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Absolutely Brilliant!

A Disappointing Continuation

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Which is a shame, because this almost parody of Near Dark had a lot going for it with the wonderful cast, and Hickox is notorious for making some very exciting B-movie fodder..Under the leadership of their ancient and powerful leader Mardulak, a colony of vampires seek a peaceful life in the desolate town of Purgatory. Imperative to the transition is the town's bloodmaking facility and it is just not working. Mardulak summons the designer of the plant, who brings his family along for what he thinks will be a busmans holiday, but he and his family are caught up in a war as another vampire, who detests the idea of vampires being anything other than predators.Like Ché, he starts a revolution, and a descendant of the Van Helsing family arrives intent on destroying all vampires........It sounds wonderful, two warring groups of Vampires fighting over synthetic/real blood, they should have waited until 2008 and made a seven season TV show about it all, it may have explained it all a little better...............From the creator of the Waxwork movies, I wasn't expecting something so mundane and trudging through the narrative about as fast as M. Emmett Walsh walks through his scenes, when we have the added bonus of Campbell as a Helsing relative, and Carradine doing what he does best, make bad material seem quite good.It's not terrible though. The scenes at the petrol station are genuinely funny, and the sets, although looking very cheap, are authentic and intimidating.But what you have Miles O' Keefe being in a totally different film, and the humour falling flat at almost every turn, it's quite difficult to enjoy what otherwise could have been a throwaway B-movie.No wonder it's almost vanished without a trace.

(Credit IMDb) Reclusive vampires lounge in a lonely American town. They wear sun cream to protect themselves. A descendant of Van Helsing arrives with hilarious consequences.I wasn't ever bored with this movie, but I had difficulty getting into it. It does have scenes that are quite amusing and others where I found myself blinking at the screen, because it fell flat. It's that kind of movie. You'll either like it or you won't. I didn't dislike it by any means, but it's not something that was for me. I did think it was audacious for them to make a few of the vampires sympathetic, and refrain themselves from digging in on human blood. Yes. I realize this concept has been done before, but the way they did it in this movie was unique. It never takes itself very seriously, and that I did wind up liking. The desert setting was decent, but they didn't really take full advantage of it either. This movie isn't a gore fest, but it does have a few stand-out moments, including a decapitation, and my personal favorite, an impaling with an umbrella. David Carradine is fun as the Count, but he doesn't have as much screen time as you may think. Considering his stature at this juncture, I was a bit surprised. Bruce Campbell spoofs Van Helsing hilariously. His dimwitted character was the highlight of the film for me. You gotta love Bruce! Jim Meltzer & Morgan Brittany are decent as the hero & heroine. Maxewell Caufield grated my nerves with his hammy performance. He was clearly having a blast, but he was much too OTT for my liking. Deborah Foreman has good chemistry with Bruce Campbell, and played her part well. The rest of the cast are fine for the most partFinal Thoughts: Anthony Hickox tries valiantly to pull off this unorthodox horror/comedy, but can't quite pull it off. The cast is great, and it does have its moments, but it's not for me. Others may feel differently5/10

Sundown - featuring the weakest, dorkiest vampires ever seen, accompanied by one of the most unfitting, pretentious scores ever written - and with Shane the vampire, who's every move and spoken word was so ridiculous that I burst out laughing half the times and rolled my eyes the rest.The vampires don't seem to have any special powers at all - except for strength (sometimes), being able to switch off a lamp with their mind (one time) and... that's it, really. Ever imagine count Dracula worriedly recoiling from a fight 'cause he ran out of bullets? Neither did I. Practically any other movie-Dracula would eat this one for breakfast, skin his followers and use their bones as toothpicks.The main plot of the movie is that a human family of four gets caught up in a vampire gang fight - Dracula's vs. some old geezer's. It could have been some good old B-flick fun, but the overly dramatic music was clearly written by someone who took this movie a bit too seriously, and ends up ruining the remaining part of the movie not already ruined by clay bats, mediocre acting and the laughable screenplay.In the end it's just too silly to be funny. Sure, it has some amusing moments, but they're few, and far apart.

Any film that has David Carradine as Count Dracula and Bruce Campbell as a dorky, rather inept Van Helsing descendant is gonna grab my attention. From what I understand Anthony Hickox's(Waxwork;Hellraiser III)vampire western, Sundown-The Vampire in Retreat, rather lingered in obscurity which is rather surprising since it is such an interesting, colorful, sprawling, ambitious hybrid of genres. And, the film is packed full of terrific names in the cast! For an avid horror and western fan such as myself, Hickox's film was quite a treat and I could just feel the enthusiasm behind the direction although his influences are very visible. The score is rousing and quite orchestral, despite the fact that this film is actually set in modern 1990 with family man, David Harrison(Jim Metzler), wife Sarah(Morgan Brittany)and daughters driving into an American Western town of Purgatory to help assist an old college "pal", Shane(Maxwell Caulfield)adjust a machine which might have the ability to create synthetic blood. This machine was purchased by the mysterious millionaire, Jozek Mardulak(David Carradine), who is the authority over the town which consists completely of vampires who have taken a vow to not harm humans unless absolutely necessary. Interesting enough, Mardulak seeks favor from God for the murderous, blood-sucking deeds from his past with a township also guilty for those innocents who perished thanks to their thirst. But, under Mardulak's nose is his lieutenant, Ethan Jefferson(John Ireland)plotting to overthrow the great leader so that his race can hunt humans again. Shane joins forces with Jefferson and has plans of his own..in a major sub-plot, it is revealed that Shane and David's wife slept together and that daughter Julie could in fact be his. Shane desires to "turn" Sarah and Julie if just for spite because he's an egotistical, arrogant, smug punk who doesn't like playing second fiddle to anybody. The problem for David is that he can not defend his honor properly because Shane has superior powers thanks to his vampiric abilities. And, also, Jefferson plans to kill all the regular citizens of Purgatory if they do not comply with demands for joining the hunt. Shane has developed a wood-tipped bullet which, when fired into the heart, splinters on impact killing the vampire. Having built an army of vampires by hunting human outsiders willing to join him, Jefferson plans an onslaught which threatens all the work Mardulak has contributed to conforming his race. A nerdy descendant of Van Helsing, Robert(Bruce Campbell, operating his shtick without restriction;very cartoony and animated offering quite a nervous and over-his-head, but impossibly brave hero;quite an alternative to his Evil Dead series persona)kidnaps a vampire diner waitress in Purgatory, Sandy(..the yummy beauty Deborah Foreman who steps away from her usual adorable cuteness;quite a sexy and alluring presentation, but she had tapped into this kind of deliciousness in Hickox's previous horror flick, Waxwork)threatening to sprinkle holy water on her if she doesn't take him to Mardulak's home. Lots of stuff going on, that's for sure. There's even time to show a frightened young couple, who witnessed their friend's beheading at the hands of hillbilly vampire, Mort(the great M Emmet Walsh)imprisoned next to him by the sheriff because they know too much with the town wanting to feast from them. The vampires survive off of the artificial blood Shane's machine, produced from David's schematics, and heavy UV cream.This was my first viewing of the film and as much a buff as I am, I shamefully admit to just finding out about this rather recently. I thought the film is quick paced enough to look over it's flaws, although there were times when certain performances were a bit cringe-worthy, particularly Metzler as the heroic father whose dramatic scenes with Brittany(..who is cute, but doesn't exactly blow you away with her performance, either)regarding Shane are overwrought. Caulfield nails his part as the a$$hole of the film, behind the possible destruction of a family and only joining forces with Jefferson as a way to get his "property", Sarah and Julie. Campbell and Foreman have nice chemistry together in their sweet, budding romance. But, Carradine as Dracula, masquerading as Mardulak is money and seeing him opposite old Hollywood veteran Ireland in a gunfight was sheer bliss for me. We definitely see the spaghetti western influence here..I am pretty sure Hickox just dreamed of directing such a scenario. The vampire effects are surprisingly good, but many will probably wince at the bat creations(..there are different effects used such as animated and clay forms of vampires in bat-form). Rarely is their any fanging on screen, which was the greatest drag for this vampire cinema lover. It was a lot of fun seeing M Emmett Walsh steal entire scenes so easily and Buck Flower as a town vampire switching allegiances to Jefferson's clan(..his confrontation with Foreman is a doozy and his fate regarding an open umbrella is priceless). Ireland once again, no matter his age, finding that menace was also a pleasure and he knew how to really bare those fangs so fiendishly.Fabulous use of Moab, Utah locations shot in widescreen and the wonderful sense of irony in the plot being that these vampires, in their attempt to go straight choose such a hot place as their refuge from humankind.