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Powerful

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Another less-than-enthusing entry in this erratic series concerns one of the most abused subjects in horror-film history i.e. vampirism – and, yet, it has rarely been dealt with such a visceral (and frankly off-putting) approach. The blood flows in bucketfuls here and rather than bite its victims, the creature tears open their throat like a werewolf or a latter-day zombie would! The chief vampire is played by Michael Ironside (as Mr. Chaney!) in full Jack (THE SHINING) Nicholson mode, while his victims/successors are your typical teens: one white and one black, obsessed with carnage-happy video games but who cringe in the face of real death – so they dare one another to enter a morgue at night and take a good look at the latest 'intern'…and that is where their troubles begin. Their reactions, however, are different: while the black boy seems resigned to have joined the ranks of the undead (culminating in a predictable coda, down to the ironic closing line, as he sets out to 'infect' The Big Apple), the other resists – especially after Ironside kidnaps his kid sister to be the blood donor in his initiation! – and commits suicide, awaiting the dawn tied to a cross, in a show-stopping finale. Along the way, the film references NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968; a quotation of the famous line "They're coming to get you, Barbara!"), AN American WEREWOLF IN London (1981; the white kid who escapes the initial attack feels remorse for having abandoned his pal to his fate), BLACK SABBATH (1963; the black kid appears at the other's home claiming to be all right and pleading with his friend to let him in) – and, for good measure, we get various snippets from the Browning/Lugosi Dracula (1931) conveniently showing on TV!

THE V WORD sees two teens breaking into a funeral home to get a look at a bully who has died. They get far more than they bargained for, as there is a vampire inhabiting the funeral home and he is perpetually thirsty. Michael Ironside is the vampire, and his method of drinking blood is to tear a large gash in the victim's throat first. Plenty of nasty corpses on display, plenty of gashed throats, but the story loses steam in the second half. It got so boring, in fact, I turned it off before the grand finale. Throat slashing is always fun to watch, but too much of it tends to spoil the broth, as it were. And I hate to say it, but Ironside reminded me more of a ghoul than a vampire. Ghouls have never floated my boat.

Masters of Horror: The V Word starts late one night in the American town of Collingswood as Justin (Branden Nadon) convinces his best friend Kerry (Arjay Smith) that it would be fun to drop in on his cousin James who works at a funeral home & look at a 'real' dead body, hell that sounds like a whole load of fun to me. Once there they break in & are shocked to discover James body, they are then brutally attacked by guy (Michael Ironside) who tears Kerry's throat out as Justin manages to escape through a window. Later that night Justin hears a knock on his front door & is surprised to see Kerry standing there covered in blood, Kerry dies in front of Justin & returns as a Vampire. Will their friendship be enough to save Justin from ending up with the same fate?This Canadian American co-production was episode 3 from season 2 of the Masters of Horror TV series, directed by Ernest R. Dickerson this is an alright Masters of Horror episode but nothing overly special. The script by the show's regular producer Mick Garris is the first time this show tackled the overused theme of Vampirism, it starts off quite promisingly but soon descends in a sickly sentimental drama about two friends & their unusual relationship a bit like The Lost Boys (1987) only not as good. I must admit I liked the way Michael Ironside portrayed the initial Vampire as some faceless, brutal, primitive killer with no emotion or regard for mind games but during the second half of The V Word drops this initial impression of him & goes into standard villain mode complete with bad dialogue. I didn't like how the two main teenage leads were written & the way they're character's developed either, do people really call each other 'dudes' these days? At 60 odd minutes this feels strangely boring at times & a tad dull as well, it just doesn't have much pace & the lacklustre storytelling doesn't help matters. This is alright I suppose but overall it's a touch forgettable.Director Dickerson does OK, I think a lot of it's a little dark at times & it's not scary or exciting either. There are a few homages to other Vampire & horror films including the original Dracula (1931), Salem's Lot (1979) & Night of the Living dead (1968). There are a few good moments though mostly courtesy of some more top notch special make-up effects by the boys at KNB effects, there are a couple of torn out blood spurting throats, someone has their eyes punctured with a needle, a bloody leg, a scene when Kerry tries to drink some water after he had been bitten & the water literally pour out of his ripped open throat & a gory decapitation by medical saw.Technically this is well made with good production values although it's a little flat & bland to look at without much in the way of style. The acting is alright, I never really cared for anyone to be honest & it totally wastes the fantastic Michael Ironside.The V Word is a perfectly watchable 60 odd minutes with some good gore but there wasn't much here that stood out, I don't know but while this isn't the worst Masters of Horror episode it's certainly not the best either. Still worth a watch especially if your a fan of the series or horror in general.

All right, I have just finished watching the first showing of "The V Word" on Showtime, and having done so I have a few things to say. "The V Word" is an episode about a new-breed of vampiric legend. While they do retain many of the traditional myths, they've adapted to a new ideal.The concept for this episode is done in the best and worst of ways. While they captured the realistic nature of the idea of vampires, seeing as how rather than any psychical change they simply tear the throat of their victim out and drink the blood. Once they've had their throat removed, or at least most of it, they go through a seemingly agonizing transformation, and forever retain that physical would that never seems to heal over. It takes the idea and makes it somewhat believable, at least until the bad part comes into play.And here is that bad theme.While they've been created in this way to be believable, they seem to include some of the more silly stereotypes. These vampires do not have fangs, which makes sense, however, they burst into flames under the touch of sunlight, and it is implied that they are allergic to garlic, all though I don't think they made that official or not.It's a good episode, and a very impressive concept... however, it is insulting the basic idea of a vampire, as well as fans of the sort.However, this one does seem to have better acting than most, and it has the girl from Silent Hill in it, which amused me.Overall... I'd give this episode a 6/10.