Hello everyone, last Friday I had the pleasure of talking about The Hamiltons. For those that don't know, The Hamiltons was released as one of the 8 Films To Die For from After Dark Films. It was a wonderful low budget take on vampires. It honestly has grown to become one of my absolute favorites of this first set of 8 Films To Die For.
Six years later, it saw the release of a sequel - The Thompsons. Its story is as follows: On the run from the law, the Thompson family is scattered across Europe, and Francis needs to drive all the way to rural England in search of help by others of his kind, in the small hamlet of Ludlow. But, there, the ancient vampire clan of the Stuarts has an agenda of their own: one that puts the very survival of the Hamiltons in jeopardy. Is this the end of the line for the Thompsons?
One thing I will applaud is that the film decided to pick up the story and hit the ground running. Its a nice callback to 80s Horror in a way. It was also interesting having all of the cast return. The downside though is that each member doesn't have a whole lot of screentime. Our main focus is still on Francis (Cory Knauf). He's definitely accepted what he is and has come into his own. But the rest of the family is spread out across Europe as David's caring for Lenny and the twins are galavanting across France. I seriously enjoy these characters and would have loved to seen more of them. Instead, the world is opened in a large way. It's established that there are other families out there. Francis' journey leads him to discovering the Stuarts. They are a family that has been in charge of the families in Europe.
Seeing a different family and how they compare to The Hamilt-- I mean Thompsons was interesting. This is a family that has managed to give the idea that they've figured out how to live in the world. But we all know that not everything's perfect, right? Safe to say that Francis is able to uncover what exactly is going on. The nice thing is that Francis manages to find a way of looking up to them - I mean they have it figured out. It gives him that sense of home that he's been striving for. But when its revealed what's going on, Francis finds out that he's been home the whole time. It may be a bit cliche. But honestly, I enjoyed it a lot.
I understand that The Thompsons was trying to push new ground. They had a larger budget than the previous film and it shows. I mean there's a whole sequence in a bar that feels a bit big budget. The effects are well put together. There is a nice way that The Stuarts are able to be different than The Thompsons in terms of their 'vampire appearance'.
By the end of the film, I was surprised that the film was over. It didn't feel like it overstayed its welcome. It felt like something that was just finding its footing. There's a bit of hope that maybe we'd see these characters again. But after this not finding much success, it kind of puts the kabosh on it. Which it's a bit of a shame. I get why some people might not like it. Some people may compare it to Twilight. But its definitely not that. I see it more as a low budget Near Dark. I just am left wanting more now. And that to me, it's a sign of an interesting film. Some of the action could have been handled a little better. It takes a while before the characters are brought together. But it feels different from what I think of vampire movies that were being released at the time.
If you are looking for an interesting time, I definitely would recommend both - The Hamiltons and The Thompsons.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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