Anthony Hickox skilfully blends a vampire story with a Western set in contemporary times, and plays it for laughs (but not for camp) allowing for more serious aspects to come through. Among these more serious aspects, which are treated that way, are an extramarital affair that has created serious resentment, and the condition of being a vampire. When Robert Van Helsing (hysterically played by Bruce Campbell) arrives in Purgatory, Mort is already in jail for murder, and Jefferson is planning a revolt against living on synthesized blood. Dressed as a pilgrim, he insists Count Mardulak is a traitor to his kind, while Mardulak counters that feeding on humans is so special to be in common with "the tapeworm, the flea, the fungus, that's how special vampires are." The twist ending shows who the real traitor to his kind is. Inept Van Helsing spares beautiful diner waitress Sandy so that she'll lead him to Mardulak, and starts to fall in love with her. Mardulak allows Sandy to bite him, and he wakes up with his cross burning his neck and screamin' at his lack of reflection! The fact that Dave Harrison must work with the man who seduced his wife while they were married creates some serious tensions, and Shane develops wood-tipped bullets to fight against Mardulak's so-called traitors. Deftly written, and lacking in the sadism of films like _From Dusk Till Dawn_, this film presents well developed, humorous characters, and everything seems to work, without ever turning camp.
Review of Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat
