Priest Re-Legitimizes Vampire Genre – movie review

Everyone seems to have a supernatural creature they love, and while zombies seem to have been the favorite in recent years, I have always loved vampires – just not the kind that sparkle. That’s why I was so excited to see Priest, one of the first vampire movies with actual, dangerous, yet somehow appealing vampires in a long time. I was not at all disappointed.

I was a little bit nervous about the movie’s run time of 87 minutes. After all, action sequences do take longer, so when an action-packed movie is only average length, there is a good chance that the story may be a little rushed. Luckily, that was not the case with Priest. The movie was fast, and maybe it could have been a little bit longer and been just fine, but on the whole I was satisfied and can’t think of anything specific that could have been better developed.

I liked the contrast of the cities and the outposts in Priest. The cities were run by the church, were post-apocalyptic and had a very “Big Brother is watching you” vibe. It’s the type of city that you see in movies that take place after the end of the world. The outposts, however, were vast and barren and old-fashioned, giving it an old West feel. The pair-up of Priest and Hicks kept up the interesting feel. Priest is a vampire hunter from the church, and Hicks is a sheriff and very reminiscent of a cowboy.

As a vampire fan, I absolutely loved the vampires in Priest. There were different kinds, and each one had its own appeal. First, there were the actual vampires, the ones who have to avoid the sun. They had no eyes and the ability to just rip people to shreds. It was completely frightening but somehow exciting. Then there were the familiars, who had been turned but weren’t really vampires. They protected the vampires on reservations during the day, and were just as carnivorous, though not as frightening. Then there was the human vampire, who is the sexy kind of Dracula vampire, even though he can go into the sun like familiars. But like other vampires, he has the ability to rip people to shreds. He was the most appealing of all the vampires.

Of course, as much as I love vampires, they’d just be unstoppable forces that feast on human blood if it weren’t for their hunters, and Priest is one of the best vampire hunters I’ve seen. He was fast and ruthless, only knowing that if something lived by destroying humans, he would kill it. Priest used his hands and blades, but not firearms. Hicks, who is also one of the better vampire hunters I’ve seen, was a perfect compliment to Priest, as he did use firearms but was also good with a blade. Both were crafty and came up with clever solutions in fighting vampires.

I loved the tension in the movie. I was always uncomfortable, waiting for an attack, and wondering if the heroes were going to get out alive. Vampires were always hiding, and night was always coming sooner than you thought. There was never a moment in the movie where you could breathe easy, and I liked it. It’s also a benefit to the shorter running time – I couldn’t imagine holding my breath for longer than an hour and a half. One would be downright dizzy after watching a movie that suspenseful for too long.

I highly recommend Priest, especially to fans of vampires. More vampire movies should be like this one. Not just sexy, but truly dangerous. Vampires should be scary and just the tiniest bit exciting. You should be afraid they’ll rip you apart, and not 100% sure what you would do if a vampire wanted to turn you. Priest could serve to (re)legitimize vampires as a favorite movie creature, and is an exciting movie to watch.