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This Darkness: The Vampire Virus
The Darkness
USA 2003
produced by Dylan O'Leary for Druid Industries
directed by Dylan O'Leary
starring Dylan O'Leary, David Everritt, Jenevieve Frank, Amanda Cook, Sean Bennett, Son Nguyen, John McLeod, Ron Little, Eli Born, Tony Malachi, Mitch Roberts, Terry Prewitt, Rachel Barevich, Amanda Ratchford (= Amanda Cherry), Carley Quina, Jaimee Cooley, Chad Wosniak, Nathan Beene, Jonah Criswell, Chris Anderson
written by Dylan O'Leary
Van Helsing
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
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In his thorough investigation of the human DNA, college professor Van
Helsing (Dylan O'Leary) has found the secret for immortality - thing is,
that secret is somehow linked to vampirism, and Van Helsing knows to
unlock that secret would threaten the existence of humankind as such -
thus he keeps his research secret even from his backers, which eventually
makes them think he's a fraud and put the FBI on his case. Thing is, doc
Van Helsing's research has also attracted the attention of vampires, and
while a young female vampire (Jenevieve Frank) who will later turn out to
be Van Helsing's vampirized mother seduces the Doctor for no apparent
reason, Tarquin (David Everritt), lord of the vampires, wants to force Van
Helsing into develop the vampire virus further to eventually make him the
perfect vampire bride. Van Helsing is appalled of course, but when the
vampires kill all his flatmates (Rachel Barevich, Amanda Cherry, Carley
Quina) and kidnap his girlfriend (Amanda Cook), the Doctor realizes the
vampires means business and creates the virus Tarquin has ordered - but
sneaks in an antivirus based on the common cold to weaken and destroy
vampirekind at the same time. And ultimately he goes after Tarquin and his
vampire hordes accompanied by his lab assistant (Sean Bennett), a martial
arts expert (Ron Little), a rather gullible FBI agent (Son Nguyen), and a
kid (Eli Born) - and in their all-out attack on vampirekind, pretty much
everyone (even Van Helsing's girlfriend he was trying to save) is killed,
and in the end, it's Van Helsing versus Tarquin, the last two standing,
and while Van Helsing is no match for the vampire on a physical level, in
the end he is able to decapitate his opponent using his switchblade knife
... One can't deny that some thoughts were put into this film's
plot to make it an unusual, original vampire tale ... but unfortunately,
this basic plot hasn't been translated to film too well, and the main
reasons for that are its over-reliance on explanations - there is so much
(pseudo-)scientific babble going on it makes you dizzy - and a lack of
decent pacing - which is in part the very result of its over-reliance on
explanations (almost every time the action gets going someone steps in to
explain something), in part though the inability of the director to cut
extended scenes short when they don't do anything for the film's actual
plot. Thing is, at 75 or less minutes, this could have been a really ok
no-budget movie, at the 105 minutes it clocks in though, it's above all
overlong and boring. Pity.
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