Writers: Trevor Munson & Ron Koslow
Directors: Gerard Bocaccio & Rod Holcomb
Cast: Alex O'Loughlin (Mick St. John), Sophia Myles (Beth Turner), Jason Dohring (Josef Konstantin), Shannyn Sossamon (Coraline), Brian J. White (Lieutenant Carl Davis), Tami Roman (Maureen 'Mo' Williams), Jacob Vargas (Guillermo), Kevin Weisman (Steve Blafour), Alex Fernandez (Victor), Rudolf Martin (Christian Ellis), Gigi Rice (Martha Ellis), Ali Pomerantz (Young Beth's Mother), Julie Garibaldi (Tesa), Cassia Walton (Tortured Woman), Dean O'Gorman (Daniel), Shoshana Bush (Chole Jones), Chris Kelly (Kelly Foster), Amro Salama (Scientist), Bryn Early (Young Beth #1) & Amayla Early (Young Beth #2)
Directors: Gerard Bocaccio & Rod Holcomb
Cast: Alex O'Loughlin (Mick St. John), Sophia Myles (Beth Turner), Jason Dohring (Josef Konstantin), Shannyn Sossamon (Coraline), Brian J. White (Lieutenant Carl Davis), Tami Roman (Maureen 'Mo' Williams), Jacob Vargas (Guillermo), Kevin Weisman (Steve Blafour), Alex Fernandez (Victor), Rudolf Martin (Christian Ellis), Gigi Rice (Martha Ellis), Ali Pomerantz (Young Beth's Mother), Julie Garibaldi (Tesa), Cassia Walton (Tortured Woman), Dean O'Gorman (Daniel), Shoshana Bush (Chole Jones), Chris Kelly (Kelly Foster), Amro Salama (Scientist), Bryn Early (Young Beth #1) & Amayla Early (Young Beth #2)
A private investigator, who's also a vampire, investigates a string of vampire-like murders, and meets a beautiful woman from his past..."You're fighting a losing battle, my friend. Sooner or later
your inner vampire is gonna demand to be fed."
your inner vampire is gonna demand to be fed."
-- Josef Konstantin (Jason Dohring)
Vampirism is one of the most overexposed sub-genres in horror, but since the days of Dracula bloodsuckers have been re-imagined, re-branded, re-tooled and resurrected for new audiences...
The latest offering, Moonlight, arrives smelling suspiciously of Buffy spin-off Angel (as both concern an L.A-based vampire detective), but with overtones of a Beauty & The Beast-style irreconcilable romance between its leads – fanged private eye Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin) and plucky internet reporter Beth Turner (Sophia Myles).
Alex O'Loughlin is the expected handsome, long-haired model type as Mick; charming, charismatic and enigmatic – prone to standing around on rooftops looking windswept and romantic. Sophia Myles ditches her English accent to play the gutsy love-interest; a Lois Lane type who's been contemporized by working for a web-based magazine ("BuzzWire") – although that "modern twist" actually made me think she's not good enough for the regular press...
First episodes are always tricky beasts, but having Mick investigate murders apparently carried out by a "vampire" (puncture marks on victims' necks) enables relevant debate about the reality behind vampirism – while an opening "interview with a vampire" dream has Mick reveal the basic tenets for Moonlight: he sleeps in a freezer (not a coffin), he drinks blood (but chooses not to kill people), he dislikes sunlight (but doesn't turn into ash in the daytime), garlic and crucifixes don't bother him, etc.
The actual investigation isn't particularly challenging for armchair sleuths as it's patently obvious what's going on within 15 minutes. The story introduces a college tutor with an obsession with vampire lore and female students, and you can pretty much join the dots from there...
No Such Thing As Vampires should instead be treated as a lightweight introduction to its characters, basic premise and the lead's back-story. Mick gets his blood from a mortician called Guillermo (Jacob Vargas), is best-friends with a smart-ass 400-year-old millionaire neck biter called Josef (Jason Dohring), was once married to ethereal vampire bitch Coraline (Shannyn Sossamon), and has a history with Beth that's slowly revealed in flashbacks.
As first episodes go, it does a decent job of setting out its universe (albeit at the expense of an involving plot), and there are certainly some unanswered questions to tempt you back for answers. Critically, I didn't sense much sexual chemistry between Mick and Beth – which would appear to be the driving force behind the series (and the main hope to attract a wider audience, a la The X-Files' Mulder and Scully). Hopefully the writing for their romance will tighten and a vibe will develop between Myles and O'Loughlin, as it's too premature to pass final judgement.
Overall, while hardly a premiere to set the world alight with its ambition, scale, plot, or originality – it was a mildly entertaining hour that introduced you to Moonlight's mythos quite well, and provided a few effective stunts and effects in the enjoyable climax. A solid, unremarkable start, but plenty of room for improvement.
19 February 2008
LivingTV, 10.00 pm
