This is How Movies Should Be Made

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Patrick M. Griffith may very well be the great unsung hero of cinema. The amazing command over tone in the incredibly atmospheric 'Vampire Journals' isn't solely but certainly substantially thanks to his impeccable supervising sound editing work. But at least in the industry his contribution seems to be valued, his involvement in approximately 200 productions in the 90's alone seem to be a testament to that. Not to discredit the other artists of this production, though, because this is definitely the best film I've seen in which M. Griffith had his mixer console regulating hands in.'Vampire Journals' very much is a story of vampires in which mortals mostly play the role of servants and nuisances, humans are a state of being that has to be overcome, what they certainly are not is a threat nor are they of big relevance in this film.The visuals are better shown than talked about. They are very consistent throughout, their aim is less to wow the viewer than to engulf him and to make him succumb to its Gothic temptation. It's the film's greatest strength as well as its greatest weakness because it can be straining to be immersed in it for its full running time. But this tells you that 'Vampire Journals' is a film without great faults, even the acting is surprisingly good for this type of production.Naturally there is a lot of mist in this film, it's even used indoors but it's used delicately to enhance the light. You never ask yourself: "Why is it so foggy inside the mansion?" It more looks like dust through which the light has to fight its way which fits the material perfectly. Like I said, the visuals don't aim to impress but the relatively simple special effect of over-sized, seemingly bodiless shadows traveling alongside house facades certainly make for some striking moments in the film.The man in the lead role is an obvious choice to play an elegant Gothic type of vampire but why not if he fits it so very well. Which brings me to a potential complaint, the vampires look too obvious (even their pointy teeth are on display at all times), any human being would immediate notice that something is off with them, but that's just it, vampires secretly are the master race, so it fits into the overall concept that they have no great need to conceal themselves. It's not something that is of great relevance to the story at any point anyway.

Vampire Journals is set in some unnamed Eastern European country where a Vampire named Zachary (David Gunn) decides to take in some culture & spend a night at a classical concert, there he notices master Vampire Ash (Jonathon Morris) who seems to be taking an unhealthy shine to pianist Sofia Christopher (Kristen Cerre). The next day & Sofia is contacted by a woman named Iris (Starr Andreef) who works for Ash & owns a nightclub called 'Club Muse' & says that Ash wants her to play for him in a private concert which Sofia agrees to. Ash wants to turn Sofia into his Vampire bride while bitter Vampire hunter Zachary wants to kill him & all of his kind...This American Romanian co-production was written & directed by Ted Nicolaou was produced by Charles Band & his Full Moon companies responsible for all manner of low budgeted horror film crap over the years. The script takes itself very seriously & there's lots of brooding silly sounding dialogue that I presume is meant to be Gothic & compliment the look of the film. It's also quite noticeable how much Vampire Journals reminded me of Interview with the Vampire (1994) in terms of the way it looks & feels. The character's are poor clichés, the main villainous Vampire who falls in love with a beautiful woman, the Vampire who hates his kind & has set out to destroy them all along with the human followers who do the Vampires bidding during the daytime. It's all rather predictable, it's all rather slow & pedestrian & there's too much silly talk in it. The story itself is threadbare to say the least, it's mostly just people walking around & talking about things which don't matter a whole lot. If your a die hard Vampire flick fan then you'll probably lap this up as, well it's got Vampires in it but anyone looking for an effective horror flick will surely be disappointed at the dull bland nature of this film & a lack of a decent engaging story.I'll give Vampire Journals credit where it deserves it because it looks fabulous, the lighting, the Gothic sets, costumes & production design are very impressive & atmospheric. The only problem is the entire film is set in the same building so there's not much variety. The opening credit's play over very atmospheric & evocative shots of a snow covered graveyard with large stone statues, crypt's & headstones & the film continues with a nice rich, Gothic look running throughout it. There's not much gore here, there are some bitten necks, some splashed around blood & a couple of good looking decapitations. There's some female nudity as well if that sort of thing interests you.Technically the film looks very nice with good visuals & it's well shot. Filmed on location in Bucharest in Romania to keep the cost down even further & as such there are also lots of unpronounceable names both in front & behind the camera. Those living outside the UK probably won't know him but for those living here yes that is the same Jonathon Morris who appeared in the comedy series Bread (1986 - 1991) as Adrian Boswell & he is terrible in this. He will forever be remembered in the UK as 'that guy who was in Bread' & for little else. The rest of the cast are alright but nothing outstanding.Vampire Journals is much better than the usual Full Moon horror flick & looks surprisingly good but the story isn't great & there's not a lot going on. Better than expected but still nothing more than average when all said & done.

Like my previous reviews i don't want to lose time writing about the movie plot line 'cause i think that if you are reading this it's because you have already seen it right? Here we have really beautiful movie, great stages, finest acting and a sublime haunting soundtrack, one of the best i've ever heard i just can't get that piano out of my head. This is another delivery from Ted Nicolaou the one who directed the subspecies saga and i think that most of you must agree with me that this movie it's his finest work. In Vampire Journal happens something interesting and it lies in the acting work, the characters are well portrayed by this unknown actors and that its the veil that all low budget movies must have. the Ash character really have that vampire feel that all we are expecting in a kind of films like this and Jhonaton Morris set his trademark by doing this role, David Gunn in the Zachary role as a vampire slayer did a fine work but he cannot simple match Mister Morris acting, but in Vampire Journal there's one character that really stole the show, I perhaps have never seen a female vampire portrayed so damn well like the one we can find here, everything in she seems completely right, her movements, the way she talk and even her blood drinking, i am referring to Ilinca Goia as Cassandra, she did a amazing outstanding job and without a hell of doubt her character is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen, every scene where she appear its a rewind must, all her movements are so memorable, she is (and this is my very personal opinion) the ultimate female vampire set on screen, i can say the same thing of Claudia's role played by Kirsten Dunst in Interview with a Vampire but thats another history.Another highlight in this film is in charge of Kirsten Cerre as the gorgeous human pianist, she looks so lovely, so tender we all love her from the first scene she appears on screen and its very clear why Ash an Zachary fall in love with her she is simple beautiful. For those who like dark movies and Gothic creepy stages then this movie is for you you won't be disappointed, though I recognize that to get this movie its a little bit difficult but i can assure you that the searching its well worthy, all vampire lover most appreciate this movie and enjoy it and a personal thanks to Ted Nicolaou for giving us all this hours in vampire entertainment trough all this years. Hail Radu, Hail the Bloodstone but above all Hail Cassandra.

I've seen lots of movies, and plenty from the "Vampire" genre. This is one of the finest made. It's very poetic in it's writing and detail. The acting, while not overly astounding, is very well accomplished. As soon as I saw this movie, I then went out and bought it. I'm not saying you should do the same. The feeling of this movie is either your will like it or not...no in the middle here.The settings, the score is all so sombre and gothic. A love story caught in a fantasy drama mileu. It's beautifully portrayed throughout the entire movie and never once did I regret a single frame. There are some movies on this subject that make me feel the stars should have been aborted at zygote stage. (*cough*brad pitt*cough*)Enough said--8 1/2 out of 10.