Vampire in Brooklyn

Infobox_Film
name=Vampire in Brooklyn


caption = The movie cover for "Vampire in Brooklyn".
imdb_id=0114825
writer=Eddie Murphy
Vernon Lynch
Charles Q. Murphy
starring=Eddie Murphy,
Angela Bassett
director=Wes Craven
music=J. Peter Robinson | distributor=Paramount Pictures
released=October 27, 1995
runtime=100 min.
language=English
movie_series=
awards=
amg_id = 1:135712
producer=Marianne Maddalena
Stuart M. Besser
Eddie Murphy
budget=$14,000,000|

"Vampire in Brooklyn" (also known as "Wes Craven's Vampire in Brooklyn") is a 1995 American horror/comedy film directed by horror legend Wes Craven, and starring Eddie Murphy and Angela Bassett. Allen Payne, Kadeem Hardison, John Witherspoon, Zakes Mokae, and Joanna Cassidy co-star. Eddie Murphy wrote the film's script, along with Vernon Lynch and Charlie Murphy. In addition to playing the main character, Murphy also plays an alcoholic preacher and a foul-mouthed Italian gangster. The film did not do well at the box office but gained a cult following after its release.

Plot summary

An abandoned ship crashes into a dockyard in Brooklyn, and the ship inspector, Silas Green, checks out the ship, only to find, to his horror, that the ship is full of corpses. Elsewhere, Julius, Silas's petty nephew, has a run-in with some Italian mobsters. Just as the two goons are about to do away with Julius, Maximillian, a suave but mysterious Caribbean man, shows up, reveals himself as a vampire, and kills the gangsters. Soon after, Maximillian infects Julius with his vampiric blood, turning Julius into a slowly decaying ghoul; he then explains that he has come to Brooklyn in search of the Dhampir daughter of a vampire from his native Caribbean island in order to live beyond the night of the next full moon.

This Dhampir turns out to be Rita Veder, a police detective who is still dealing with the death of her mentally unstable mother some months before. Rita begins having strange visions about her (or at least a woman that looks like her), and while she begins questioning about her mother's past, her partner Justice, who feels more than just partnership for her, just thinks that Rita is still grieving. However, Maximillian initiates a series of sinister methods to find out more about Rita and to further pull her into his seductive thrall. He turns her but as long as he is killed before she drinks someone's blood she can be turned back. Justice fails to stake Max, but Rita stakes him instead and he disintegrates turning her back into a normal human. Meanwhile, Julius finds Maximillian's ring and puts it on. He instantly transforms into a well-dressed (and well-endowed) vampire. The film ends when Julius and Silas drive off into the night in the limousine.

Rating

In the United States, the MPAA rated the film "R" for "strong language and vampire violence." In the UK, the movie was given a "15" certificate for "mild horror, dark humor of an adult theme, sex scenes, and language."

Trivia

* Mitch Pileggi (of "The X-Files" fame) has an uncredited cameo as one of the two Italian gangsters killed by Maximillian. One of Pileggi's first film roles was in Wes Craven's "Shocker".
* Angela Bassett's stunt double Sonja Davis was killed in an accident during filming. [http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=109821]
* Maximillian's mullet hairstyle is lampooned by Optiganally Yours in their song "Poodleman" in which the narrator tells the titular figure not to restyle his hair as he "don't want to look like the Vampire of Brooklyn"
* This was Eddie Murphy's last film to be distributed by Paramount Pictures - as his exclusive contract ended after this film - until 2006 when Murphy starred in "Dreamgirls".

Cast

* Eddie Murphy – Maximillian/Preacher Pauley/Guido
* Angela Bassett – Detective Rita Veder
* Allen Payne – Detective Justice
* Kadeem Hardison – Julius Jones
* John Witherspoon – Silas Green
* Zakes Mokae – Dr. Zeko
* Joanna Cassidy – Captain Dewey