Sundown: The Vampire In Retreat

Cast View all

	David Carradine	Mardulak
	Morgan Brittany	Sarah
	Bruce Campbell	Van Helsing
	Jim Metzler	David
	Maxwell Caulfield	Shane
	Deborah Foreman	Sandy
	M. Emmet Walsh	Mort
	John Ireland	Jefferson
	Dana Ashbrook	Jack
	John Hancock	Quinton Canada
	Marion Eaton	Anna
	Dabbs Greer	Otto
	Bert Remsen	Milt
	Sunshine Parker	Merle
	Helena Carroll	Madge
	Elizabeth Gracen	Alice
	Christopher Bradley	Chaz
	Kathy MacQuarrie Martin	Burgundy
	Jack Eiseman	Nigel
	George Flower	Bailey
	Erin Gourlay	Juliet
	Vanessa Pierson	Gwen
	Brendan Hughes	James
	Gerardo Mejía	Pucci
	Mike Najjar	Ramon

Crew View all

Director	Anthony Hickox
Writer	John Burgess, Anthony Hickox
Producer	Dan Ireland, Jack Lorenz, Jefferson Richard
Musician	Richard Stone
Photography	Levie Isaacks

Trailer

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Notes

My quick rating - 6,4/10. A Bruce Campbell movie I have seen? Seems to be and I will soon find out. Oh, and this isn't just good because Bruce is in it. The story is so much fun and the cast does plenty to bring it to life. The one thing that is the focus is the town called Purgatory which is home to vampires that are content living secluded by slathering on sunscreen and drinking synthetic blood instead of feasting on humans. But what does keep this from actually moving up even higher is that there are so many subplots being introduced and attempted to work that the lack of focus and conclusions to them end up distracting. But the comedy hits very well and everyone seems to know it and then it will shift gears into a traditional vampire flick on the drop of a joke. When a couple happens into town with the new scientist for fake blood and is followed by a descendant of Van Helsing the town's cohesion begins to unravel. There was already unrest since not everyone was satisfied with the lifestyle of the day walking and lack of killing, which is another plotline. This whole thing is just so offbeat that you cannot just be completely entertained by it. There are purposeful campy effects such as the vampire bats and decapitations for the humor more than gore. To be honest, Bruce playing the Van Helsing might be the biggest letdown of the whole thing not because of his acting but the character itself just isn't written into this properly. Maybe some creative input would've helped. Another thing that really helps in this being just so out there is that Anthony Hickox who was responsible for another lesser-known favorite of mine Waxwork and carries that same amusing horror quality to it. David Carradine does a great job as the head Dracula, and down the list is just great performance over and over for such a goofy flick. If it didn't get so lost in itself and just somehow tightened up the storylines flowing through, this one would've been a true gem but as it stands, still a must-see. If nothing else, the opening scene with the 3 old vampires rivaling ZZ-Top is worth the time invested, and that is just the opening.

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