“Sundown: The Vampire in Retreat” (also known as “Sundown”) is a 1989 horror Western film directed by Anthony Hickox. It features a town called Purgatory, populated by vampires who have chosen to live on synthetic blood to avoid preying on humans. The film explores themes of redemption, with the vampires trying to integrate with humanity while facing opposition from both within and outside their community.
The movie’s plot revolves around a group of vampires in Purgatory, Arizona, who are trying to abstain from killing humans for blood. They have developed a synthetic blood substitute and are trying to live peacefully, but some vampires crave the real thing and rebel against the established order. A human family, the Harrisons, arrives in town to help with the synthetic blood production, further complicating the situation. A vampire hunter, Robert Van Helsing (played by Bruce Campbell) also arrives, adding another layer of conflict.
The town founder Count Mardulak (David Carradine) has set the town up with the intent of finding a more peaceful way to co-exist with humans. The head of the artificial blood plant is David’s friend, the ruthlessly ambitious Shane Dennis (Maxwell Caulfield), who has been turned into a vampire. David discovers that Shane is obsessed with Sarah and has seduced her and may even have fathered his children. Meanwhile, Robert Van Helsing, who is the grandson of the great vampire hunter, arrives in town, hunting Count Mardulak. At the same time, town elder Ethan Jefferson (John Ireland) is determined to overthrow Mardulak and make a return to predatory blood-drinking ways. Soon, the plant manager and his family are caught up in a civil war, as Jefferson organizes a revolution. In the midst of the vampire civil war, a young descendant of the Van Helsing family arrives intent on destroying all vampires.
