Vampires: Los Muertos
NOTE: Sequel to John Carpenter's Vampires (1998).Los Muertos picks up after the vampires went south into Mexico and Father Guiteau stashed the Bersier
cross in a monastery. Vampire hunter Derek Bliss [Jon Bon Jovi] has been commissioned to seek and destroy
some vampires in northern Mexico before they can move north to San Diego
and other places in the U.S. The only problem is that the unnamed client
wants to hire a team, not someone working solo. Getting together a team is
a bit difficult for Derek because everyone on Chief Brody's recommended
list keeps turning up dead. Father Guiteau, who was a member of the
original team lead by Jack Crow, died last month. All the priests at the
monastery where he moved the Bersier cross were killed by vampires only a
day or two after Derek came looking for Guiteau.Eventually, Derek manages to put together a team, unlikely as it is.
It consists of Zoey [Natasha Wagner] (a woman he met in a diner who was bitten by a vampire
but who has been able to keep the turning in remission by taking some
anti-HIV pills she got in Mexico City), Father Rodrigo[Cristian de la Fuente] (the only priest
who escaped the massacre at the monastery), Sancho [Diego Luna] (a 15-year old boy who
accompanied Derek on a vampire hunt and who found that he had a penchant
for it), and Ray Collins [Darius McCrary] (a tall, muscular, black, ex-military, "tough as
nails" guy recruited in Memphis by Brody). To help with the hunt, Rodrigo
offers Derek the use of Guiteau's vampire-hunting bus, which is outfitted
with all the winches and gizmos that are needed to hunt vampires (or
"suckers," as the team calls them).The attack on the monastery, Rodrigo explains, was led by the new
female master Una [Arly Jover] in order to get
back the Bersier cross. It looks like she intends to again perform the
ritual which the suckers believe will allow them to walk during the day.
After meeting up with Collins in Nogales, they cross over into Mexico.
Zoey, due to her blood connection with the vampires, has a vision of Una
performing the ceremony, but it doesn't seem to have worked. The sun still
hurts her. Given a map of Mexico, Zoey is able to pinpoint where she
thinks the bloodsuckers are hiding...someplace called Salina, near some
old Toltec ruins. They stop for the night to sleep, but Collins is getting
claustrophobic in the little bus and chooses to sleep outside. During the
night, he is, unknown to anyone, bitten by Una. The next day is spent
driving further into Mexico. They know that they are getting close when
they stop for gas and cold drinks and find that everyone in the diner has
been slaughtered.The next morning, they near Salina. Rather than going directly to the
ruins, they stop in Salina where the residents are celebrating the Day of
the Dead ("Los muertos" means "the dead"). When Zoey goes to take her
meds, she finds them missing and says that she must go immediately to
Mexico City. Actually, Una has them, and she's downed every last one. This
gives Una the ability, albeit it temporary, to move about during daylight,
and she uses that opportunity to find and kidnap Zoey. Rodrigo puts 2+2
together and concludes that Una took Zoey's meds. But the only ones who
had access to them were the rest of the team, so Derek holds them all at
gunpoint, trying to find the culprit. Turns out that it was Collins, who
is shot by an old man they just met that morning in Salina. With his dying
breath, Collins reveals that the client who hired them is none other than
Una.Although they now know that this entire vampire hunt is a set-up, the
remaining team members plus the old man, filling in for Collins, go to the
ruins to rescue Zoey. Zoey has fallen into a deep shaft and needs to be
lifted out. Derek tosses her a rope, telling the old man to stay far
enough behind him to watch his back while still keeping his eye on Rodrigo
and Sancho, who are closer to the exit. While they are so separated, Una
attacks Derek. Just as she's about to bite his neck, Fr Rodrigo offers Una
a deal. Let his friends go, and he'll offer himself, as a priest, to
perform the ceremony. In addition, he points out, he is also a hunter--two
of the necessary elements of the ritual. Una agrees.Rodrigo stays with Una while the others go to a clinic where Zoey is
transfused with blood while her infected blood is removed in hopes that
this will slow her turning. Then Derek gets a brainstorm. He asks the
nurse to transfuse Zoey's tainted blood into him so that he can slow his
heartbeat and infiltrate the vampires without being noticed.
As the sun sets, the team goes back to the ruins where the ritual is
taking place. Una has slit Rodrigo's leg and drunk a cup of his blood when
Rodrigo mentions that the ritual won't work because he was merely a hired
hand at the monastery, not a priest at all. Ha ha, fooled you! Derek,
whose plan to lurk is working, shoots several suckers, saves Rodrigo from
being burned alive, and fires an arrow through Una. Unfortunately, the
winch is on the fritz, and they can't pull her out into the sun.So, they
fix the winch and go back into the ruins. Sancho ropes Una, Una grabs
Derek, Zoey pulls both Una and Derek out into the sun, Derek shoots off
Una's head, and Una burns up. [I wonder whether they'll get paid now that
they've killed their client?]Epilogue: Rodrigo stays in Salina, Sancho is sent home to his mother, and Derek
and Zoey drive off together into the sunset, headed for Mexico City, as
they are both in need of those meds. [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl]
cult, violence