Their ancestors came from Carpathia. They're stronger, live longer, and heal more quickly than other people. And, yes, they have a taste for blood, especially in moments of extreme anger or passion. But don't call them "vampires"; that's the name given to them by the group SCAV (Southern Coalition Against Vampires), people whose rhetoric makes them sound more like recruiters for the KKK than heroic "vampire hunters" such as Van Helsing or Buffy.
As you can see, this film tried - and succeeded - to get away from traditional "Bram Stoker" derivatives and come up with its own ideas about what "real" vampires are. Our hero, Cody (a very young Jason London) is sleeping peacefully in his and his parents' isolated farm house when intruders (from the aforementioned SCAV) break in and kill his parents by staking them in the heart and filling their mouths with Carpathian earth (apparently their theory on how you make sure a staked vamp stays dead). He comes into his parents' room while they are still there, and is shot in the side, but is allowed to get away by his parents' killers in hopes that he will lead them to other vampires (as SCAV calls them).
Not knowing what else to do, Cody travels to California to a distant relative, Eli (Patrick Bauchau). He soon learns the truth about his heritage - his parents were "Carpathian-Americans", the term our modern-day, "real" vampires use for themselves. Cody soon finds himself unsure whether to listen to the leader of a group of young C-A's who ride motorcycles a'la the Lost Boys, who tells him, "If you're gonna have the name, you might as well have the game", or the older Harry (Harley Venton), who does not advocate killing because "it makes us what they (SCAV) say we are" and tells Cody, "This is what your parents didn't want for you. This is why they left". In the end, he has a choice of whether to participate in the death-by-blood-drinking of his parents' killers ordered by Carpathian elders who keep to the "old (vampirish)ways". Harry also has a controversial relationship with a lovely blonde (Kim Johnston Ulrich) who Eli refers to as a "WASP popsy" and "the Pilsbury Dough Girl", and who the rival for his affections, sexy fellow Carpathian Celia (Michelle Johnson), who is more than happy to "do the nasty" with Harry "Carpathian Style" (in other words, with biting and blood), refers to as a "Twinkie".
A gem in the made-for TV vampire genre that shouldn't be overlooked by fans.
As you can see, this film tried - and succeeded - to get away from traditional "Bram Stoker" derivatives and come up with its own ideas about what "real" vampires are. Our hero, Cody (a very young Jason London) is sleeping peacefully in his and his parents' isolated farm house when intruders (from the aforementioned SCAV) break in and kill his parents by staking them in the heart and filling their mouths with Carpathian earth (apparently their theory on how you make sure a staked vamp stays dead). He comes into his parents' room while they are still there, and is shot in the side, but is allowed to get away by his parents' killers in hopes that he will lead them to other vampires (as SCAV calls them).
Not knowing what else to do, Cody travels to California to a distant relative, Eli (Patrick Bauchau). He soon learns the truth about his heritage - his parents were "Carpathian-Americans", the term our modern-day, "real" vampires use for themselves. Cody soon finds himself unsure whether to listen to the leader of a group of young C-A's who ride motorcycles a'la the Lost Boys, who tells him, "If you're gonna have the name, you might as well have the game", or the older Harry (Harley Venton), who does not advocate killing because "it makes us what they (SCAV) say we are" and tells Cody, "This is what your parents didn't want for you. This is why they left". In the end, he has a choice of whether to participate in the death-by-blood-drinking of his parents' killers ordered by Carpathian elders who keep to the "old (vampirish)ways". Harry also has a controversial relationship with a lovely blonde (Kim Johnston Ulrich) who Eli refers to as a "WASP popsy" and "the Pilsbury Dough Girl", and who the rival for his affections, sexy fellow Carpathian Celia (Michelle Johnson), who is more than happy to "do the nasty" with Harry "Carpathian Style" (in other words, with biting and blood), refers to as a "Twinkie".
A gem in the made-for TV vampire genre that shouldn't be overlooked by fans.