Wes Craven's 30 Year-Old Vampire Movie With Eddie Murphy Is A Hidden Gem On Paramount+

The late, great Wes Craven left a legacy of stone-cold horror movie classics, but was also a filmmaker willing to take risks and help shape stories that may have been outside of his comfort zone. He was at the helm for genre-changing revolutions, but also tackled the biographical drama "Music of the Heart" and his twisted cult classic, "The People Under the Stairs." A year after his meta-masterpiece "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" debuted and a year before his ... well, other meta-masterpiece "Scream" hit theaters, he linked up with Paramount to direct a project written by Charlie Murphy, "Vampire in Brooklyn," which would star Charlie's brother, Eddie Murphy.

Writers Michael Lucker and Chris Parker were brought in to help shape the final script, which was constantly in flux due to contrasting opinions on tone. Murphy was trying to show that he could play a more serious character as the vampire Maximillian, while Paramount wanted to highlight Murphy's comedic chops. Fortunately, Craven was there to help find the balance. In "Vampire in Brooklyn," Murphy plays a vampire — more Frank Langella than Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee — who anchors in Brooklyn to track down Detective Rita Veder (the always terrific Angela Bassett), as Rita is the child of a vampire from Maximillian's homeland in the Caribbean. However, she is unaware of her lineage, which is crucial for Maximillian to continue his bloodline and gain more power.

Despite the comedic elements, "Vampire in Brooklyn" boasts a surprising amount of legitimate horror. 30 years removed from the disappointing box office performance and abysmal critical score, horror fans have found themselves drawn to this hidden gem. And if you've never seen it, it's currently available on Paramount+.

"Vampire in Brooklyn" was marketed as a horror comedy, but because it was originally envisioned as a modern gothic romance, not unlike "Bram Stoker's Dracula," the tone of the film is constantly in conflict with itself. It certainly doesn't always work, but the fluctuating energy of the film allows it to settle in a darkly funny, romantically dreary space. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who considers this one of the stronger outings from both Craven and Murphy, but it's certainly one of the most interesting installments in each of their respective filmographies. And despite the film's divisive reputation, its influence cannot be denied. The Staten Island vampires of "What We Do in the Shadows" and Osmany Rodriguez's "Vampires vs. The Bronx" arguably wouldn't exist without "Vampire in Brooklyn," but perhaps more importantly, it inspired the star of one of the best vampire films in recent memory.

Michael B. Jordan, who starred in a dual role as Elijah "Smoke" Moore and Elias "Stack" Moore in Ryan Coogler's "Sinners," cited "Vampire in Brooklyn" as one of his favorite vampire movies (along with "The Lost Boys"). "Those are two ones that were pretty dope for me, and I loved the cast and the storyline," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "Eddie [Murphy] was so smooth in 'Vampire in Brooklyn'; seeing yourself as a vampire was pretty cool." While the vampire subgenre is undoubtedly one of the most diverse in its offerings, stories featuring Black vampires are still woefully underrepresented. Fortunately, thanks to the accessibility of "Vampire in Brooklyn" on Paramount+ (and now "Sinners" on HBO Max), there's plenty of inspiration to inspire more.