VodkavilleRevue

A surprisingly heartfelt buddy comedy, with the central theme: "When do we hold on to someone we care about, and when do we step aside to make room for something new?" Fittingly set in New York City which is always changing, Silverstone and Ritter bring warmth and light to their undead protagonists. Facing challenges as mundane as a daytime jury duty notice to a supernatural summons, as the audience we care about them because they care about each other. While it is billed as a romcom, the relationship that matters is between two close friends confronted with choices where the easy path is to follow the status quo. Wallace Shawn (known for his "inconceivable" Princess Bride performance) also shows many sides in this film, from a zany Van Helsing vampire hunter to a sympathetic family man. Unfortunately, support runs thin past this point, despite Sigourney Weaver (!) and Malcolm McDowell (!!) trying to craft something interesting with the lines they're given. In general, Vamps suffers from the typical downside of a buddy comedy, which is that the side characters and romantic interests are under-developed. Despite these rough edges, Vamps is a very fun and interesting film. It adds something to the vampire genre- which is not something I expected to say today. Give it a shot, maybe you'll fangs me later.