaard
Courtney Balaker	...	Allison Grey (as Courtney Moorehead)
Adrian Alvarado	...	Stritch
Gil Lopez Jr.	...	Scott Reese
Kelley Busby	...	Carla Meyers
Tara Gallagher	...	Dr. Jenkins
Mike Marino	...	Machete Vampire #1
John Balistreri	...	Machete Vampire #2
Diane Boge	...	Warehouse Vampire
Joseph Tuccio	...	Warehouse Vampire (as Joseph Tuccio)
George Selock	...	Strogen's Escort

MPAA:

Rated R for vampire violence.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:R | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

Open Communications Inc.

Movie Connections:

References Near Dark (1987)

UNIQUE LOW-BUDG VAMPIRE FLICK DEFINITELY WORTH A LOOK

This is one of the more unusual entries I've seen in the low budget horror DTV market. Instead of going the usual route of near pornographic violence,the writer/director takes the virtually untrammeled path of character driven drama. What a concept!

A good way to describe it would be- Dark Shadows meets Dracula AD 1972: The Necromorph Control Agency (sort of an anti-vampire Swat team) wages war against the urban undead, their principle target being the followers of the evil Malgard -an ancient vampire set on ruling the world. Christian is a vampire hunter tragically turned vampire, who wrestles with his blood hunger, and walks the night world alone, an outcast from both the living and the undead. Kaitlin is the NCA cop who accidentally discovers Cristian during her investigative work . One day Kaitlin gets some information that compels her out into the night, on her own, with the dangerous intent of finding this lone vampire...

The principal leads are attractive, and by and large good to adequate in their roles. There are plenty of places where it would be easy for an inexperienced actor to fall flat on his or her face, and the actors playing Christian and Kaitlin come through in convincing form. Other secondary characters are also well handled.The film is also nicely paced and moves quickly.

The scene I was most impressed with was the NCA team's raid on a Malgard compound. Despite a 2 dollar budget, this scene is convincingly handled, and tersely edited. It reminds me of a bit of George Romero, and also, some of the fight action scenes in Peter Jackson's earlier efforts (such as Bad Taste) that showed the promise of that director, in spite of budget limitations.

If you're a horror/vampire film buff, do yourself a favor, and check this film out.