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Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter

Thanks largely to the efforts of cult filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, stylistic throwbacks to ‘60s and ‘70s gore-gorged underground cinema are in vogue. The pair’s “Grindhouse” double-bill was the height of the craze, while Tarantino’s upcoming “Inglourious Basterds,” a remake of a schlocky ‘70s war movie, promises to grab attention for its “blast-from-the-past” appeal.

Unfortunately for the pacesetters in Hollywood, a troupe of independent Canadian filmmakers beat them to the punch by a few years.

Ottawa’s Odessa Filmworks created “Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter” in 2001. After touring it around North American film festivals, the Odessa movie created minor waves and won several awards for its quirky aesthetic and amateurish, yet charming, production values. Since then, “Hunter” has become something of a cult film, receiving worldwide distribution and a following on DVD.

The story concerns the efforts of Jesus (Phil Caracas) to combat the rising tide of vampire attacks on Ottawa’s lesbian populace. For reasons never explained satisfactorily, the undead opt to feed on lesbian blood, commonly justifying the attacks by saying homosexuals live a deviant lifestyle. Jesus, believing all God’s children deserve love equally, refuses to stand for this. With the help of Lucha Libre wrestler El Santo (Jeff Moffet), Jesus takes on karate-master atheists, Dr. Strangelove-style mad scientists and, of course, hordes of unsavory vampires, who all dress like they are going to a Cure concert, to liberate lesbians of day-walking bloodsuckers.

The absence of a budget can make a movie charming, especially when the lack of funds brings it closer to achieving the look and feel of the genre the filmmakers are trying to replicate. “Hunter” excels in looking like a grindhouse movie from 30 years ago; the film stock is scratchy and de-saturated, and the camerawork is amateurish enough to beg the ultimate bad-movie-watching question: intentional or accidental? It also sounds like a legitimate grindhouse picture. The post-synchronization of the dialogue is dreadful, and the mistimed punch sound effects are just the classic chopsticks-being-snapped-in-half familiar to fans of poorly made Kung Fu movies.

Stylistically, “Hunter” commonly succeeds. It replicates the bizarre humor, corny dialogue and bargain-basement effects for which so many earlier grindhouse movies were beloved by underground cinema aficionados. This film knows the tropes of the genre so well that it often stumbles into the realm of satire.

However, much of the humor available in “Hunter” seems to get lost in translation; many of the best gags in the movie are marred by bad delivery. A perfect example of this is a minor character who owns a pawnshop frequented by vampires who, after some coercion, acts as an informant for Jesus. The character’s lines are written like a snitch in a Mike Hammer detective film, all confusing analogies, machismo and street-wise argot. However, the actor’s rote, robotic delivery removes any potential for laughs. It’s hard to accuse “Hunter” of not being self-aware; the filmmakers recognized the tropes in the material inspiring their movie. They simply botched the execution when it came time to transfer those same elements from script to screen. Unfortunately, there are more mistimed gags and rushed jokes than there are on-target ones, making the under 90 minute running time feel too long.

Written by: Adam Rowan

Reviewers Rating: 4.5
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