The story goes, Kathryn Bigelow and Eric Red couldn't get funding for a western, so it was recommended they try mixing with another genre. While I think the idea of a vampire western seems pretty neat, putting your hero in a cowboy hat and having him ride a horse in one scene isn't really what I had in mind. It's an interesting modern-day vampire story, but someone will have to explain to me how it's a western.
Plus, as genres go, westerns and vampire stories are two of the most ripe for metaphor and social commentary, but here (my first viewing) I couldn't latch onto any major theme. It's definitely got a sort of functional-vs-dysfunctional family thing going on, a sort of anti-runaway, anti-punks-in-love story. It has moments, definitely, but it's no Strange Days or The Hurt Locker, is all I'm saying.
