Directed by: Wes Craven
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Angela Bassett, Allen Payne, Kadeem Hardison, John Witherspoon, Joanna Cassidy
Eddie Murphy tries to stretch himself as a villainous vampire looking to feast on victims in contemporary Brooklyn. I don't think a comic horror film is for him. Especially this one, which is an uneasy blend of comedy and gore. I've seen Eddie Murphy as an action hero, a romantic comedian, an R & B singer, and even the star of family-friendly films, but somehow seeing fangs protrude from his gums works the least.
Murphy plays Maximillian, a Caribbean vampire who arrives in Brooklyn via a boat looking for his ideal mate. I couldn't help but think of Coming to America, Murphy's superb 1988 comedy, updated as a vampire tale, which is as ungainly as it sounds. The mate in question is Brooklyn police detective Rita Veder (Bassett), whose deceased mother was an expert on the paranormal and whose father was a vampire; unbeknownst to her, but beknownst to Maximillian. Rita has strange dreams of Maximillian and of things to come before they happen. She doesn't know why, but Maximillian does and hopes to influence her to be his eternal bride. It seems Maximillian needs a bride or will die, which is why he is so pushy with her.
Complications are abound, including Rita's partner Justice (Payne), who is in love with Rita and vice versa, although they don't express it out loud. Maximillian enlists a young thief named Julius (Hardison) as a ghoul who acts as the vampire's butler and limo driver. Not a bad gig, but Julius finds himself losing body parts and with deteriorating skin. I suppose that is the price of vampire apprenticeship.
Murphy not only plays Maximillian, but taps into his amazing comic talent to play a preacher and a white petty thief with mob connections. Those scenes are amusing, including the preacher (who is really Maximillian morphed into him) who convinces his flock to repeat, "Evil is good," That scene works as satire of religion and is a nice diversion from the maudlin plot. Vampire in Brooklyn is mostly a slog, with good comic actors being good sports and Eddie Murphy trying something new. To my knowledge, he never attempted to play a vampire again.
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