Vampire Clan (2002) Reviews

• An accurate depiction, more or less.

  Tenma2004-03-09

  I followed the "Vampire Clan" murder story through the years, mainly because I was the same age as the teens involved in the case and also played roleplaying games like Vampire: The Masquerade. I never believed I was a real vampire or got into actual bloodsucking, cutting or what have you, but still, the case struck close to home. As a result I can attest that this movie has done a very good job of presenting the facts of the case in reasonable detail, right down to Jennifer Wendorf's red Saturn convertible. The most obvious changes were in the characterization, which someone probably thought would make the story flow better. Missing was Rod Ferrell's massive mane of black hair, as well as Scott's somewhat less intrusive chin-length cut. They were given standard short haircuts, which kind of detracts from the weirdness of the original case. The characters of Charity Keesee and Dana Cooper should have been played by opposite actors. The actual Dana was overweight, which could have been pulled off more easily by the round-faced Alex Breckenridge. Marina Black looks absolutely nothing like Dana Cooper (who had short, curly hair at the time,) but wouldn't have been a far cry from Charity. As far as the personalities go, there was no indication that Scott Anderson was a fidgety, shifty, nutball-type character. He had a hellish upbringing but was normally seen as calm and collected and was mostly a good student. Rod's characterization was reasonable, but I saw Charity as a less demonic force than the movie portrayed her as. She was a generally cheery girl who was grossly misled by her love of Rod, and she took the news of the deaths pretty hard. When it came down to it, she was one of the first to break down, and it was in fact Charity that made the call to her mother, not Dana. I found it a bit ludicrous that they showed the Lake County Sherriff (who of course wasn't actually present at the questioning in Baton Rouge) just letting Heather go after hearing her story. In real life, Heather spent several months in jail waiting on the authorities to make up their minds before they finally decided to clear her of the charges. And Jennifer and Heather had bad blood between them in the interim due to some of Jennifer's comments to the media and Heather's responses. I highly doubt that they embraced like that when they reunited. There was also a lot more dirt on Heather that never made it to the DVD. She just barely escaped charges, and there is still some question as to how much she actually had to do with the murders. Also, I wonder how long it took for somebody to come by and swipe the pearls she left on her mother's grave. Another IMDB user had a good point in that they missed out on some interesting plot by not involving Rod's mother Sondra Gibson in the movie. There were aspects of that mother-son relationship that would have gone far to enhance Rod's insane image. They also ignored the entire role-playing issue, but it might have been better that they did. It's not that the game makes people insane, it's that Rod was already insane to begin with, but not everyone understands that. All in all, though, the movie was well-done, although I think it's been grossly miscategorized. This is a True Crime story, and people looking for a good Horror flick are doubtlessly going to be disappointed. Yet, that's where you'll always find the movie, mainly because it has the word "Vampire" in the title.

• Violent and Weird Drama Based on a True Story

  claudio_carvalho2005-04-30

  In 1996, in Eustis, Florida, the parents of two girls are found brutally murdered at their home by the oldest daughter, Jeni Wendorf (Stacy Hogue), and the other one, Heather Ann Wendorf (Kelly Krueger), is missing. A further investigation discloses to the police that a group of Gothic deranged teenagers that worships vampires were responsible for the slaughter of the Wendorf family. The former boyfriend of Heather and also very evil and sick Roderick Justin Farrell (Drew Fuller), the leader, has killed Rick and Ruth Wendorf trying to open the gates of hell for him. "Vampire Clan" is a violent and weird drama, based on a true story, having a well developed screenplay and characters and an excellent soundtrack. The low user rating of this movie is caused by the wrong idea of the genre that the title gives to the viewer. My family and I were expecting to see a horror movie, but it is indeed a drama. Even the genre in IMDb need to be corrected. Therefore, the target viewer is not reached, and persons that expect to see a horror movie becomes frustrated. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "O Clã dos Vampiros" ("The Vampire Clan")

• The actual true story is more interesting to Read.

  Skunda2009-09-01

  I found this movie lacking and above all sad. It has all the necessary elements(like the darkness and crazy teens)for a decent movie but if the SCREENPLAY is as bad as it was, then this movie is just a bunch of hot boys and girls talking to each other in scenes that last longer than my mind can keep up. In a nutshell...screenplay bad, scenes to long that end up coming back to bore you again...Not watchable. Do Not Recommend. By the way, I blame the bad acting on the directors and producers because I know Drew Fuller to be a decent actor. I do however recommend to read an article of the true story...far more interesting.

• Surprisingly good

  Mercury-42003-02-28

  I don't know what I expected with this one, probably a cheap low-budget exploitation horror movie with a lot of gore. I was very surprised and liked this. It is somewhat documentary in feel, but overall I thought the story flowed well. I found the mini-cult very believable and watching these people slip into it was fascinating to me.

• This movie rocks no matter what others say!

  suicidaldragnfly2004-08-09

  I loved this movie! Drew Fuller has become one of my favorite actors now, all of them have. It wasn't put out to become #1, it's based on a true story. If they had added more then what they did it probably WOULD have made #1, but then people would complain about how it wasn't accurate. What more do you want? The acting was like real teenagers are, and people like those 'vampires' DO exist. Believe what you want but I will continue to love this movie no matter what the ratings are and I urge everyone to see it. The music was good and the way they told what they knew was dead-on. I give this movie a 9/10. I do see why you don't like it, because you expected more. Seen with an open mind this movie rocks!