Sucking in America
As the only vampire on an island, Maximillian (Eddie Murphy) heads to Brooklyn in search of a mate to keep his blood line going. That mate is Rita (Angela Bassett) who is oblivious to the fact that her grandfather was a vampire although she is plagued by vivid and confusing nightmares. As Max sets about seducing her there is the small matter of her partner down at the police station where she works who not only has feelings for her but has a strange feeling about Max.
What is "Vampire in Brooklyn"? Is it an Eddie Murphy movie? Is it a Wes Craven movie? Or is it attempt to bring vampires into the modern world? The answer is it is all three and that is the trouble with "Vampire in Brooklyn" the three elements don't fit comfortably together causing it to end up feeling an awkward movie which frequently does something only to appease one of its elements and that elements fans. For example there will be a decent scene full of atmosphere with a horror tone to it only for it then to dump in some Eddie Murphy style humour seemingly to appeal to those who paid to see the movie as Eddie Murphy fans.
And this flip flopping picture continues as it twitches from Eddie Murphy humour to Wes Craven horror whilst trying to make the whole vampire story contemporary yet still giving it a classical aspect. And as such "Vampire in Brooklyn" ends up a jack of all trades whilst a master of none which after a while starts to lose its audience because of that constant flip flopping between elements. Who ever came up with the idea of casting Eddie Murphy in this sort of horror movie didn't think things through completely as to who the audience would be and what they would be expecting.
Now in fairness Eddie Murphy gives it his best and at times he brings back touches of the Eddie Murphy which were funny in the 80s but it is an inconsistent performance as Murphy tries to constantly change to match the changing style of the movie. And unsurprisingly whilst there are other familiar faces in "Vampire in Brooklyn" this is really a vehicle for Murphy more than anything else.
What this all boils down to is that "Vampire in Brooklyn" ends up an experiment which doesn't work as it tries to entertain a diverse audience and only ends up flip flopping between what each audience wants.
Tags: Vampire Movies
