Sin is good

VAMPIRE IN BROOKLYN (1995)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Originally reviewed in Fall 1996)

Eddie Murphy is pretty much on the same wavelength as Whoopi Goldberg: they are both big, audacious comic stars who don't easily fit into any of the countless tired Hollywood formulas written for them. Whoopi has had a little more success than Eddie in the 90's, prior to Eddie's "The Nutty Professor." As a result, Eddie has not had a major comedy hit since 1988's "Coming to America," arguably his best picture. The new Eddie Murphy played a vampire in a film by Wes Craven back in 1995, a role you'd never expect the old Eddie from "Beverly Hills Cop" to play.

Murphy plays an African vampire with a goatee named Max who travels to Brooklyn to find his soul mate. His soul mate turns out to be a frustrated, edgy cop played by the lovely Angela Bassett ("What's Love Got To Do With It"). Max bites a few necks along the way to get to her but he can't do it all himself. He enlists the help of a young thief who becomes a sort of deteriorating, latter-day Renfield. We've seen this type of story countless times before, and there is no reason any of this should really work. Murphy as a vampire in a Wes Craven flick? Is this comedy-horror or a horror-comedy?

The surprise is that "Vampire in Brooklyn" is not half-bad at all, a minor guilty pleasure. There are plenty of good laughs, dozens of one-liners, frenetic camerawork from Max's point-of-view as he soars across Brooklyn, nasty dream sequences, and Murphy shows ample skill as a vampire who can shape-shift into a holier-than-thou, Al Sharpton-type Reverend or a thick-accented Italian gangster named Guido. The photography is appropriately dark and damp considering most of the story takes place at night. There are some nice, subtle touches such as the flickering candlelights that surround Murphy and Bassett's erotic dance and arm lanterns that extend from the wall, all lifted from Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast" and Coppola's "Dracula."

I also found there to be pleasant chemistry between Murphy and Bassett - it would be nice to see them in more romantic pairings in the future. The scenes of Murphy inviting Bassett to dine with him ("I would like to have you...for dinner") are priceless and fitfully funny. The other plus is Murphy's impeccable impersonations and marvelous make-up jobs that show him off as the talent he always was - still, these scenes have little to do with the story at hand. Often such comedic highlights, which are precious few, interfere with the ghastly blood and gore.

"Vampire in Brooklyn" is packed with gross gags galore and unnecessary gore. A horror-comedy should balance both horror and blood equally rather than going overkill on the gore, as also witnessed by John Landis's excruciating "Innocent Blood." The ending is also strangely unfinished - I would love to have seen a more imaginative killing method rather than the traditional stake-in-the-heart. A little originality would not hurt - who can ever forget Christopher Lee's Dracula killed by both a cross and the rays of sunlight?

"Vampire in Brooklyn" proved to be a failure as Murphy's comeback - a year later, he wowed audiences and made a major comeback with "The Nutty Professor." This film certainly beats the last dreary "Beverly Hills Cop" picture he did though not as harmless and fitfully funny as "The Distinguished Gentleman." It is a hoot and a half and sporadically funny but not enough of a challenge for dear old Eddie. My advice to Eddie Murphy is to return to his raw, politically incorrect roots, as it were. He was funnier and more outrageous when you did not know what to expect.