6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.1 |
Two female vampires in modern-day New York City are faced with daunting romantic possibilities.
Starring: Alicia Silverstone, Krysten Ritter, Dan Stevens, Richard Lewis, Sigourney WeaverTeen | 100% |
Comedy | 79% |
Romance | 68% |
Supernatural | 49% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby TrueHD 5.1
English SDH, Spanish
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
"Undead" is not "unfeeling."
Vamps puts its best foot forward in the effort to introduce a new spin on a pair of tired genres: it tries to bring some humor to the stiff and
brooding and darkly sexy Vampire formula while attempting to spruce up the Romantic Comedy with a little blood-sucking edginess. The result is a
movie that's most certainly unique but also rather bland and forgettable beyond its schtick. The movie wears thin rather quickly, failing to build on its
oddball formula thanks to uninspired dialogue and too much reliance on the situational even as the movie
pushes forward towards its ultimate resolution. On the plus side, the cast is excellent and most fall into character with ease, no matter how
transparent and flat some of them may be. It's a noble effort and one cross-genre fans will want to see, but Vamps doesn't redefine its
roots or satisfy as much more than an amiable curiosity.
The benefits of modern digital effects: seeing things you never thought you'd see. Ever. In a million years.
Vamps' digital photography translates rather well to Blu-ray, though certainly a few warts appear along the way. Excess noise is evident in many spots throughout, particularly during a sequence that introduces Sigourney Weaver's character. That same stretch sees washed out blacks and overly bright colors. Such bothersome elements never quite reach that same level of intensity elsewhere, but they do indeed linger in places. Generally, however, the transfer provides viewers with a bright and natural color palette that delivers all the many hues -- from loud clothes to the bright lights of Times Square -- with pinpoint accuracy. Likewise, details impress throughout, whether natural facial features, clothing lines, wooden accents in the Van Helsing home, or exterior city elements. Flesh tones appear even though they do span a rather broad range depending on the character and the makeups they wear. On the whole, this is a fine transfer with only brief spurts of weakness.
Vamps features a steady but rather unremarkable Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Don't equate "unremarkable" with any other negative adjective, however. In this case, it means the film offers a fairly pedestrian sound design with little in the way of oomph or energy, but Anchor Bay's sound presentation delivers what's available for it to reproduce with proficiency. Music does play with fine clarity and a pleasant front-side spacing. Surrounds don't offer a whole lot in the way of heavy, obvious support. A few random sound effects add some spice to the presentation, including a dance sequence in chapter eight and some weird haunting/chanting sounds early in the film. A slight bit of city ambience aims to paint a fuller picture during exteriors. Generally, however, this is a dialogue-heavy film, and the spoken word plays clearly and intelligibly. This is a forgettable track that does its job well but has nothing to offer in terms of sonic marvels.
This Blu-ray release of Vamps contains no supplemental content.
Vamps could have been something special, but it settles for unfulfilled potential. The movie has its moments of grand humor as it twists the RomCom and Vampire genre around and folds them together like a pretzel, but the end result isn't quite as consistently funny, well paced, or heartfelt as it should have been. It does sport some excellent performances from a nice collection of favorite actors, but they're not quite up to the challenge of saving a script that could have used a bit of tweaking along the way. Genre fans should give Vamps a night out on the town, but it's not the Vampire Comedy to bring home to mom and dad. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of Vamps features good video and audio but no extra content. Worth a rental.
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