Review of Vamp (1986) by Mark J — 09 Jul 2008

If ever a film suffered from a true miscarriage of justice it is this one, ignored like hell, yet the first on the pile when it comes to directors lifting whole scenes out, when not the whole story for the tiresomely overblown, ridiculous badly acted plagiarised crap-From Dust Til Dawn, Club Vampire, The Forsaken, The Thirst, even that pathetic listless sequel to the already wretched Interview With The Vampire had everything from the leering eyes and mouths in the dimly lit clubs to the dance of death, the insane aerial headgear to the signposted plucking out of a heart. See all that (and more) in this fantastic offbeat shocker first that, like many 80s horror offerings, made the characters everyday Joe and Joannas who saved the die by simply fighting to save themselves and doing the right thing.

It starts out John Hughes/Animal House style with a couple of guys that need a stripper for a frat party they're throwing that night and soon turns into a unique Fright Night/After Hours kind of amalgamation. Needless to say one shock follows another, but despite all the present thrills, there's a unique character driven resonance that balances out the horror and keep everthing entirely believable. The acting is also first-rate, Chris Makepeace a brilliantly non-showy and very ignored actor who gradally becomes a resilient hero, forever fighting down the consistent panic he feels while trying to rescue himself and his friend from he knows not exaclty what as the night gets increasingly for him from hour to hour.

While not having anywhere near the budget Fright Night had (nevermind what they throw at horror films today, the effects are superior, well-realised and unexpected, much like the movie itself. And Grace Jones makes a nasty vampire, but even moreso, do the nasty coven of creatures surrounding her, that won't really register on the unsuspecting viewer till the last moment. And not only did this movie start the whole "nightclub strippers with fangs go wild on the punters" craze-still one copied to death today and counting, it was the first film that truly made female vampires dangerous and threatening, had the most inspired staking scene you'll ever see, sensibly reasoned its competence in keeping evil operations under wraps, gave us the first teen vamp killer with a bow&arrow (eat that Blade and your sodding nighclub) and was not afraid to pull out a pleasing ending after all the sustained terror before. Not EVERY movie has to end on the-did you get him or is he going to come back and get me scene after all the hell a character you care about's been put through.

There's plenty of scene stealing from great actors vying against each other in movies-I just wish the director would stop scene stealing from this one-or at least flaming admit if you do. Hell, even Sheryl Lee's hunted character from John Carpenter's Vampires was called Katrina-the name Grace Jones hasin this movie! Can we say law suit? Over and over.