Review of Embrace of the Vampire (1995) by Todd S — 15 Sep 2005

[font=Times][color=#000000]Where do I start? How about with the two easiest categories. The effects are ok. Nothing cutting edge, but at least the vampire?s teeth looked all right and the blood shed was portrayed with out obvious signs of blood packs and such. The soundtrack was also ok. It wasn?t great or upbeat, but it didn?t distract either.[/color][/font].

[font=Times][color=#000000]All righty then. The plot had enough holes in it that I could send an Indy car race through it! The main plot device is a prime example. The vampire says he has only three nights to get his girl or he?ll slip into an eternal sleep. Why? I don?t mind writers and films that try to do something new with the old legends of vampires, werewolves, and the like. I do, however, expect the new ideas to make sense and to be explained properly in the plot. There is no explanation for why this particular vampire MUST slip into an eternal slumber unless he finds, not just a girl, but a girl with the soul of his one true love.[/color][/font].

[font=Times][color=#000000]Other than it being a plot device to ?create suspense? for the ending, it is a ridiculous and unbelievable idea. The other thing that flabbergasted me is this vampire seemed to disappear and call it quits for the night at midnight. So, this creature can?t go out in the daylight, only at night, but he also has to pretty much waist half of the time of darkness too. He gets from sundown to midnight apparently. Again, no explanation why aside from it?s an obvious plot point to use as a ?drama builder.?[/color][/font].

[font=Times][color=#000000]There are also signs in the dialogue that show the writer wasn?t keeping track of his/her characters very well. The main target of the Vampire says she?s seventeen. She?s going to be eighteen in three days (the same day the vampire MUST have won her over). Later in talking to her boyfriend he mentions they have been dating for a year and a few months. Doing the math, that would mean this older college guy was dating her just as she turned sixteen. Either the writer didn?t remember his characters age when writing the boyfriend?s line or the writer wanted the boyfriend to be a cradle robber.[/color][/font].

[font=Times][color=#000000]The acting is also very weak. Most of the characters are either stereotypes or two-dimensional stand ins with nothing real to do. It?s very obvious here that the film makers decided that they had Alyssa Milano available and agreeing to get naked on film and so they wanted a plot written that would allow her to do that often and the actual story took second fiddle to the naked star.[/color][/font].