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By Robert Freese
“Vampires that bite, suck and swallow”
Dir. William Crain
“He’s black! He’s beautiful! He’s Blacula!”
African Prince Mamuwalde (William Marshall) visits Dracula in Transylvania in an
effort to end slave trading. After offending the royal prince Dracula then kills
Mamuwalde’s beloved Luva (Denise Nicholas) and imprisons Mamuwalde in a coffin
after putting the vampire bite on him. When pieces from Dracula’s castle are sold
off in modern times, two gay interior decorators release Blacula into the world of
‘70s LA nightlife. Falling in love with Tina (Nicholas), the reincarnation of Luva,
Blacula tries to share eternal life with his true love but beat cop Jack Peters
(Gordon Pinset) and Dr. Gordon Thomas (Thalmus Rasulala) are hot on his trail.
An excellent blending of the vampire mythos with the then popular “blaxploitation”
mini-genre of the time. Shakespearean trained actor Marshall is fantastic as the
blood sucka, bringing real pathos to his tragic character. There are laughs and
scares. A classic of its era, a sequel, Scream Blacula Scream, followed a year later
and starred drive-in diva Pam Grier.
THE BLOOD DRINKERS (1964), Image
Dir. Gerardo de Leon
“A cult of undead creatures seek fresh, warm, HUMAN BLOOD!”
This atmospheric Filipino creature feature centers on evil vampire Marco’s (Ronald
Remy) attempts at bringing back to life his lover with the blood of his victims. Marco’
s weird entourage of lost souls includes eerie misfits and sexy vampire women.
Remy is wonderful in the title role. de Leon filmed parts of this black and white
chiller through colored filters to help enhance the scares. A unique and fascinating
film released in the states by Hemisphere Entertainment.
BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRES (1966), Image
Dir. Gerardo de Leon
“From the Tombs of Horror…draining the blood of the innocent!”
Young Eduardo Escodero (Eddie Garcia) returns home when his father falls ill and
learns of his family’s blood curse. His mother, who passed away years before, is a
vampire who his father keeps chained in the basement so she cannot feed. When
the vampire woman escapes one night, the blood curse begins anew. Another
beautifully atmospheric chiller from Filipino filmmaker de Leon, Blood of the
Vampires delivers goose-bumps aplenty. This one also played drive-ins on various
double and triple bills as Curse of the Vampires and Creatures of Evil.
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Dir. Joe Castro
“What’s a little blood between sisters?”
Lame-brained blood sucking tale about vampire sorority sisters preying on horny frat bros. Terminally curious
Tracy (Erica Howards) follows a number of missing persons to the vampire sorority and attempts to discover
what happened by rushing their blood sorority with her roommate Melissa (Kerry Lui). She and Melissa try to
destroy the beautiful blood fiends to save the college. Flick is not very exciting but the disc includes a 3-D
version that can be viewed with the Razor 3D system, and some of the dimensional effects are pretty cool.
BORDELLO OF BLOOD (1996), Universal
Dir. Gilbert Adler
A missing persons report leads smart-assed detective Dennis Miller to a funeral home that fronts as a whore
house for vampire queen Angie Everhart and her bounty of beautiful, bosomy, blood hungry working girls.
Spastic geeks and a weirdo evangelist round out the roster of creepy characters. Lots of people hated this flick
but I found it to be quite fun. (What did they expect from a movie based on a series of horror comics from the
‘50s?) It does bog down in parts in the middle and Miller can really grate on your nerves, but the exploding
vampire hooker ending is really cool. The last of the theatrical Tales from the Crypt features.
COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE (1970), MGM
Dir. Bob Kelljan
“Tall, dark and deadly.”
L.A. is the stomping ground for modern vampire Count Yorga (Robert Quarry). Yorga passes himself off as a
mystic of sorts and performs séances for young people. He preys on a young woman who seeks him out so she
can speak to her deceased mother. The blood fiend begins to feed and friends of the young woman band
together to stop Yorga before their friend transforms into a full blown blood sucker. This fondly remembered
and much loved drive-in flick from AIP is well worth your time. It was followed up a year later with the better than
average sequel, The Return of Count Yorga, also directed by Bob Kelljan. Kelljan directed no less than three
vampire flicks for AIP in the early ‘70s. (Both films are available on the same double feature DVD.)
DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS (1971), Blue Underground
Dir. Harry Kumel
“These are the Daughters of Darkness…They are waiting for you- They thrive on BLOOD!”
Delphine Seyrig is the ageless Countess Elizabeth Bathory who returns to a seaside resort out of season to prey
on a young, newly married couple. Both Stefan (John Karlen) and Valerie (Danielle Ouimet) become smitten by
the Countess as the bodies of murdered virgins begin showing up in the nearby town. Stefan has a brutal side
and accidentally causes the death of the Countess’s ingénue Ilona (Andrea Rau). The Countess evens the
score and Stefan faces a horrible fate. This sumptuously atmospheric chiller delivers an almost dream-like
quality throughout. Highly recommended. Blue Underground issued this film in a deluxe, two-disc set that also
included a bonus movie, The Blood Spattered Bride.
DAWN (2006), Tempe
Dir. Jay Reel
“Daddy’s little girl is hungry.”
Ten year old Dawn (Kacie Young) has special needs. Her mother was a vampire and now her father (Ray
Boucher) keeps her on the road, taking her from town to town so she can feed regularly. An odd Van Helsing
type vampire hunter is after the little girl and finally tracks her down. This is one of the best indie horror flicks to
come along in a long time. Wonderfully written, directed and acted, Dawn delivers a fresh spin on the vampire
legend and does so with a lot of heart and understanding concerning the human condition. Definitely check it
out.
THE DEATHMASTER (1972), Retromedia
Dir. Ray Danton
“Eyes like hot coals…Fangs like Razors! Khorda the Death Master has left his Tomb!”
Hippies living in a deserted mansion invite spiritual guru Khorda (Robert Quarry) to live with them. Unbeknownst
to the dope smoking hippies, Khorda is a vampire who slowly turns the assembled into a blood cult. Pico (Bill
Ewing) is the only one who doesn’t fully buy into Khorda’s line and witnesses that Khorda is really an evil blood
sucker. With the help of Pop (John Fidler), Pico has to battle his vampirized friends to try and stop Khorda from
achieving his evil plans. Personally, I enjoy this film more than Quarry’s Count Yorga flicks. It has been
described as “Charles Mason reincarnated as Count Dracula.” Flick tries to please all drive-in crowds by
including bikers, pretty girls, bloody horror and scenes of kung fu fighting. A perfect slice of the ‘70s scare
scene.
THE FORSAKEN (2001), Columbia
Dir. J.S. Cardone
“The night…has an appetite.”
Fast paced vampire flick sees young Sean (Kerr Smith) pick up hitchhiking vampire hunter Nick (Brendan Fehr)
and become entangled in a bloody war with a group of traveling blood drinkers. Flick never slows down and
features numerous scenes of chaotic car chases and crash ‘n burns. It did not do very well upon its theatrical
run and, unfortunately, seems to have become forgotten in the few short years since its release. Now would be
a good time to discover it. Give it a watch.
FRIGHT NIGHT (1985), Columbia
Dir. Tom Holland
“There are some very good reasons to be afraid…of the dark.”
Geeky horndog Charlie Brewster (William Ragsdale) fears that his new neighbor Jerry Dandridge (Chris
Sarandon) is an honest to goodness blood fiend. After witnessing a bosomy hooker enter Jerry’s house and
then show up dead on the nightly news, he seeks the help of ham horror actor Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall),
who loses his job as a local horror host and takes the gig only because Charlie’s girlfriend Amy (Amanda
Bearse) pays him. When it is found that Jerry really is a vampire, the blood stakes are raised and Charlie and
Peter band together to rid the toothy beast before anyone else can be killed. Simply put, I find Holland’s Fright
Night to be a perfect vampire movie. It delivers everything it promises and you will feel exhausted after the big
effects finale. Performances all around are excellent, especially Stephen Geoffreys, who plays Charlie’s creepy
friend Evil Ed. A sequel arrived three years later without much fanfare. Oddly, Fright Night Part II was released
on videocassette weeks before its theatrical run.
FROM DUSK TILL DAWN (1996), Dimension
Dir. Robert Rodriguez
“One night is all that stands between them and freedom. But it’s going to be a hell of a night.”
The Gecko brothers (George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino) flee to Mexico to split their loot after a crime
spree with their silent partner. Directed to the seedy Titty Twister bar, the boys soon discover a tavern of
undead vampire strippers and fight to the death with a small band of surviving humans. This crowd pleasing
throwback to the ‘70s/’80s grindhouse/drive-in days packs in plenty of tributes and references and delivers its
fair share of gory, vampire exploding special effects. The cast includes Harvey Keitel, Fred Williamson and Tom
Savini. Two so-so, direct to tape/disc sequels followed.
GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE (1974), Retromedia
Dir. John Hayes
“Father and son- related by blood. ANYONE’S BLOOD!”
Extremely weird horror flick begins in the forties when a couple fooling around in a graveyard are attacked by
newly risen vampire Caleb Croft (Michael Pataki). The boy is beaten to death and the girl raped. After the
attack the girl discovers she is pregnant and soon gives birth to a blood hungry baby that will not take milk but
feeds on his mother’s blood. The boy grows up to be William Smith, who is searching for his vampire father so
he can settle the score for what was done to his mother. Smith learns that one of his college professors is Croft
and he goes after the vampire while the blood creep preys on brain-dead co-eds. I cannot stress how weird this
flick is, but it delivers the scares and is recommended for when you are in the mood for something different.
Available on a couple different labels, the Retromedia release presents Grave of the Vampire as one third of a
triple feature including House of Evil and Guru, The Mad Monk on their Morella’s Blood Flood disc, a complete
“Triple Avalanche of Horror, All-Night Terror-rama!”
MARTIN (1978), Lions Gate
Dir. George Romero
“A vampire for our age of disbelief.”
Young Martin (John Amplas) is an introverted geek who truly believes he is a centuries old vampire. He snares
women with drugs so he can sexually have his way with them and then uses razor blades to slash their wrists
open to drink their blood. He comes to live with his grandfather, Tada Cuda (Lincoln Maazel), who believes
Martin is a vampire and warns him not to take anyone from the town. An unfortunate twist of fate dooms Martin
to an appropriate ironic ending. Romero tries to destroy all the vampire myths by presenting his tale in modern
times, among characters who do not believe in vampires (with Tada Cuda as the sole exception). Martin has
flashbacks, presented in stark black and white photography, which could easily be scenes from old movies the
boy saw when he was younger and has twisted into actual memories. If you have never seen this gem by
zombie master Romero, seek it out. It is a very different kind of vamp flick, but I don’t think you will be
disappointed. It is worth noting that there have been two versions of Martin released on disc. The first, from
Anchor Bay, presents the film in full frame, as Romero originally shot it, with a commentary by Romero, actor
John Amplas, effects man and actor Tom Savini and actress Christina Forrest. The Lions Gate release presents
the film in widescreen and includes a different commentary with Romero, Savini, Director of Photography Michael
Gornick and producer Donald Rubinstein.
NEAR DARK (1987), Anchor Bay
Dir. Kathryn Bigelow
“Vampires can only kill you once, but they can terrify you forever.”
Excellent horror thriller/road flick about a young boy who falls in with a band of nomadic vampires lead by Civil
War “survivor” Jesse (Lance Henriksen). Beautiful photography highlights this western flavored terror flick as
Caleb’s (Adrian Pasdar) father Loy (Tim Thomerson) hunts them down in an attempt to get his son back.
Unforgettable scene wherein the clan of vamps invade a redneck tavern will stick with you well after viewing.
Wild Bill Paxton delivers one of the most memorable, hyperactive roles of his career. A pointless remake is on
the way. If you consider yourself a horror movie fan and you haven’t seen Near Dark, you better get to it!
Now!
NIGHT FLIER (1997), HBO
Dir. Mark Pavia
“Fly the deadly skies.”
This gruesome shocker concerns tabloid reporter Richard Dees (Miguel Ferrer) who follows a killer that strikes
at secluded airports and slaughters everyone in sight. Dees is a sleazeball who will do anything to get the
story. The finale is absolutely chilling when Dees finally catches up with the blood creeper. I highly recommend
this one. It is based on a story by Stephen King.
NIGHT HUNTER (1996), New Concorde
Dir. Rick Jacobson
Witnessing the death of his parents as a young boy, Jack Cutter (Don ”The Dragon” Wilson) grows up to be an
ass-kicking vampire hunter. Cutter is soon on the trail of the leader of the vampires, Bruno Fischer (Nicholas
Guest), the fiend who killed his parents. Released by Roger Corman’s company to cash in on the first Blade
film, Night Hunter has a certain low budget charm. Honestly recommended to those who enjoy “B”, rip-off horror
flicks.
VAMP (1986), Anchor Bay
Dir. Richard Wenk
“Ever have one of those nights?”
Fraternity hopefuls Chris Makepeace and Robert Rusler head into the city to hire some strippers for a frat party
in an attempt to bypass the frat’s lame initiation rituals. More is literally bitten off than can be chewed when the
boys pick The After Dark Club, a dive populated by vampire strippers. Grace Jones stars as the mute, Egyptian
vampire Katrina. In my opinion, this very funny, hip vamp flick has never received the praise it deserves. Wenk
does a wonderful job juggling the scares with the laughs and populates his story with some truly bizarre
characters. If you have never seen it, give it a watch.
VAMPIRE SISTERS (2004), Brain Damage Films
Dir. Joe Ripple
“They’re Beautiful. They’re Sexy. And hungry for Human BLOOD!”
Hooker vampires use the internet to snare victims on which to feed. This low budget flick offers plenty of blood
and guts and some honest laughs. The girls are all pretty and George Stover shows up as a sleazy creep who
likes to peep. An honest to goodness modern drive-in flick, Blood Sisters delivers the low budget thrills.