Suck Me Dry

What's On? Wednesday...er..I mean...Saturday.

Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat

For my last Maxwell Caulfield post (not forever, just ending my week-long salute to Max today), I thought I'd review another of his movies in my collection.

I originally owned this film on VHS and never thought there would be a DVD release of this film. It was the last film from Vestron and never had a theatrical release. The cast is amazing...in addition to Maxwell Caulfield, this film starred Bruce (The Evil Dead) Campbell, Deborah (Valley Girl) Foreman, Morgan (Dallas) Brittany, David (Kung Fu) Carradine, M. Emmet (Blood Simple) Walsh, John (Red River) Ireland, and hottie Dana (Twin Peaks) Ashbrook. Yeah, Dana Ashbrook may be a future Monday's Man.

The film felt like a neo-Western with gothic elements, but sadly, as great as the cast was, the movie seemed disjointed.

It felt like it should have ended three times. I can see why it has a cult following, but let's face it, the only reason I got this film is because of Max.

In the film, a family is brought to the town of Purgatory. The father is to work on the artificial blood factory that the town's citizens were counting on. Yes, the town's citizens were vampires. They survived with sunglasses, hats and a lot of sunscreen. David Carradine and John Ireland each had followers. One wanting the civilized quiet life, the other wanting to be who they were...predators.
Maxwell portrayed the hottest vampire ever in movies and television, that includes Angel and Spike. He could bite my neck anytime. The only time the special effects really failed was when Max was in bat form. It was something like a Ray Harryhausen film.


I remember this scene from the film when it played on my VHS copy. Granted VHS transfers were always darker and in this case made this scene all the better. There were enough shadows, that I thought Max was actually nude. Imagine my disappointment, when the DVD version was lit better and I could see he was wearing a pouch.

Actually, I can't say I'm that disappointed...he still looks so hot.

If you enjoy vampire movies like From Dusk till Dawn, then you may find this film entertaining. If you like anyone in the cast, then you may like this film, because each of them have great scenes to play. However, there are better films out there and as fond of the film as I am, it may not suit everybody. So try it once, but if you don't like it, don't say you weren't warned.