‘The streets can really suck!’
Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires is a 2018 British animated action horror film about a maverick cop leading the fight against a mutated vampire tramp horde.
Written and directed by Mike Mort [as Michael Mort] (Raging Balls of Steel Justice short; Shaun the Sheep episodes; Deadly Tantrum short). Produced by Joseph D’Morais, Ben Halliwell (line producer), Randhir Singh Heer, Lisa Kinsey (line producer), Rupert Lywood and Mike Mort.
The voice cast is led by writer-director Mike Mort and includes Jennifer Saunders, Paul Whitehouse (Ghost Stories; Burke and Hare), Dan Russell, Jonnie Fiori and Samantha Coughlan.
Plot:
It’s not 1985 anymore… it’s 1986, and Chuck Steel is ‘the best God damn cop on the force’ according to his long-suffering boss, Captain Jack Schitt. But even this maverick, renegade, loose cannon, lone wolf, cop on the edge, who doesn’t play by the rules has his work cut out when the Governor of LA decides to reduce the licensing hours for clubs and bars triggering a sudden, inexplicable spate of high profile disappearances in the city. The disappearances all have the same thing in common, a crime scene covered in blood but with no sign of the victim.
The police are perplexed until they get a break in the case when one of the victims manages to escape. Chuck goes to interview the victim at the hospital but is confronted by a crazed old man who introduces himself as Abraham Van Rental. He warns a disbelieving Chuck that an evil scourge is about to descend on the city of Los Angeles – the scourge of the Trampires – a mutated hybrid of vampire and tramp…
Reviews:
The reason the film works so well is that it doubles down on its absurdity and makes no qualms about being in on the joke. The animation work is incredible but creator Mike Mort has really gone out of his way to create a fully fleshed-out world that feels lived and ripe for more adventures. Chuck Steel is over the top and hilarious – destined to become a cult classic.” Bloody Flicks
“Michael Mort’s animated, horror, comedy is like Chicken Run’s Nick Park took a sh*t ton of cocaine, watched Cobra too many times, but still tried to make a Hammer horror film […] Chuck Steel is full of witty nods to the films Mort loves and a rapid-fire wit that succeeds is taking eighties excess and pushing it to its absolute, ridiculous limit.” Brit Flicks
“Featuring jaw-dropping stop-motion animation, Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires is a visual marvel. The attention to detail throughout the film is incredible […] The film is irreverent and revels in its politically incorrect dialogue. However, there’s an obvious tongue-in-cheek attitude that makes it obvious that the creators know what they’re saying and that’s where the joke is.” Dread Central
“Meeting and beating the laugh quotient are the impressive set pieces and gorgeous production design. Mort can deliver a double-barrel blast of humour and action, and his gunplay and vehicular mayhem often rival the live-action real deal. Film references range from the irony-free Cobra, to Delta Force 2, The Evil Dead, Lethal Weapon and Japanese monster movies.” Electric Shadows
“Paying homage to everything from the films of Ray Harryhausen to Killer Klowns from Outer Space, the epic final sequence of Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires is pure, barely controlled mayhem, throwing in giant, unspeakably gross monsters in the mix just to add to the fun. The film is audacious, unashamed, sleazy and has no issues taking shots at everyone, most especially Chuck Steel himself.” /Film
” …has cult potential written all over it, even if it can sometimes be too trashy for its own good. Made on a purported $20 million budget, with oodles of intricately crafted, extremely gory set pieces, it’s sort of like Team America: World Police without any political context, paying satiric homage to the oeuvre of Cannon Films and other B-grade studios.” The Hollywood Reporter
“Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires is, besides being a brilliant love letter to stop-motion animation, also a loving tribute to 80s horror cinema: with trampire deaths that look like they stepped out of the original Evil Dead, complete with melty plasticine effects; monsters that are reminiscent of both the vampire effects of Fright Night and Grace Jones’s titular Vamp; and a hero that is more manly than the manliest man that has ever been seen in cinematic history…” Nerdly
“Chuck Steel: Night of the Trampires understands its audience well, and wears its own love of genre proudly on its sleeve. Is it a one-note film? Yeah, mostly. However, the cross-pollination of ’80s horror like the Fright Night/Van Helsing inspired British monster hunter and the gooey Night of the Creeps/From Beyond-like body horror during the film’s insane conclusion make for a heady mix that will have genre fans vibrating in their seats.” Screen Anarchy
“Gloriously un-PC, Chuck Steel takes no prisoners. It looks like the love child of Team America and forgotten Gerry Anderson-produced series Dick Spanner, but is certainly not a lazy copy. Writer/director/star Mort has crafted his own world, playing up the clichés of both the cop action movie and zombie subgenre.” Starburst
“It isn’t PC, it captures the machismo of the genre it primarily apes but it knows how far to push the gags without becoming a bore […] The stop motion and backgrounds are glorious and the voice acting works well. Great fun.” 7.5/10 Taliesin Meets the Vampires
“This isn’t your sophisticated Fantastic Mr. Fox, Chicken Run or Wallace and Gromit. Night of the Trampires has the sense of humor of a fart joke that I sophisticatedly enjoy. Chuck Steel may kick ass to a production level score of a Tim Burton masterpiece but this is Claymation outside of Burton’s hands. It’s finally made for adults, it’s completely juvenile and it’s absolutely brilliant.” Without Your Head
For YouTube reviews, a trailer and more movie info please click the page 2 link below
