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The new century has confirmed the obsession with proving what the special effects
folk can do; often impressive, but insufficient emphasis on the story, and little
respect for tradition or the masters. There are now well over 200 Vampire
movies; the formula is tried and tested. Directors who disrespect this long tradition
just will not get away with it. By all means reinterpret, but never forget the
audience knows as much about Vampires as the best of Hollywood hacks - get a good
script, or go home! The highlights are movies that ignore the trends and
do their own thing - step forward The Little
Vampire - and the lowlights are the remnants of B-Movie dross still churned
out to rip off the teen market ... Step backward The
Brotherhood (aka I've Been Watching
You). Blade has made it's mark bringing yet another comic to life;
but I suspect three is enough for that series. While the failure of Van Helsing,
manufactured to the lowest common denominator to lead to a series and TV spin
off - and a cheap carton series for the kiddies - has proved that cinema audiences
are not quite as stupid as studio execs sometimes think. 
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