Tubi Thursday: Vampires- Los Muertos (2002)

 John Carpenter's Vampires has actually aged pretty well (James Woods IRL aside).
Can the same be said for the Direct to Video 'Sequel' from 2002?

Let's find out...

Are we going to see the return of James Woods?
The further adventures of Daniel Baldwin and his Vampire Girlfriend?

Nope!

Instead, the Film follows a different Vampire Hunter (Jon Bon Jovi) in Mexico.

He's hired to kill a Vampire and needs a team.

His first task is to find the Priest from the last Film...and he died...off-camera.

That is LITERALLY the only connection.

Sigh.

His search keeps ending in his potential members ending up dead, so all he's got is a young from Andor.

He also meets a young lady right before another Vampire attack!

Oh, and this one has super-speed...sometimes.

As it turns out, this lady was bitten, but not turned by a Vampire.  She can stay human if she keeps taking some pills.

Good Sequels raise the stakes.  Bigger threats, new challenges and new goals.

Bad Sequels repeat the same thing as the last Film.

This one is ALSO about a Vampire seeking the Black Cross to be truly immortal, so...

Tommy Lee Wallace making a Sequel to a Film that ends up being worse.  That tracks.

Now with some actual help, can Bon Jovi stop the Vampire.

Well, it's not so easy when she manages to turn one of them before the big fight.

Can our Heroes save the day in basically the same situation, just without the cool Music and John Carpenter's direction?

To find out, stream it now.

A Film that is alright, but nothing more.

This is technically a Sequel to John Carpenter's Film.  If you didn't know this (and John Carpenter's name wasn't slapped onto the Title), would you notice?

Full discretion- I can understand John Carpenter cashing a check to put his name on this.  He's owed all of the money Hollywood can give him.  Good for him.

On its own, the Film tries to play with the formula of the Get a Team Together interestingly.  Given that he still forms a team, it doesn't exactly amount to much.

The Vampire effects are nice.

I wish that the Pacing was better.  I wish that the Finale wasn't just 'Let's do the same thing again.'
If you want to do the Plan Doesn't Work thing, make it SOMETHING DIFFERENT!

I want to say nice things about Films- I really do.

I've heard of a Film making you 'see red,' but this is ridiculous!

A Film that isn't terrible, but really pales in comparison to the original.  There are worse Vampire Films out there, but many that are far better too.