It's too bad that everything leading up to it isn't as involving. Instead, the film's first hour is rather dull and plodding, with a few grisly scenes to break the monotony. Carpenter does not do a good job building to the climactic battle, and his character development attempts are feeble. Crow, the individual with the most screen time, is just Escape from New York 's Snake Plisskin shifted into a horror movie and played by a different actor. And, as villains go, Valek isn't all that frightening or impressive.
Carpenter manages a couple of genuinely creepy scenes.
In one, Valek is waiting on the ceiling of a room for a victim. In another, a series of vampires are shown clawing their way out of the earth as the sun sinks beneath the horizon. For those who like to see blood and viscera, Vampires does not disappoint. It's almost as if Carpenter collaborated with The Evil Dead 's Sam Raimi. The kinds of graphic deaths presented here make simple decapitations look tame.