Good grief. Now even the Backstreet Boys are getting in on the vampire craze. On the Boys' video for "Straight Through the Heart," the first single from their forthcoming album, the foursome (reduced from a quintet following Kevin Richardson's departure) play Day Walkers, a group "who band together to protect innocent mortals [from] vampires who hunt for prey at bars and nightclubs,"  or so text at the opening of the video tells us.

The clip is basically "Thriller" meets "Twilight" meets "True Blood" meets "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" meets "Sons of Anarchy" (check out the bikers in the bar-as if they would EVER be caught dead seeing BSB...).  We threw in the "Thriller" part because Howie Dorough is wearing a red leather jacket in what we can only hope is an homage to Michael Jackson and the "Thriller" video.

Basically, the Boys (who need to do something about that name since some of them are practically approaching middle age... maybe they can borrow  Boyz II Men's moniker since they aren't making much use of it) are performing their new song in a night club, while they secretly track a fabulously foxy vampiress.  They subsequently toss her out into daylight, causing her to vanquish. But not before she leaves her mark on one of the Boys! We smell a sequel!

 The video is pretty lame, but the song is what we've come to expect and love from BSB  a mid-tempo slower burner with great harmonies and an undeniable chorus. Does it measure up to their best (such as "I Want It That Way" or "As Long As You Love Me?"). No, but it's certainly jangly and fun.  Not so much the video...