Director
Glenn Standring
Cast
Dougray Scott Silus
Saffron Burrows Lilly
Leo Gregory Edgar
Scott Wills Jones
Stuart Wilson Augustus
Craig Hall Dominic
DVD Release Date: July 17, 2007
Rating: R
Running Time: 88 Minutes
The Movie
Vampires have been around for a long time although many opinions differ on when their actual beginnings may have originated. People hear the stories of Dracula and some believe that all vampires come from Transylvania. Sure they make for great and entertaining tales, but perhaps vampires have a much deeper history behind them then just evil and horrific blood-suckers. Maybe they are the advanced species because that’s what was intended.
An organization of vampires called “The Brothers” was known to have lived and flourished at one point, but they were not like common modern day vampires. The Brothers had all the qualities of everything people have come to known as vampires but they used their abilities for good. Generated from humans as a sort of mutation, they had evolved almost twice as fast as mere mortals and could use their skills and superior intellect to create new medicines. Humans even let the Brothers suck some of their blood at times, but merely for research. They actually had come up with such strong cures and done enough research to stop humans from dying. Human safety also helps them because the Brothers need their offspring to keep their race alive.
Everything is going well between the humans and vampires until one of the Brothers, a vampire named Edgar is involved in a genetic experiment gone wrong. It has turned him into the exact opposite of his Brothers and he has become overcome with evil and a lust for blood. He now goes around hunting humans and killing them to quench his thirst. People are now becoming frightened and beginning to lose trust in the Brothers. Edgar is ruining everything they know to be life and the Brothers fear this could become a lot worse before it gets better.
In steps Silus who is one of the most respected and high-ranking members of the Brothers. He has set out to track down Edgar and stop him before more humans catch wind of what he is doing. If things take a turn for the worse; it could lead to a possible epic battle between the two species. With the help of a female cop named Lilly, Silus hopes that Edgar can be cured of his evil ways or stopped by any means necessary before its too late.
First off, Perfect Creature is a really nice change from the ordinary vampire films that have come out over the past two decades or so. Besides simply looking at vampires as we know them, there was a back story to them actually being totally different then the evil, “I just want to drink your blood and kill you” type that they are usually portrayed as. And it isn’t just the fact that they were different, but they were interesting. Considering I’m a sucker for the history of things, the rather deep past given to the Brothers was incredibly interesting.
The deep history may also end up turning some people off because of how slow the first half of the film moves, but it does crank up later on. After Edgar turns to his evil ways there are some intense and violent scenes along with some really great looking fights that all can enjoy. Don’t expect to find much horror in Perfect Creature even though it is a vampire film because that is obviously not what they were going for. Sure there’s a small scare here and there, but this film was about a story and history. Not about making you look for a new pair of shorts.
The Video
The film is shown in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen and combined with the beautiful scenery, the video quality is excellent. All the brighter colors, including the blood, are sharp and clear to the point that it looks close to real. The visuals overall, especially the cityscape backgrounds, are truly stunning and well worth watching the film for alone.
The Audio
The film is heard in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and has a few flaws here and there. Most notably the dialogue is sometimes extremely low and very hard to hear if you’ve got the volume at a level where the music sounds reasonable. It makes for some tweaking or lowering/raising the volume before you can find a happy medium, but don’t be surprised if you don’t find one.
Special Features
The Making Of Perfect Creature – Cast and crew of course come together to give their thoughts on filming, but what was interesting was the producers talking about how much research was done for the film. They talk about doing research for six full months prior to shooting so they could learn all they needed to about vampires that they didn’t already know. As more cast members discuss their roles, it is really interesting if you’ll notice just how much they keep in character and speak of their co-stars as vampires and not actors.
Designing The Perfect Creature – Again cast and crew are here to talk about the sets and visuals seen in the film. They were aiming for an older Victorian image with the buildings and costumes and I must say that they pulled it off beautifully. A nice amount of detail and close research went into not only the clothing but also how people did things in older times from how they walked to how they carried their belongings slung over their shoulders. Not the longest feature but seeing some of the settings again where the film was shot is always enjoyable as they were beautiful.
Trailers – The Hills Have Eyes 2, Pathfinder, Turistas, Night Watch, and Wrong Turn 2
The Inside Pulse
Perfect Creature is really a lot better then it has any right to be because until I received the DVD, I had never even heard of it. It is an incredibly welcome change in the point of view that everyone has seen vampires in for so long. This is no Blade. This is not Underworld. Hell, this isn’t even The Lost Boys. It is an extreme change of pace that slows the whole violence of vampires down to a crawl and then picks it back up once you’ve learned something. The special features leave much to be desired because there really aren’t even enough to get your get you going before they are done with. If you are a true horror fan, I recommend you pick up a copy. Remember I said that this isn’t exactly frightening, but it is a nice look into one of horror’s greatest creatures. Everyone else, try a rental first and I think you may enjoy it enough to see again.
