Wonderful Movie

So much average

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Still waiting to catch David Bowie in a good movie, as his list of screen credits is small but decent enough. I didn't care for "The Man Who Fell to Earth" or the Italian Western "Il Mio West", and now this one makes it three in a row. Actually, Bowie's not in this film all that long, his character John Blaylock ages into decrepitude rather quickly and ominously when he wears out his welcome with vampire supreme Miriam (Catherine Deneuve). The early premise of the story built around Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon) and her research team studying the effects of sleep on the aging process was kind of interesting. I would liked to have had that theme explored a bit more after the crazy monkey killed Betty and ate her. Swear to God, that's in the movie.The reviewers who graded this film highly actually have some good arguments regarding it's artistic merits but this one just didn't do it for me. The best I can point to is the stylized cinematography and rather cool opening 'Bela Lugosi is Dead' treatment, but after that the murky story gets a tad gruesome, even for mature audiences. Sad to say, even well accepted vampire lore gets thrown overboard more than once each time Miriam sees her own reflection in a mirror.

I have to admit that although I've had the DVD forever, simply based on the laurels of the beauty/acting accomplishments of David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve, and that nothing I had ever watched by Tony Scott, with the exception of 'Crimson Tide', really gripped me as being cinephilically exceptional. And no, this really isn't either. But I threw it on anyway, and especially considering it was Scott's debut, this wasn't so bad as to make Bram Stoker roll over in his grave. In fact, although perhaps a tad on the paper-thin plot side, it was quite enjoyable, an elegant and sad elegy of the pros and cons of immortality. Yes, it was more style than substance, yet that doesn't always have to be a bad thing. Here, at least, it wasn't, and I for one simply adored the ending.

The vampires in this directorial debut by the late Tony Scott are the kind of creatures to fear; relentless, fierce bloodsuckers who won't spare your life if you cross their path. There's a punk vibe to the characters and the environment surrounding them (thanks in no small part to the electronic sound effects used throughout the film).Leading the deadly duo is the lovey French beauty and actress Catherine Deneuve as the seductively manipulative Miriam Blaylock. Deneuve uses silence to her advantage as her character utters little dialogue, instead relying on subtle body language like menacing glares. When Miriam does speak, her voice is laced with silky smoothness thanks heavily to Deneuve's natural French accent. Her behavior is almost callous when she learns how quickly her companion, John Blaylock, is dying; even to refusing to save his life by claiming "I can't". However during the film's shocking finale, Miriam's actions from the past do come back to give her retribution for refusing to help all her former lovers.Playing the second female lead is the talented Susan Sarandon as scientist Sarah Roberts. She plays Sarah's naivety well as she is a rational woman, but when confronted with the rapidly dying John Blaylock her logic is soon thrown for a loop when she realizes John's tale of his fate comes true. There is a vulnerability always present in Sarandon throughout the film as her portrayal remains human to her final scene. The chemistry between her and Deneuve is electric as Miriam lures Sarah into her dangerous web.The final member of the triangle though he exits nearly halfway through the film is the charismatic late singer David Bowie as John Blaylock. Bowie makes the most of his limited screen-time in the only way Bowie could. He is silent, brooding, charming, yet lethal. The late singer-actor even learned to play cello for the music scenes and the haunting melody pulls you in and keeps you entranced. The makeup to age Bowie's John is remarkable as the actor is barely recognizable under the layers; even Bowie's trademark British accent is barely recognizable when he speaks an aged vampire (According to Bowie himself, he would go out onto the George Washington Bridge and scream out punk rock songs to make his voice hoarse for his later movie scenes). Sadly John Blaylock was a character who was underused and given little to do before he is quickly gone before the viewer's eyes, but he does leave an impression.The narrative is straightforward, but does little to develop the element of trying to save David Bowie's John Blaylock and seemed to rush forward to the relationship between Catherine Deneuve's Miriam and Susan Sarandon's Sarah. The atmosphere of the film is dark and brooding with a touch of the 1980s punk rock vibe in the background. The score is subtle and consists mostly of classical music (played by actors Catherine Deneuve (on piano) and David Bowie (on cello)) and electronic vibrations tossed in the background throughout the film's run time.This is worth a watch for any vampire movie fan.

I am not a fan of vampires in any shape or form. Except in the shape and form of David Bowie, who was the only reason I watched this piece of terminal preciosity in the first place and the only reason it gets four stars instead of zero. Well, okay, Tony Scott too, a little. But the rest of the cast, no. Catherine Deneuve always strikes me as a beautiful blank-faced animated dressmaker's dummy, and Susan Sarandon's perky feisty little shtick is wearing very, very thin.But. Vampires. I find them incredibly boring and banal, so really I was just, as I said, watching for Bowie. He looked fantastic, but the part didn't give him a whole lot to do. The shower scene was pleasant enough, and he did have a bit of actual acting to deal with on occasion, but he spent most of the film in old-age makeup, which kind of defeated my purpose. And lesbian sex between Deneuve and Sarandon, oh ick. I'd rather have watched Bowie play some more cello. Anyway, I was bored and annoyed. But don't go by me. Vampire groupies probably love it.