Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter is a 2001 Canadian horror parody film from Odessa Filmworks which deals with Jesus' modern-day struggle to protect the lesbians of Ottawa, Ontario, from vampires with the help of Mexican wrestler El Santo (based on El Santo, Enmascarado de Plata, and played by actor Jeff Moffet, who starred as El Santo in two other Odessa Filmworks productions).

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter
Directed byLee Demarbre
Written byIan Driscoll
StarringPhil Caracas
Murielle Varhelyi
Jeff Moffet
Ian Driscoll
Nicholas Edwards
Music byGraham Collins
Edited byLee Demarbre
Distributed byOdessa Filmworks, Inc.
Release date
  • 10 June 2001 (2001-06-10) (premiere)
  • 15 January 2002 (2002-01-15) (Canada)
Running time
85 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Budget$100,000 CAD

This film earned an honorable mention in the Spirit of Slamdance category at the 2002 Slamdance Film Festival[1] and is considered a cult film.

Plot summary

After a spree of vampire attacks on lesbians, a Catholic priest (Father Eustace) realizes that only Jesus Christ can fight off the vampires. Eustace sends two priests to a beach, where they inform Jesus of the problem. Three vampires, including Maxine Shreck, kill the priests, but Jesus kills two of the vampires by using the lake as holy water. Maxine escapes. Jesus goes to Ottawa, gets a haircut, and buys wood to make stakes. Thirty atheists jump out of a car and confront Jesus, only to be easily defeated. Jesus teams up with Mary Magnum and infiltrates the hospital, where they discover that Dr. Praetorious is performing skin transplants to make the vampires immune to sunlight. Maxine and Johnny Golgotha defeat Jesus and Mary in a rooftop battle. Thus Mary is bitten, becoming a vampire.

Jesus calls upon a Mexican wrestler, El Santo, for help. At a nightclub, they slay dozens of vampires, but El Santo and his assistant are captured. The next day, Johnny, Maxine, and Mary capture Jesus and bring him to a junkyard where his allies are being held. Eustace is there, and he reveals that he is a vampire. A battle breaks out. Jesus simultaneously fights Dr. Praetorious at the hospital. The doctor is fatally wounded, but Jesus heals him. At the junkyard, Eustace stabs Jesus with a stake. A bright light emerges from the wound, killing Eustace and Johnny. El Santo shields a vampire whom he loves from the light, and Jesus cures her and Mary's vampirism. To his surprise, Mary loves Maxine, so Jesus cures her too. Later, Jesus resumes preaching.

Reception

Time's Richard Corliss panned the film, finding that "the comedy is slack, the song lyrics feeble, the pace torpid".[2] Ken Eisner of Variety took a more neutral view, finding that "the film is too silly to offend".[3] Jason Nolan of The Harrow deemed the production "horridly wonderful", although uneven, noting that "[w]ith a film like this, you want it to be bumpy".[4] Film Threat's Eric Campos gave the film a generally positive review.[5]

References
  1. "Slamdance 2002 Film Festival". Slamdance 2002. 11–19 January 2002. Archived from the original on 20 July 2003.
  2. Corliss, Richard (29 February 2004). "Jesus Christ Movie Star". Time. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  3. Eisner, Ken (10 May 2002). "Review: Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter". Variety. Retrieved 19 January 2008.
  4. Nolan, Jason (2004). "Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter (review)". The Harrow. Archived from the original on 12 February 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
  5. Campos, Eric. "Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (review)". Film Threat. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
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