Revisiting Vampires By John Carpenter: It's Time For A Reboot

First of all, John Steakley's Vampire was a great book to read. It's about vampires but from the perspective of modern-day vampire hunters sponsored by the Vatican. The leader of the group was Jack Crow, a former NFL football player. But the most fascinating character in the book was Felix, Jack's calm and reserved teammate who happens to be an ace gunslinger using silver bullets to kill vampires.

What made the story great was that Jack and his team used what you'd normally think of if YOU had to hunt vampires. First, they hunted while the sun was out. Then they formed a military-style tactical unit when entering dark areas. And brilliant of all, they used harpoons, cable, and wenches to extract vampires from the dark out to the sunlight. At times, they even employed dynamites and explosives. They did not use archaic means that contradicted the common sense of modern times.

I'm not sure if John Steakley's Vampires was responsible for modern-day treatment of vampire hunting, but we're certainly seeing updated technology being employed in stories that came after the book, e.g. the Initiative from Buffy TV series.

In 1998, John Carpenter released a movie version of Vampires. It was suppose to be a film adaptation of the book and John Steakley was even credited as a writer. However, due to extreme budget cuts, the movie's ties to the book was in name only. The storyline was so badly butchered that they Felix was not even in the film. But remnants of the core theme that made Vampires the book memorable remained. Still, fans of the book regarded the movie as only a wisp of the book. They were right and I was initially of the same opinion. Or so I thought when I first saw the movie in 1998.

I had the opportunity to watch Vampires by John Carpenter again recently. And I appreciated it more. The movie was still a travesty compared to the book. But James Wood as Jack Crow made the movie watchable. In fact, he was fun to watch. His portrayal as the fiery vampire hunter always stood out in my mind all those years. Still, it was not the impression I had of Jack Crow after reading the book. But James Woods was great. He was fiery, but oozes cool. He delivered campy one-liners while displaying anger.

I was fond of the following Jack Crow lines:

- To Valek: Hey, Valek! Why don't you prove you can kick my ass! Come on, untie me, you prick! Fucking pole-smoking fashion victim!
- To Father Adam: "Did you get a little wood?"
- To Montoya: "Vaya con Dios"

With all the reboots that have been going on lately, John Steakley's Vampire deserves one so that fans of the vampire movie genre can finally see how modern-day vampire hunting is done. Perhaps it be should rebooted with James Woods playing a fiery priest this time.

The author is a web producer who writes freelance on many "geeky" subjects including anything comic books and horror, such as the scary halloween costumes. He also writes on other topics of interest such as the advantages of becoming a medical coder.