Synopsis

After a vampire raid wipes out most of his team, relentless hunter Jack Crow joins forces with his sole surviving partner, a priest, and a bitten captive. Their target is Jan Valek, an ancient master vampire seeking a powerful Catholic relic. If Valek obtains it, his kind may gain the ability to survive in daylight.

Factoids & Trivia

• The film is loosely based on John Steakley's 1991 novel Vampire$, although the movie uses a substantially different storyline.

• John Carpenter approached the project as a horror-western hybrid. The vampire hunters' convoy, desert locations, barroom violence, and siege structure deliberately echo the rhythms and imagery of a modern Western.

• Carpenter wanted to avoid traditional gothic vampire imagery. His vampires are presented as savage predators rather than aristocratic, romantic, or brooding figures.

• Much of the film was shot around Santa Fe and Las Vegas, New Mexico. The historic Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas, New Mexico, serves as the setting for the hotel where Montoya and Katrina take shelter.

• The production used approximately 25 gallons of fake black blood for the vampires and 30 gallons of red blood for human injuries. Each vampire reportedly went through several sets of fangs during filming.

• Carpenter composed the score and also assembled a blues and roots-influenced soundtrack performed by musicians including Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn, and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter.

• After the disappointing reception of Escape from L.A., Carpenter considered leaving filmmaking. He later said the Western angle of Vampires restored some of his enthusiasm for directing.