Vampire in Brooklyn will celebrate its 30th anniversary this October. The film is not a perfect horror-comedy, nor is it one of the first titles that come to mind when discussing Wes Craven‘s work. However, I think it deserves better than the 11% it currently holds on Rotten Tomatoes. And that’s not just because Craven was my first favorite director.
This Eddie Murphy and Angela Bassett-led vampire film was the first time I saw Black vampires as a child. This movie meant a lot to me as a little kid in the Midwest who was starting to wonder why Black actors never got leading roles. My favorite director knew that Black people existed and could lead horror movies (two things many filmmakers are still struggling to come to terms with in 2025). For all these reasons, and many more, I am excited to dig into why this movie is not nearly as bad as most remember it being.
Vampire in Brooklyn sees a Caribbean vampire arrive in Brooklyn and seeks out a police officer who does not know that she is a half-vampire. Maximillian (Murphy) is charismatic, vicious, and unwavering in his pursuit of Detective Rita (Bassett). Rita is smart but doesn’t trust her instincts and fears her “gifts”. She also knows that she’s different from everyone around her. So, it makes sense that she would want to buy into the mysterious stranger who feels familiar.
Also Read: ‘Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight’: An Underrated Classic [Run It Back Review]
Rita is also still grieving her mother, who passed away in an asylum three months ago. This character gives Bassett a lot to work with, and as usual, she delivers. It’s fair to say that Bassett’s performance is one of the things working in this movie’s favor. It is also wild that she and Murphy have almost as much chemistry as she has with Allen Payne (who plays her partner, Detective Justice). This little love triangle at the heart of this vampire tale is not only one of the many nods to Nosferatu this film has up its sleeve, but it is also often interrupted by comic relief.
Julius Jones (Kadeem Hardison) and Silas Green (the late John Witherspoon) get most of the laughs in Vampire in Brooklyn. While Murphy continues his streak of playing multiple characters, he spends most of the film as Maximillian. A vampire that lands a few one-liners but is weirdly one of the most grounded characters from this era of Murphy’s career. This allows Hardison and Witherspoon to shine as they carve out two very memorable supporting characters. This also forces the audience to remember Murphy is capable of more than the endless supply of caricatures he played in the 90s.
Also Read: Wes Craven Loved This “Revolutionary” Chiller, Now Streaming Free
Aside from the acting, this vampiric comedy also has Wes Craven working in its favor. Vampire in Brooklyn dropped four years after The People Under the Stairs and the year after Wes Craven’s New Nightmare. So, it’s at the beginning of the fun era of Craven’s filmography that my generation grew up with. He still knew how to thrill audiences and sustain tension, but he also excelled at making us laugh. This is especially important because Black horror-comedies helmed by non-Black people typically turned out highly offensive. So, hearing about him and Murphy’s mutual respect for each other and learning that Craven pushed for more comedy always makes my heart happy.
The script penned by Charles Murphy, Michael Lucker, and Chris Parker from a story by Eddie Murphy, Vernon Lynch, and Charles Murphy is surprisingly cohesive, especially considering how it was originally intended to be a more straightforward horror movie. I am not going to lie or pretend there are not a couple of offensive jokes. Yet, I see people glaze over alleged comedies with predominantly white casts that are gleefully offensive. Fans and critics argue that those are funny all the time, but I have never laughed. That being said, I think we need to evaluate the goal post and why it moves when Vampire in Brooklyn is mentioned. Why does the industry look the other way and cry, “It was a different time,” for white-led movies that came out this millennium? However, I digress.
Also Read: This Surreal Zombie Flick Inspired by a True Story Is The Ultimate Forgotten Wes Craven Chiller
Vampire in Brooklyn may have been the first time I saw Afro-Caribbean culture being celebrated on screen. In the 90s, if film got that specific instead of just saying “Black people” it was to find more problematic stereotypes. However, in this film, Rita’s yearning to know where she came from is central and makes her cultural roots a huge part of the story. Her mother was a Black woman from America, and her father was a Caribbean vampire she never knew.
This adds layers to her journey of trying to find her place in this world and gives us more intersectionality than most media of its time. This, again, makes Maximillian more appealing because he holds such a huge key to her cultural history. When she finally does kill him, it’s heavy because she is killing a part of herself before getting to really investigate it. This movie has some surprising depth, and every revisit shifts the way I look at it.
Also Read: Knoxville Horror Film Fest 2024 Celebrates Wes Craven [Exclusive]
So, while there is humor, lovable actors, heavy doses of 90s nostalgia, and some blood and organs, there is also a ton of stuff to unpack beneath the surface. Vampire in Brooklyn might not be anyone’s favorite Wes Craven film. However, it is a fun stop in the Uncle Wes library, and I think many people owe it a revisit. There’s a reason this movie has picked up a cult following, and it’s not just because the world was a better place when Craven was having fun behind the camera.
This film is an unexpected but important step forward for Black comedies and Black vampires. It shares DNA with Blacula and Scream Blacula Scream, plus Rita’s being torn between two worlds is in conversation with Blade (even though the films came after). Equally as important, it shows that white creatives do not have to choose violence when working with Black talent. If August also makes you reach for Craven’s catalog, then I encourage you to add this to your watchlist.
Vampire in Brooklyn is currently streaming on Pluto TV.
Do you also think Vampire in Brooklyn deserves more respect than it gets? Then we can be friends at Bluesky.
https://ift.tt/GN3ArLo https://ift.tt/CkEXOf5
No comments:
Post a Comment