Perfect Creature is set in a city called Jamestown where a brotherhood of Vampires live alongside humans in supposed harmony, it has been this way for 300 years but one brother Edgar (Leo Gregory) has developed a taste for human blood & has been feasting on local young ladies while his brother Silus (Dougray Scott) hunts him. Local police detective Lilly (Saffron Burrows) learns the truth behind the dead bodies turning up & tries to keep it quiet as widespread panic would break out, together with brother Silus the police & Lilly set out to find & kill Edgar but there's more to what Edgar is doing than just killing a few girls as he releases a virus which turns humans into ravenous Vampires. Jamestown is quarantined & the authorities feel complete extermination of everyone within it is the only answer including thousands of innocent uninfected humans...This New Zealand & British co-production was directed by Glenn Standring & is a sort of moody atmospheric Vampire horror thriller that had the potential to be great but a lack of focus & a general pedestrainism means I would struggle to even call perfect creature average let alone good. The script is the problem here, there the usual romantic subplot about the two leads falling in love, there's no real explanation given as to why Edgar goes crazy & starts killing people & none of the other Vampires ever has, the whole virus angle is abruptly dropped into the story late on & is never really given a conclusion, there's a subplot about humans dying from flu which is mentioned a few times but nothing significant becomes of it & the typical clichéd final confrontation between the two brother's (hunter & hunted if you prefer) is present & correct although it's totally forgettable & uninspired stuff. The film didn't feel that long & it's visually interesting but the bland character's, the predictable plot, the subplots that go nowhere & add very little to the film overall & a lack of any real entertainment value means it's not really worth making any sort of effort to see.As already mentioned the film does look very good with a variety of different eras & styles used to depict the fictional world seen here, from war torn streets to futuristic labs to Victorian style fantasy with a dark & brooding 40's detective noir thriller feel too, it's quite strange to sit down & watch these contradictory settings & time-lines & decor come together (horse drawn carriages & motor cars on the same roads at one point along with air ships in the sky). There's not much blood or gore here, a few bitten necks & that's about it. The CGI is OK but the early scene of Edgar climbing a wall looks terrible.With a supposed budget of about $11,000,000 this wasn't cheap & that's a decent amount of money & one suspects that most of that went on the production design & look of the film. Filmed in New Zealand. The acting is alright but no-one seems to show much interest & with such thin character's one can hardly blame them.Perfect Creature is average at best, a Vampire horror thriller than could have been great if a bit more time had been spent on the script & a decent story that meant something. It's not terrible & it's interesting visual style is cool but overall I couldn't really recommend it.

In a word, Excellent. Why? Have you got all day? To begin with, solid performances by the two stars: Dougray Scott and Saffron Burrows. They do bring a touch of reality in this fantasy/SF movie.Then, the story blows you away. I must confess, I'm no stranger to vampire flicks. I've seen my share of movies pretending to bring light to myths related to vampires. But the perspective shown here is stunning: a parallel reality. A "What If?" idea, very well put together and although there were certain budget limitations their effect will not be sensed in a disturbing manner.Don't expect Nature Born Killers mixed with Underworld and Dracula, because this movie transcends the limitations of these ones.A movie of many contrast (which I leave you the pleasure of discovering), a movie of hope shining through the clouds of misery, and why not a film putting the accent on the idea that nothing good comes without a sacrifice.Enjoy!

Pro's: Overall storyline was intriguing. From and acting perspective, two actors carried the movie on their shoulders. Movie picked up when I watched via fast forward, which is one of my last ditch efforts to give some value to a movie.Con's: Although storyline was original, wasn't ultimately compelling enough to make me care about the characters. Movie was frustrating at times with actions taken by the characters. Brother Silus may have been the most wimpy, least skilled vampire I've seen written into a movie. Felt like he was unconscious through half the movie always getting beat up, and his skills to protect as a bodyguard need some work.

Written and directed by Glenn Standring, Perfect Creature falls into one of those fantasy, alternate universe timelines where because of genetic engineering and the likes, humans now are living side by side with the more powerful vampires with whom have forged a truce, that is, to never feed on the blood of humans, but instead, get their dosage of plasma through religious rites of sorts.Which serves as an intriguing premises to begin with, except that it had so much going for it, that it failed to capitalize on the wealth of its potential, instead choosing to coast through the expected until a finale made up of standard fare, with too many plot elements than it could handle, with mistrust between the two species of homo sapiens, an influenza virus, and a murderous vampire hell bent on creating havoc by unleashing his own brand of justice to the world.With movies like Underworld and various other genre incarnations that dwell on super- beings, Perfect Creature at best was on par in terms of the visuals, where the filmmakers have created a stunningly looking dark city, which seemed like a cross between Victorian England, except for the vehicles such as zeppelins which crowd the sky. Special effects was rudimentary, and you can feel the lack of slickness in the movements of the vampires, not so much as they couldn't fly, but their essence of speed wasn't properly brought across, and looked quite clunky.The story, bared down to the basics, is about how human detective Lilly (Saffron Burrows) has to team up with a high ranking vampire / priest (yes, you read that right) called Brother Silus (Dougray Scott, who walks really stiff here and nary breaks into a smile), despite her and her team's discrimination against the vampire race. And their common adversary Edgar (Leo Gregory) happens to be a researcher of sorts gone renegade, and with blood relations to Silus, puts a dampener on so called conflict of interest.As an action-fantasy piece, don't expect any award winning acting here, because what thrills are the set action pieces in claustrophobic spaces within dark and dank apartment blocks. However, unlike its contemporary peers, there aren't any fancy gadgets, weapons or moves to wow you, well, maybe perhaps the cool stunt gun that Silus carries which fires off projectile rounds to immobilize his kind. And of course something tells you it's not quite right when the mid-point action sequence trounces the finale which had a distinct lack of excitement.But on the whole, for its mood, settings, and imaginative spin on the vampire genre, Perfect Creature does deserve a watch.