I have to say one of my choices as a horror sleeper from the 90's is this little creepy grisly effort from director Mark Pavia, based on a Stephen King story, regarding a narcissistic, manipulative, and ultimately vicious tabloid reporter who'll stoop to the lowest level to keep his story on the front page, meeting his match when he begins tailing a vampire killer flying a black Cessna plane who hypnotizes victims around plane air strips throughout Northeastern United States, the rural routes of small town America. At the bottom of his plane is maggot-filled earth, and inside, smeared throughout the controls is dried blood, collected over the his time of mutilation and death. Julie Entwisle, just a bubbly, high-spirited cutie presented as the perfect little fish to be devoured by Miguel Ferrer's cunning shark, tries to forge her way into the tabloid's upper tier, starting from the bottom with a key ability to get forms of information difficult to reach for the paper's top piranha. Anyway, we see as he flies in his own plane from destination to destination, Ferrer's Richard Dees working through the first murder sites, gathering bits and pieces from whatever he can find, through testimony and bribing coroners for photos of mutilated victims. We also get a chance to see his ways of flamboyant journalism by disturbing a victim's grave, adding ugly dead flowers and his own blood(..while even stooping so low as to move the gravestone)..everything is for getting the top story printed with extra spice.
I think the idea of the main character being a real slimeball could hurt the film for many because it's much easier to cast a likable hero who we feel sympathy for as he/she pursues the killer leaving a graphic trail of gruesome murders, with throats ripped open so badly that the head is pulled apart from the neck displaying bloody flesh. There's even one scene where the head is ripped completely from the body, placed in an appropriate area as to show those who investigate that the vampire can operate without restraint almost teasing the authorities to catch him. The opening kill shows long gashes down a male victim's face..good, gory carnage is left in this vampire's wake. The closing sequence is one that receives mixed reaction. I've read from some who love it, believing it's the most effective portion of the movie, while others believe it's the most harmful. I particularly love the scene where we have Dees, after finally becoming sickened by the airport lobby slaughter by the vampire, watching from the mirror as the invisible count takes a leak, with the urine being blood red..haha, nice touch. The B&W portion where Dees confronts victims, dressed as vampires, as the count allows him to see what it's like from the other side, I thought was a nifty little moment of nightmarish power. I think we have been spoiled rotten by DVD special features, given access into the movie-making behind-the-scenes effects process. For some, the practical effects of gore, displaying the killer's grisly methods, will receive less of an impact, but I enjoyed them even though I know how they are brought to life(..I think for some, the nasty open wounds from the vampire's finger nails look less effective, and we can understand how they were created).
I think the casting of Ferrer is ideal just because of the type of character he portrays. He indeed has a taste for bloody carnage and the vampire, through the final climactic sequence, first seeing the wake of violence of an entire group of people awaiting a trip to some unknown destination, and the B@W vision through a taste of the killer's blood, gives him an opportunity to experience just that. The audience does get what they crave, this bastard's comeuppance. He wanted that front page and gets it, but this time, Entwisle's young reporter(..who gets shafted by Dees)benefits. It's a fitting conclusion, I think, which speaks volumes for why this film must have an anti-hero as the main protagonist. I like how the film presents Dees, the backstories of those with stories to tell of past victims to him, the sleazy process of how he operates, and the way Dees falls to the one warning him to stay away. I loved the ending with how Dees, who basks in exploiting whatever works to bring him success, becomes the victim.
I think the idea of the main character being a real slimeball could hurt the film for many because it's much easier to cast a likable hero who we feel sympathy for as he/she pursues the killer leaving a graphic trail of gruesome murders, with throats ripped open so badly that the head is pulled apart from the neck displaying bloody flesh. There's even one scene where the head is ripped completely from the body, placed in an appropriate area as to show those who investigate that the vampire can operate without restraint almost teasing the authorities to catch him. The opening kill shows long gashes down a male victim's face..good, gory carnage is left in this vampire's wake. The closing sequence is one that receives mixed reaction. I've read from some who love it, believing it's the most effective portion of the movie, while others believe it's the most harmful. I particularly love the scene where we have Dees, after finally becoming sickened by the airport lobby slaughter by the vampire, watching from the mirror as the invisible count takes a leak, with the urine being blood red..haha, nice touch. The B&W portion where Dees confronts victims, dressed as vampires, as the count allows him to see what it's like from the other side, I thought was a nifty little moment of nightmarish power. I think we have been spoiled rotten by DVD special features, given access into the movie-making behind-the-scenes effects process. For some, the practical effects of gore, displaying the killer's grisly methods, will receive less of an impact, but I enjoyed them even though I know how they are brought to life(..I think for some, the nasty open wounds from the vampire's finger nails look less effective, and we can understand how they were created).
I think the casting of Ferrer is ideal just because of the type of character he portrays. He indeed has a taste for bloody carnage and the vampire, through the final climactic sequence, first seeing the wake of violence of an entire group of people awaiting a trip to some unknown destination, and the B@W vision through a taste of the killer's blood, gives him an opportunity to experience just that. The audience does get what they crave, this bastard's comeuppance. He wanted that front page and gets it, but this time, Entwisle's young reporter(..who gets shafted by Dees)benefits. It's a fitting conclusion, I think, which speaks volumes for why this film must have an anti-hero as the main protagonist. I like how the film presents Dees, the backstories of those with stories to tell of past victims to him, the sleazy process of how he operates, and the way Dees falls to the one warning him to stay away. I loved the ending with how Dees, who basks in exploiting whatever works to bring him success, becomes the victim.