Sometimes I get caught up in other people’s interpretations of movies that I know … and still manage to love. This was one of the first horror movies that I because obsessed over, watching it again and again. Putting it on VHS and pulling the tab! This was, and in many ways still is, my all-time favorite vampire movie.
Why?
1 - It’s campy. Despite all the accolades it gets for shaking up two distinct genres - Westerns and vampire flicks - this has a gory, gooey, decidedly cheesey side. Many of these moments are propelled forward by Bill Paxton’s character, while Lance Hendrickson is quite convincing as the stodgy leader of this band of misfits.
2 - It’s romantic. Caleb and Mae’s chance meeting harkens back to love at first sight, and they offer up very real sacrifices for one another. They’re connection transcends that of family or friends. Young love.
3 - They’re fighting to survive. Jesse’s gang are rebels through and through, and they may lie, cheat and steal … but it’s all for a good cause as far as they’re concerned. The difference between Caleb and the rest of the gang, except possibly for Mae, is that they’ve come to enjoy their way of doing things.
Personally? I always feel like this movie ends halfway through, the bar scene, namely. It doesn’t seem like the rest of the movie was that developed. The resolution came too easily. They gave up without too much of a fight. It felt unrealistic and flat, at least to me, but you’ll still enjoy the hell out of it.
