I’m just going to say it. I adore this movie. I don’t care what y’all are saying. This was a good movie and I might have wanted a sequel but I’m glad we didn’t make one.
Vampire in Brooklyn is not one of Eddie Murphy’s more well known movies but some of y’all should have seen this movie. Rita, played by the incomparable Angela Bassett, is a detective in Brooklyn whose partner Justice, played by the always fine Allen Payne, investigate a strange ship that arrived in Brooklyn with everyone on board dead. Rita also has a strange feelings about herself, thinking she may be going crazy like her mother.
The movie is about acceptance and discovery. For those who have seen the movie, these are hidden messages but they’re there. Rita is afraid to accept who she is based on what people will think of her. Max, Eddie Murphy’s vampire character, is there to one, find his female counterpart in order to help him survive, and two, to instill in Rita to be who she is regardless of what people think of her or her mother. She is an individual, a special individual, and that’s what sets her apart from the rest.
Murphy’s character Max was suave, sensual and smooth. I mean his is a vampire but the way he crafted this character intrigued me. I found myself mesmerized by him even as I was screaming at Rita through the TV to not fall for the same spell I was.
Another brilliant piece of Murphy films is the talent around him. John Witherspoon is a hidden gem (and yes, I will make a post about it) and any time I see him in a film I know I will be rolling on the floor and I WAS! The clip below is a scene that my mother and I repeat CONSTANTLY. I don’t know who created this scene. If it was ad libbed or what but it is comedic gold because it was not only funny but it was exactly who you’d expect an older, black, cranky man to respond when asked about what he just told you!
People don’t think much of this movie, I think, because it came after hits like Coming to America, Boomerang and Beverly Hills Cop III and just before his remake of The Nutty Professor. It gets lost in the fray but after watching it as many times as I have, I appreciate the message that this movie had and that Allen Payne is fine. That is all.
Check out the 17 thoughts SYFY had about the film as they watched and if you haven’t seen it, it’s on Encore Black all the time and on YouTube for about $3. I swear it’s worth the laugh.
BLACK WATCH 