GetPapa Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

DipitySkillful an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Paul Andrews Perfect Creature is set in a city called Jamestown where a brotherhood of Vampires live alongside humans in supposed harmony, it has been this way for 300 years but one brother Edgar (Leo Gregory) has developed a taste for human blood & has been feasting on local young ladies while his brother Silus (Dougray Scott) hunts him. Local police detective Lilly (Saffron Burrows) learns the truth behind the dead bodies turning up & tries to keep it quiet as widespread panic would break out, together with brother Silus the police & Lilly set out to find & kill Edgar but there's more to what Edgar is doing than just killing a few girls as he releases a virus which turns humans into ravenous Vampires. Jamestown is quarantined & the authorities feel complete extermination of everyone within it is the only answer including thousands of innocent uninfected humans...This New Zealand & British co-production was directed by Glenn Standring & is a sort of moody atmospheric Vampire horror thriller that had the potential to be great but a lack of focus & a general pedestrainism means I would struggle to even call perfect creature average let alone good. The script is the problem here, there the usual romantic subplot about the two leads falling in love, there's no real explanation given as to why Edgar goes crazy & starts killing people & none of the other Vampires ever has, the whole virus angle is abruptly dropped into the story late on & is never really given a conclusion, there's a subplot about humans dying from flu which is mentioned a few times but nothing significant becomes of it & the typical clichéd final confrontation between the two brother's (hunter & hunted if you prefer) is present & correct although it's totally forgettable & uninspired stuff. The film didn't feel that long & it's visually interesting but the bland character's, the predictable plot, the subplots that go nowhere & add very little to the film overall & a lack of any real entertainment value means it's not really worth making any sort of effort to see.As already mentioned the film does look very good with a variety of different eras & styles used to depict the fictional world seen here, from war torn streets to futuristic labs to Victorian style fantasy with a dark & brooding 40's detective noir thriller feel too, it's quite strange to sit down & watch these contradictory settings & time-lines & decor come together (horse drawn carriages & motor cars on the same roads at one point along with air ships in the sky). There's not much blood or gore here, a few bitten necks & that's about it. The CGI is OK but the early scene of Edgar climbing a wall looks terrible.With a supposed budget of about $11,000,000 this wasn't cheap & that's a decent amount of money & one suspects that most of that went on the production design & look of the film. Filmed in New Zealand. The acting is alright but no-one seems to show much interest & with such thin character's one can hardly blame them.Perfect Creature is average at best, a Vampire horror thriller than could have been great if a bit more time had been spent on the script & a decent story that meant something. It's not terrible & it's interesting visual style is cool but overall I couldn't really recommend it.

Woodyanders A race of genetically enhanced vampires called the Brotherhood has peacefully coexisted with human beings for 300 years. Crazed renegade vampire Brother Edgar (superbly played with frightening intensity Leo Gregory) starts preying on human beings and plans on changing the natural order of things by infecting everyone with a lethal mutant virus. It's up to dour, compassionate vampire Brother Silus (a fine portrayal by Dougray Scott) and tough, but kind-hearted human police captain Lilly (a splendidly hard-nosed performance by Saffron Burrows) to stop Edgar before it's too late. Writer/director Glenn Standring offers a fresh and intriguing spin on the standard vampire premise which eschews the usual bloodsucker lore in favor of cleverly blending elements from the horror, alternate reality science fiction, and police detective action thriller genres into an inspired, arresting and imaginative synthesis. Moreover, Standring relates the absorbing story ate a slow, yet steady pace, maintains a grim'n'gloomy Gothic atmosphere throughout, and still manages to deliver the expected graphic gore and exciting action set pieces. Better still, Standring brings a maturity and intelligence to the material that's admirably adult and sophisticated in its sensibility. Kudos are also in order for the uniformly excellent acting by a tip-top cast: Scott and Burrows do stand-out work in the lead roles, Gregory makes for a lively and formidable villain, plus there are sturdy supporting contributions by Stuart Wilson as the wise, pragmatic head vampire Brother Augustus, Scott Willis as the sarcastic Detective Jones, and Stephen Ure as disgusting toady Frederick "Freddy" Sykes. Leon Narbey's moody cinematography gives the film a nifty gray and grimy look. Anne Dudley's brooding score likewise does the trick. A pleasingly different and creative fright feature.

misbegotten An independent New Zealand/British production, Perfect Creature was completed back in 2005. 20th century Fox promptly snapped up the worldwide distribution rights, and there was talk of the movie being released into cinemas. And then... nothing. Fox apparently didn't know how to market the film, and after sitting on the shelf for two years, it quietly crept out as a direct-to-DVD release.Perfect Creature is set in an alternative reality where (compared to our world) branches of science and engineering have experienced different rates of progress. Horse-drawn carriages are still in use, the few cars we see are steam-powered, and airships cross the sky. However, attempts at genetic manipulation began three hundred years and resulted in the creation of vampires - although that word is never uttered in the film. Instead they're referred to as The Brotherhood. Accepted by most of the population as the next stage in Man's evolution, The Brotherhood have dedicated themselves to protecting society, are in charge of the Church, and drink blood donated by willing volunteers. However, a renegade Brother has started committing murder - the first to do so since their kind first appeared - and Brother Silas (played by Dougray Scott) is assigned the task of tracking him down. Despite Silas's protests, The Brotherhood is covering up the fact that one of their kind has become a killer, in the belief that this knowledge will damage the bond of trust between Man and Brother. Eventually however the information gets out, and Silas (who is being groomed to lead The Brotherhood one day) forms an alliance with a human detective (Saffron Burrows) to catch the murderer.Perfect Creature is an intelligent and entertaining film, but Fox's wariness about how to promote it was probably due to the fact that it contains few surprises and not much actually happens per se. The alternative reality is well realised on what was (by Hollywood standards) a fairly low budget of $20 million. In addition to the different levels of technology, the fashions worn by the various characters reflect their social standing: the poor and working classes have clothing that's Dickensian/Victorian, the middle classes wear 1920s fashions, the plain-clothed and uniformed police have suits and uniforms that echo the Forties, while the riot police's armour and The Brotherhood's clothes are almost-modern. Burrows give a fine but unshowy performance as the world-weary detective, but Scott seems ill-at-ease and unsure how to portray the character of Silas, and settles for adopting a sorrowful expression throughout.

The_Void I actually went into this film with fairly high hopes, in spite of the fact that there hasn't been a really decent vampire movie in ages, and naturally came out disappointed. What we have here is another 'original' yet uninteresting take on the vampire myth. I'm guessing the influence came from Underworld as the film features organised vampires in a contemporary setting. The main problem with this film is that it's messy and much of it doesn't make sense. The plot has something to do with a world in which humans and vampires live together in harmony. But then one vampire decides to create a war...etc etc. The film is stylishly shot and features some action sequences, but since the story is all over the place; much of the film doesn't make sense, and this is a big problem as the story really isn't interesting enough for most people to try and work out what is supposed to be happening - me included. What you end up with therefore is a bunch of 'cool' people with fangs kicking and punching each other while talking about things changing (or whatever). Overall, I can't say I was impressed with this original take on the vampire myth, and I'd rather filmmakers stop being original and make a vampire flick that's actually good, like they used to.