One of my favorite films featuring vampires, was Night Watch, –then I discovered, it’s actually a series of books, and they’re all going to be made into movies! At least, three of them so far. So I waited, drooling and practically pre-orgasmatic for Day Watch, and it came! –Pun intended. anyway, I’m sure you can imagine the gleeful innuendos that buzzed through my head upon the discovery of yet another film in the series was on its way! Here I am, sharing them with you. If you haven’t seen these surreal, action-packed, Russian supernatural films, I’ve got a brief run down of what you’ve missed so far.
Night Watch, 2004 – Far back in medieval times, the two sides of supernatural forces, the Light Others, and the Dark Others, fought a great war; the two leaders of the colliding forces negotiated a truce until the coming of the Great One. They agreed to form the Night Watch and the Day watch, two organizations meant to keep each side in balance until the Great One came and made his choice; the side he chooses, Dark or Light, will decide which force will rise to power. Fast forward to the present; Anton Gorodetsky goes to an old witch woman to bring his wife back, whom he believes is having an affair. The witch convinces him his wife is pregnant with another man’s child, and that she must miscarry to come back to Anton. Anton drinks a potion containing his blood, and the woman begins her incantation. Before she finished, three uniformed people burst in, –a blonde transforms into a tiger, and restrains the witch. This is the Night Watch, and they discover Anton is an Other as well, because he can see them. Twelve years later, Anton is a member of the Night Watch, hunting vampires, and meeting the child he paid a witch to almost kill, –and we discover who the Great One is, –Yegor, the boy, or Svetlana, the cursed woman who brings death and destruction everywhere she goes.
Day Watch, 2006 – In Day Watch, Anton is with his new partner on the job, Svetlana, and occasionally works with Olga, –a woman, a Light Other on the Night Watch who spent centuries imprisoned in the form of a stuffed owl as punishment for breaking obligations to the Light Others. Yegor, Anton’s son, has become a Dark Other, and Anton cleans up after him, making it impossible for the Night Watch to convict Yegor of any crimes against the truce. With romantic drama, and the coming war between the Dark Others and the Light Others, Anton seeks the Chalk of Fate, –a magical piece of chalk that allows its user to re-write history. Yegor becomes a Great Other at his birthday party, and confront Svetlana, his father’s lover, with his resentment and anger about she and Anton’s relationship. Things get ugly, and Anton has to somehow figure out how to use the chalk to put things right.
(Dusk Watch) Twilight Watch, 2009 – It should be interesting to say the least, considering that Twilight Watch, the book, is actually a collection of three novellas. It hasn’t come out yet this year, and as of April, most of the news on the film claimed that its been postponed indefinitely. With 2009 almost up, we can only hope Anton, Svetlana, Old, Geser, and Zavulon somehow make it back to the big screen in 2010.
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