On the heels of a national election where so many women were a part of the voting process and won several contests, it's sad to say that there still aren't that many female directors getting regular work in Hollywood. Even with Kathryn Bigelow winning an Oscar for Best Director in 2010, male directors still outnumber females by a very wide margin. Amy Heckerling is the rare exception to this rule, as she's been working steadily since 1982, and, even more impressive than that, she's made movies that you've actually heard of, such as Fast Times at Ridegmont High, Looks Who's Talking, and Clueless. Now at age 60, Heckerling is still going strong and has just released her latest film, Vamps. But, does she still have the chops which she once showed?

Vamps focuses on Goody (Alicia Silverstone) and Stacy (Krysten Ritter), two vampires who live in New York City. Despite the fact that Goody is nearly 400 years old and Stacy is 40, they both look like they are in their 20s, so they love to spend their nights at clubs, where they are served by their companion, Renfield (Zak Orth). They sleep in coffins during the day, and often fret about their looks and their clothes. Neither feeds from humans, so they work as exterminators so that they can feed off of rats, something which disgusts Cisserus (Sigourney Weaver), the vampire who created them. Related to this, Good and Stacy also attend a support group for vampires who resist human blood. However, they do try to better themselves and while attending night school, Stacy meets Joey (Dan Stevens) and a flirtation begins. But, Joey's family may be just as dark as Stacy's history and a conflict between love and survival soon begins.

There are at least two movies going on in Vamps and while they both have potential, neither are very good. The first one wants to take a quasi-serious look at the everyday life of a vampire. Goody and Stacy lament the fact that they cast no reflection, and thus don't know how they look in their clothes or if they are applying their makeup correctly. Goody hates modern technology and loves black and white movies. They like to go out and meet people, but the fact that they can't be outside in the daytime makes it difficult to build relationships. The movie sets forth the idea that vampires aren't evil, as evidenced by the support group which even includes Vlad the Impaler (Malcom McDowell). The other part of the movie wants to be more of a horror adventure, as Wallace Shawn plays a vampire hunter who is using Homeland Security as a way to identify vampires and bring them out into the open. This has Goody, Stacy, and their friends fearing for their lives.

Heckerling not only directed Vamps, but wrote the script as well, and she really misses a great opportunity here. Despite the subject matter listed above, she has decided to play the film as a light comedy which borders on being a chick flick. The problem with that is that the movie is never funny. I take that back, I did laugh once, but that was it. The jokes fall very flat here and the movie never finds any sort of comedic groove. The dialogue isn't clever and the physical humor does little. This is all a shame, as Heckerling could have made a unique and interesting slice-of-lime dramedy about vampires. As noted above, the movie addresses some thought-provoking ideas, some of which we've never seen in a movie before and most of which come from a decidedly female point of view. The plot-points about Good and Stacy having no reflection may seem shallow on paper, but it would have worked in the movie had it been addressed properly. Goody talks about having to give up her great love due to the fact that she wasn't aging -- we've seen that in other movies, but it's glossed over here.

These story and tone issues are unfortunate, as Vamps boasts a cast of familiar faces, some of which have worked with Heckerling before. Along with those listed above, we see Richard Lewis, Justin Kirk, Todd Barry, Kristen Johnston, Taylor Negron, and Larry Wilmore. Spotting these actors makes the movie fun, but it does little to improve the overall quality. Silverstone and Ritter are pretty good in the lead roles. Silverstone does a little too much face acting (she tries to look concerned a lot), but the two are so relaxed in their performances that Dan Stevens actually looks awkward next to them. The questionable nature of the movie really hits home during the finale when some truly bad CGI shows up.

It's great to see Heckerling still working after all these years, and in this age of Twilight, a lighter look at the lives of vampires is not unwelcome. However, many good ideas are squandered here and the movie is almost painful at times. At a time when many hate the idea of remakes, someone should take this script and transform it into a better film.

Vamps contains one of the best cameos by a caricature ever in a movie on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Anchor Bay Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 30 Mbps. The image is fairly sharp and clear, showing only trace amounts of grain and no defects from the source material. The image is somewhat flat looking, which is surprising for a new movie. Similarly, the colors are a tad washed out, which looks weird, as the palette leans towards pastels. I don't know if this is the reflection of a bad transfer or the film's budget, but the overall look of the movie is disappointing. The Disc carries a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 3.5 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The nightclub scenes provide noticeable surround and stereo effects, although they aren't incredibly detailed. The action in the finale, in which a vampire is moving very quickly, displays a nice feel to the audio moving from speaker to speaker. I didn't note any significant subwoofer effects.

The Vamps Blu-ray Disc contains no extra features.