Vampires

Seasoned vampire hunters suddenly find themselves being hunted when a vampire appears whose power exceeds anything they have ever faced before. So far, so familiar. In John Carpenter's remake, however, many classic vampire film tropes are turned on their head: instead of a castle in Europe, the prairies of New Mexico become the setting for the action. The equivalent of Count Dracula does not come from a noble family, but is a simple priest who led a peasant uprising. He became a vampire after the Catholic Church had him burned at the stake as punishment – a thoroughly proletarian reversal. The Western-style settings and Carpenter's own music are reminiscent of Robert Rodriguez's vampire revival From Dusk Till Dawn, released two years earlier. (C.G.)