the last of vampire-films offers plenty of blood and gore , but beyond that - nothing . 
jack crow ( james woods ) is a professional vampire slayer that is secretly working for the vatican . 
his and his men's mission is to clean the earth from vampires . 
they have lost count of how many vampires they have slaughtered , but one has always escaped them . 
valek ( thomas ian griffith ) - the dark messias and ruler of the undead that is older than time itself . 
for all eternity the vampires have searched for their salvation - the black cross . 
with the cross in their possesion , the vampires will be able to walk in the sunlight . 
after that it is either the humans or the vampires who will dominate the earth . . . 
i have never liked john carpenter and his style . 
after seeing this film , my opinions have not changed . 
john carpenter remains john carpenter . 
however , because of the film's self-irony , black humour and fascinating cinematography , i would say that it is his greatest achievement in a long , long time . 
neither the synopses or carpenter's direction are original . 
but there are some things that are interesting . 
the director's negative view on the catholic church , for instance . 
at the end of the film it becomes clear that cardinal alba ( maximilian schell ) has simply used crow and his team to find valek , so that he would gain eternal life . 
otherwise the catholic priests are shown cool - drinking , smoking and breaking the rool of celibacy . 
carpenter has created an interesting atmosphere . 
set in new mexican dessert , he switches between bright golden sunrises and bloody sundowns , symbolically illustrating the good and the evil through light and darkness . 
more than anything in this film , this simple illustration shows the battle between good and evil . 
the cinematography by gary b . kibbe is probably the film's greatest achievement . 
music ( composed by john carpenter himself ) is at times effective , the special effects and makeup are likewise worth a notice . 
when it comes to the cast ( in an intellectual film like this casting is the last problem ; everyone can scream and swing the axe ! ) , but here james woods is suprisingly convincing . 
he is macho and cool as the dedicated hunter , who lost his family to the " breed of evil " . 
woods is constantly overacting , which really saves the film from falling into the trap of serious self importance . 
daniel baldwin is also entertaining as crow's loyal partner . 
the other cast members are struggling . 
because the film doesn't take itself too seriously , it stays afloat . 
still it is like most vampire-films - a mediocre experience .