Julien Neaves, Editor
In the 90s there really was nothing like the tv series Forever Knight which focused on an 800-year-old vampire named Nick Knight working as a detective in modern day Toronto. Starring British-American actor Geraint Wyn Davies and running for three seasons from 1992-1996, it was a unique mix of police procedural and dark fantasy with a splash of horror thrown in for good measure. I remember enjoying it in my youth and I may revisit it at some point.
The show began life as a 1989 TV movie called Nick Knight starring singer/actor Rick Springfield as a vampire cop in Los Angeles. This version was retooled into Forever Knight, the location switched to Toronto, Canada and everyone recast except for John Kapelos’ everyman detective Don Schanke. I have known of the movie forever (no pun intended) but never got around to watching it until now. With a blood dripping SPOILER ALERT let’s bite into Nick Knight.
I will say right off the bat (still no pun intended) that Nick Knight is not as good as Forever Knight. Springfield has the brooding and stoic part down, and is believable in the scenes where he is fighting his blood addiction. But he lacks the world weariness necesssary for a centuries-old vampire which we did get with Davies along with some charm and flair. Michael Nader’s vampire villain Lacroix chews more scenery than necks and is a pale shadow of Nigel Bennett’s delightfully devious version in Forever Knight.
Continuing with characters that made the transition for movie to tv, Jack Harper as medical examiner and Nick’s confidante Dr Brittington is okay in the role but I appreciate the switch to Catherine Disher’s smart and thoughtful medical examiner Natalie Lambert. Vampire femme fatale and bar owner Janette is in the film as well, played with suitable allure by Cec Verrell in her brief screentime. The scene where she tempts Nick to drink wine-laced blood is one of the better moments in the film. Though I have no complaints about Forever Knight’s version of Janette played by Deborah Duchene. And Kapelos is fun and comedic as Schanke, making it no surprise that both the actor and character were retained.
The story finds Nick hunting down Lacroix, the vampire that turned him and is searching for goblets rumoured to make vampires mortal again, which is the immortal detective’s main desire. During his search he meets and falls for an archaeologist, but romance is difficult as he has to fight the urge to bite her neck. Though I found Nick had more chemistry with his caddilac than her #justsaying. He is also investigating mysterious murders of homeless people whose blood is being drained.
The procedural part of the plot is somewhat weak, with Schanke figuring out most of it quickly. And the twisted orderly killing homeless people feels like it was added just to add to the running time. The vampire stuff is decent though, and I enjoyed seeing Nick murder a gun-toting psycho and facing off twice with Lacroix. The action and practical effects are very tv movie but they get the job done. And I did snicker when they played The Human League’s “Human”, which was hilariously on the nose for Nick.
So is Nick Knight worth exhuming? I think Forever Knight fans will get a kick out of seeing alternate versions of their favourite characters. For everyone else, I will say that for an 80s vampire cop movie on a tv budget, it surprisingly does not suck (okay, pun intended there). Maybe watch it once just as a curiousity.
Editor Jules’ Score: 6.5 out of 10
Have you seen Nick Knight? What did you think of it? And you can check out more nostalgic vampire articles below:
Julien “Editor Jules” Neaves is a TARDIS-flying, Force-using Trekkie whose bedroom stories were by the Cryptkeeper, learned to be a superhero from Marvel, but dreams of being Batman. I love promoting Caribbean film (Cariwood), creating board games and I am an aspiring author. I say things like “13 flavours of awesome sauce”. Read more.
What a deep cut! You took me back with this one.
Just call me the Nostalgia Man 😉