Imagine a world where the vampire is the good guy and actually helps the poor humans out. That’s the interesting concept behind this tale of the Brothers (aka vampires) who are a blessing to the human race and the one Brother that goes bad.
What the back of the box says:
These superior beings lived in harmony with mankind, protecting them from disease while relying on them for sustenance. But now the fragile balance between man and vampire is threatened when Brother Silus (Dougray Scott) learns that one of his own kind has unleashed a deadly virus that is killing off humans... and wiping out any chance for a peaceful coexistence.”
Perfect Creature takes place in an alternate reality of sorts and has a science fiction and horror feel to it. The time period is a conglomeration of several different styles. It has a feel of Victorian London but has a bit of the ‘60s to it as well. The streets have cars but also feature horse drawn carts and zeppelins float through the sky.
The Brotherhood is a race of benevolent immortals that are born through a genetic mutation. They maintain and preserve human life through their technology and vaccines. They’re called Brothers since only the male is affected by the mutation and a female Brother has never been born. The technology in this world is also a mixture of the Victorian and the ‘60s as they have recording devices that appear to be from the ‘60s but display pictures on a lantern projector.
All in all, it is an intriguing world that our story plays out in. The exact location isn’t given but judging from the accents it’s either New Zealand or Australia (but it appears have been filmed in New Zealand). Into this world steps the somewhat stoic Silus who has to track down his brother and his Brother. Seems that he and Edgar (Leo Gregory) share the same mother but Edgar has taken on the habits of the kind of vampire that we’re used to seeing and is putting the bite on humans.
Edgar’s bestial antics reminded me of Jack the Ripper in this quasi-Victorian environment and Silus reminded me of another deer-stalker wearing detective. Edgar was developing a genetic virus that would produce Brothers, but something went wrong and he became infected and started feeding on humans. It’s really an interesting concept, but it’s somewhat sunk by a strange title and poor cover art.
Perfect Creature is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include “The Making of the Perfect Creature” that runs 11 minutes and interviews producer Tim Sanders, writer/director Glenn Standring, producer Haneet Vaswani, producer Russel Fischer, Dougray Scott, Saffron Burrows (“Lilly”), Leo Gregory, Scott Wills (“Jones”), Stuart Wilson (“Augustus”), choreographer Shona McCullagh, director of photography Leon Narbey.
The 8-minute “Designing the Perfect Creature” adds interviews with production designer Phil Ivey, costume designer Kirsty Cameron, Stephen Ure (“Freddy”), visual effects art director Nick Cattell, visual effects producer Charlie McClellan, and deals with the making of this unique world. Finally there are trailers for Night Watch and Wrong Turn 2.
Perfect Creature is an interesting film that is set in a most interesting universe. Those that liked Night Watch might want to check it out.
Prefect Creature is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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