ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT November 11, 1998 • the Seahawk 19 John Carpenter's "Vampires"

In New Mexico, where the skies seem a woman who slowly realizes she is becom- deeper blue and the Earth a bloodier red. ing a vampire and begins to understand the vampire slayer Jim Crow (James Woods) appalling implications. The scenes where leads a high-tech team scouring the parched she is linked psychically to Valek are some Southwest, looking for nests of the undead. of the most suggestive - and intriguing - of Crow is a callous, often cruel man with a the film. troubled, tragic childhood who does the Ro- What makes "Vampires" special is its man Catholic church's dirty work of elimi- look, rendered lovingly by production de- nating the unholy. signer Thomas A. Walsh and cinematogra- by TED ANTHONY At his side is Montoya (Daniel pher Gary B. Kibbe. They use southwest- Associated Press Baldwin), an alternately caffeinated, sullen, ern Spanish architecture to evoke gothic and aggressive and protective partner who hides Old West flavors, subtly linking the New NEW YORK (AP) _ When Hollywood many dimensions behind his trusty-sidekick Mexico landscape to the Old World stomp- trots out vampires, the results are visually demeanor. ing ground of cinema's traditional vampires. enjoyable but usually predictable. Oral fixa- When most of Crow's team is killed As "Vampires" draws to its end, in a tions. Elaborate graveyard scenes. Nubile during a motel party by a king vampire (Tho- deserted New Mexico town populated en- women dancing the line between allure and mas Ian Griffith) named Valek in revenge for tirely by vampires, Crow and Montoya be- decay. Only occasionally do cinematic a nest strike. Crow goes nuts. The 600-year- gin to understand the true significance of chronicles of the undead rise above. old vampire somehow knows Crow's name, Valek. They realize they must succeed, or "John Carpenter's Vampires," an excep- so Crow knows he's been set up. Crow and the consequences will be horrific. tionally bloody entry in the canon of Montoya band together with a prostitute, Whether they do or not is ultimately ir- Nosferatu, does. It's not just mediocre Katrina (Sheryl Lee), who has been bitten relevant. Their journey _ an odyssey that schlock. It's well-executed, engrossing, in- by Valek, and they go on the hunt. Along the blends genres into nothing less than a hor- novative ... schlock. way, they pick up a young priest, Father ror Western _ is a worthy addition to the Carpenter, of course, knows how to do Adam Guiteau (Tim Guinee), whose naivete vampire legend set in a landscape that might horror. From the original "Halloween" to his and earnestness only angers Woods. Thus have unsettled even Bela Lugosi. unsettling remake of "The Thing," he can does the odyssey begin. "John Carpenter's Vampires" is pro- push viewers' buttons like no other. But with The haunted glamour that Lee used as duced by Sandy King from a Don Jakoby "Vampires," he takes another dimension fur- Laura Palmer in "Twin Peaks" serves her screenplay. ther: Visually, it's just stunning. well here. She is a confused, angry young Poet White To Give Reading University News Bureau professor reading with one of his stu- UWCW BoofutoJiz dents. "The goal is to introduce the writ- A celebration of words is coming. ers in the program to the community and Dr. Michael White, an assistant profes- vice versa and to let people hear brand- sor at UNCW, has recently released a new work by familiar writers or to ac- National Children'* Book Week book of poetry called Palma Cathedral.. quaint them to new ones." Brenner said. He will read selections from his book, White's first book. The Island was and his student in the Master of Fine Arts published in 1992. It garnered a great November 16-22,1998: program Sally Hudson McMillan will deal of critical acclaim. He received a also read her latest work. The reading National Endowment for the Arts Fel- Treat the ffecial child in your life will be held in the upstairs lobby of Lu- lowship in Literature in 1993 and a 1997 mina Station Shopping Center, 1900 North Carolina Arts Fellowship. His new • Eastwood Road at 7:00. The space is book won the prestigious 1998 to the fift that ihafei owned by co-sponsor. Bishop Books. Coloradoo Prize. McMillan is a poet and Assistant Professor Wendy Brenner children's author. Following the read- began the lecture series to bring more ing will be an informal reception, offer- a lifetime. community interaction into the Master ing the chance to meet and talk with both of Fine Arts Program. There is always a authors. Traie Booh 20 % Off.

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