What filmmaking techniques does Vampires use?

CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in Vampires (1998): Genre Collage, Desert as Protagonist, Rule-Based Threat and Mind-Link as Intimacy Device.

Who directed Vampires?

John Carpenter directed Vampires, released in 1998. CineCode also covers Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), Escape from New York (1981), The Thing (1982), Christine (1983), Big Trouble in Little China (1986).

What films are similar to Vampires?

Films that share techniques with Vampires include Pulp Fiction (1994), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Inglourious Basterds (2009), Snatch (2000).

Horror · Action

Vampires

John Carpenter, 1998

A team of Vatican-backed vampire hunters led by Jack Crow clears out a nest in New Mexico. Then the first vampire shows up and kills almost all of them. Worth watching for how Carpenter turns a monster movie into a dusty Western with harpoons.

2 Narrative 1 Cinematography 1 Psychology

At a glance

Vampires is a 1998 horror and action film directed by John Carpenter. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (2 narrative, 1 cinematography and 1 psychology), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Pulp Fiction uses several of the same techniques.

Narrative

Genre Collage

Mixing several genres in 1 film, such as crime, romance, horror and absurd comedy. The clash between them keeps you from settling into a single way of watching.

How this film uses it

The film is a vampire story with the look and attitude of a Western. Hunters drive across a desert, drink in motels and settle scores with a stranger who arrives at dusk. The mix of sunburnt landscape and horror makes both genres feel fresh.

Where to see it

The motel massacre: the team drunkenly celebrates at the Sun God Motel. The master vampire arrives and slaughters the hunters.

Cinematography

Desert as Protagonist

Treating a desert or vast landscape as a main character with as much screen time as the actors. It has its own arc and can dwarf, kill and transform the people in it.

How this film uses it

The New Mexico desert is bright, dry and empty. Sunlight is the vampires' enemy, and the landscape is full of places to hide or to burn. The wide spaces make the characters look small and exposed.

Where to see it

The opening raid: Crow's team attacks an abandoned house in the desert in daylight. They use a winch to pull vampires outside to burn in the sun.

Narrative

Rule-Based Threat

Giving the threat a short list of clear rules early in the film. You then use those rules to predict danger, which keeps you checking every scene alongside the characters.

How this film uses it

The film tells you early that vampires burn in sunlight and can be killed by stakes. Then it uses those rules to build action scenes. You track the sun's position as closely as the characters do.

Where to see it

The harpoon trick: Crow's team uses a modified crossbow attached to a winch to pull vampires into the sunlight. They are incinerated.

Psychology

Mind-Link as Intimacy Device

Letting two characters share memories and feelings through a technology or power. Nothing stays private, so trust and old pain both show on screen.

How this film uses it

Katrina is bitten, and a psychic link grows between her and the master vampire. Crow uses it to track him, which forces her to share his thoughts without privacy. The link makes her both a victim and a tool.

Where to see it

The link: Crow keeps Katrina alive so that her growing psychic bond with Valek can lead the hunters to him. Valek questions and kills a priest, and she shares it.

Questions

Vampires: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does Vampires use?: CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in Vampires (1998): Genre Collage, Desert as Protagonist, Rule-Based Threat and Mind-Link as Intimacy Device.
Who directed Vampires?: John Carpenter directed Vampires, released in 1998. CineCode also covers Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), Escape from New York (1981), The Thing (1982), Christine (1983), Big Trouble in Little China (1986).
What films are similar to Vampires?: Films that share techniques with Vampires include Pulp Fiction (1994), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Inglourious Basterds (2009), Snatch (2000).

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