Guardians of the Night (2016) User Reviews

Just ok vampire movie

[shannonlass-39075 · 5/10 · 21 November 2020]

I have seen better movies about vampires, this is not bad but it's too similar to Blade.

Personally I enjoyed the movie, it there were some times I just was little bored.

However I don't say don't watch the movie, because only losers say that. So watch the movie and judge by yourself.

Its Bite Night In Russia's Capital City, But Its Not President Putin...This Time!

[silicontourist · 5/10 · 27 August 2021]

Guardians of the Night? You should stock up on garlic cloves, holy water and wooden stakes...because these guardians will get you killed! :) The hero (if you can remotely call him that) has no skills, self defense training, abilities and absolutely no common sense whatsoever...he is a complete idiot!

Still I would probably watch this film again...possibly, sometime, maybe...!?

Its a low budget supernatural fantasy with lots of thrills and spills and non stop action, the combat scenes are acted out and filmed superbly; the actors all do a very good convincing job also. The CGI special FX are simple yet very impressive for a B-Movie budget.

The only negative side to this worth while watchable 'Fang Banger' is the post shoot choppy editing at times, and the lack of a natural flow to the story. I'm sure this is probably due, mainly, to lack of a larger budget of Rubles and a script versus film directors wanderings.

One reviewer has said that this is too similar to the "BLADE" vampire film('s). It is nothing like anything of the Blade genre (unless you think vampires running amok in a nightclub scene - as happened in Blade - makes it so) because the hero of this film is neither a Vampire, a day-walker or anything supernatural; he's not even a warrior! His only use in the film is that he is able to feel, and sense, the presence of anything supernatural.

So there you are! Its not a Fan(G)tastic film but its not a Fan(G)kless waste of 1hr:37mins either.

Fan(G)k-you for reading and enjoy it for what it is!

Night Guard review

[JoeytheBrit · 5/10 · 26 June 2020]

Derivative, hyperactive YA fantasy/adventure from Russia with way too many slo-mo sequences and a self-conscious pre-occupation with being cool which of course means it will be hopelessly outdated in a matter of a few years.

Weak, secondary, stupid

[Bensonhurst · 2/10 · 29 September 2016]

The most stupid Russian film in 2016, seems like parody the Night Watch, but real Russian sarcasm.

This is a film of rare category "look exactly 10 minutes."

If at least ...

First of all, immediately freeze acting Jankowski younger. Yes, it's not even a game! This revelation monkey play! It is clear that he came into the picture (well, as in his other projects) by the well- known pull. But it dynasty frankly a disgrace ...

More pathetic dialogues with clumsy and templates (especially for domestic hard "soap") remarks such as "man, wait! let's all discuss calmly! ".

Graphic time of first King Kong, and the conquest of America. Ghoul, which appears at the beginning of the coffin (yes, I do not want to bother with remembering the characters of this nonsense name) reminded caricature of Lenin, funny but not more! Friends, you have the huge budget! Where is he?

The plot is ... What is there to talk ... especially vicious fruit of love schizophrenia, banality with candid copy-paste.

Oh yes! Yarmolnik in action roles laugh mad!

Oh well ...

A complete failure!

It's a shame! Ashamed to be something someone for the year the movie!

Hour and a half of my life I wont get back.

[leeannc29 · 1/10 · 9 September 2018]

Utter rubbish .. confusing and irratic plot ripped off from several films

More of the same

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 16 June 2018]

GUARDIANS OF THE NIGHT is another CGI-enhanced horror/fantasy/action flick that hails from Russia and seems to use Hollywood's UNDERWORLD franchise as the main source of inspiration. The story is very much like that of NIGHT WATCH and DAY WATCH and the film looks and feels like those films too: slick, expensive, somehow artificial, and very shallow indeed. I did enjoy it more than the aforementioned movies, but only just. This is very much a generic humans vs. vampires story with all manner of action, from shooting to fight scenes, chases and the like. Every action scene is augmented by copious use of CGI which somehow feels flat, although it's superior to that seen in films made by The Asylum, for example. In addition, the characters are underwritten and the plot twists cliched.

Complete rip off of the Nightwatch series of books

[holbros · 4/10 · 20 October 2019]

Poorly written rip off of the Nightwatch series written by Ivan Kueylenko

Neither Classically great nor abysmally awful. I thought it was mildly entertaining... Blu-ray: Excellent A:8 V:8

[lathe-of-heaven · 6/10 · 9 October 2017]

As usual, it seems like either the reviewers APPEAR to be plants with their rather silly 10 star reviews, or someone comes along and completely trashes it.

Look, NO awards are gonna be won here, okay? I think anybody who is being honest will agree with that. But, with that said... for what it is, it's kind of fun. For me, this was actually the very first modern fully English dubbed Russian film with a mildly fun Mythology about vampires and government organizations to combat them, Ancient Covenants, etc... that I've seen. So, the novelty of that was kind of interesting. What we're talking about here is a HUGELY watered down sort of 'UNDERWORLD' but with government agents instead of Werewolves. Kind of... : ) Also, with about, oh... maybe 1/10 of 1% of the budget or depth. You probably get the idea...

It was fun... Somewhat amateurish, sure, but enjoyable. Everyone seemed to be putting in their best, such as it is, and that made it mildly entertaining IF your expectations are set VERY low.

Would I liked to have seen a film like this done with a LOT more money and better writing...? Sure... But, in my lowly and wretched opinion, compared to a LOT of the truly painful, UN-watchable stuff out there, I think this one gets a pass for being kind of fun, low-key, and yet still trying to be serious about it. This is not a Horror/Comedy. Also, FWIW, it is PG-13 friendly and still entertaining, which is bloody tough to do very well these days. So, even a passable effort along those lines is still quite a ways above the rest...

If you are looking for a serious & deep Sci Fi / Horror film, then yes, by all means look elsewhere. But, if you just wanna sit back and have a lightly entertaining time without a lot of excess, then, sure, you might actually have a bit of fun with this movie...

Surprisingly good!

[dave-leigh-379-252926 · 8/10 · 18 June 2018]

Look, contrary to some other reviews, this movie didn't need a bigger budget. I can't count the number of movies that were ruined by big budgets, and we don't need any more of that. This film's VFX and action sequences were on point and extremely good. The film itself focuses on story and doesn't waste money on crap that would detract from the focus on the story. It packs a few surprises as well... at one point I found myself laughing for all the right reasons. Inventive and fresh.

Only one criticism...

[japegwyn · 7/10 · 28 April 2020]

It's Russian, but more international in flavour and style. Yeah, you can compare it with Nightwatch, but... It's a different thing, for a different market.

I enjoyed it, it's a lot of fun. It looks gorgeous and the set pieces are at least good enough.

My only criticism is the not so much the English vocal acting, but the casting... That's only my opinion, though.

So get past any doubts, dip in to see a fairly light-hearted vampire romp in Moscow (yet not horribly Gothic and depressing!)... I mean, we pay loads to go to the cinema to see worse American flix, so hey, why not just have fun here?*

*If your answer to that question is something akin to a sneer, then it wouldn't matter HOW good it is, you'd hate it, because you're the sort who would hate it anyway.

Here comes the night

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 25 March 2021]

Are you into Fantasy movies? With a darker tone and all that? Then you might be right here. This may be predictabel and full of cliches, but it still is able to entertain if you let it. I have been accused of being too nice to movies and I reckon you can say the same thing here. But since I am a bit of a sucker when it comes to certain types of movies, it is to be expected. This was decent overall, story and effects wise too.

Vampires are back in Russia !!

[sebastien-16976 · 10/10 · 30 January 2017]

When Nocheny Strashi (Guardians of the night) was released in theaters in Russia I went to watch it. I must say that I was very much surprised. It was far better than expected. I especially liked the acting of the vampires. I think that the plot is quite strong, and it does not ruin the vampire legend. The VFX are very good and the action is non stop. I whish they will make a sequel or a prequel because it could be a great franchise. Ivan Yankovskiy is great actor in this movie, he has a lot of style. The music is very fun, and well made.I enjoyed as well the atmosphere of this movie. The poster is cool, it reminds me Underworld movies.

At least is funny

[gianmarcoronconi · 6/10 · 15 September 2023]

This is not a real review, it should be taken more as a collection of impressions on the film.

Vampires, machine guns and the desire to conquer the world, all together to have a banal but at least entertaining film, this film is the demonstration of how you can make a film without pretense just to entertain and nothing more. Already seen formula that blends horror with action with a touch of romance and in addition there are vampires who always add a slice of the public who watches many films with these creatures. The film is therefore not that great but at least it entertains and entertains enough, enough not to bore the viewer and for this reason in my opinion it deserves at least a passing grade.

Critics are way too harsh - it's actually rather good!

[tianarasoanavony · 9/10 · 24 January 2017]

Of course, you should not look at this movie as if it was the new X MEN movie, but for a local Russian production, it's quite good!

I don't want to tell you much about the story because It contains some nice surprises I appreciated a lot and I don't want to ruin your joy of watching this movie. I loved the storyline and characters, which were a lot more original than most US productions of the same budget level.

The special effects are amazing considering the budget of the movie: one scene in particular will amaze you (don't want to spoil the fun), it could have been in any US blockbuster.

The summarize:The VFX are great, the actors are good, it's packed with action: it's a very nice film for all sci-fi lovers!

Usual Story Done Very Well

[ucgordon · 9/10 · 29 March 2024]

A very well done "Hero In Spite Of Himself" trope (OK, yes, it is hard to do any movie without a trope, or even several) dark comedy where a young loser package courier gets dragged into the Moscow underworld where mythical creatures live among humans and a government agency tries to keep them in line. Meanwhile a few try to bring on an apocalypse where they would end up ruling the Earth. During all this action he discovers (as usual) his until then unknown powers.

It has an appealing ensemble cast, great villains which are, for me, absolutely necessary (some cleverly resembling movie versions of Russian gangsters). It has a strong message about believing in yourself as well as the usual hokey "love will win out."

This is a fun move, even dubbed into English as I saw it.