Vamp (1986)

The Worst Film Ever

good back-story, and good acting

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

I've noted before that in the 80s there was a glut of horror films being made. It was like they'd suddenly become acceptable by then, the children hidden away and referred to only on special occasions. The rise of the horror movie at this time has led to the genre becoming what it is today, more mainstream than since the days of the classic Universal horror films. The only problem back then was that not all of those films were great. Some were but most qualified as mediocre. Then there were movies like VAMP that did well enough but dropped into the cult status rather than box office mega hit. The story follows two young pledges to a fraternity, Keith (Chris Makepeace) and AK (Robert Rusler). Their final task to achieve membership is to provide "special" entertainment for the frat's big bash. Of course AJ, the easy going slick talker of the two, decides that the best option is to head to the big city and pick up a few strippers to bring back. With rich pledge Duncan in tow (Gedde Watanabe) they're off and running. The problems begin when the trio find a local strip joint without realizing that all of the girls dancing there are actually vampires. When the vampire queen Katrina (Grace Jones) puts AJ under her spell, he ends up becoming one of the vampires as well. With the help of a waitress named Amaretto (Deedee Pfeiffer) Keith tries to escape along with Duncan. But thing, as they say, don't go according to plans. The movie was a fun film, offering just the right touch of humor to the horror to make a film unlike any other. This nice blend offered some moments that would make the least regular horror fan jump while the die-hards chuckled at their shock. The laughs were not belly laughs but enough to make you smile and have a good time watching.Makepeace at the time was coming off of earlier hits like MEATBALLS and MY BODYGUARD as a child and trying to shoot for more mature roles. Hitting a strip club was a change of pace in seeing him. Rusler had already hit the horror market as a cast member in NIGHTMATER OF ELM STREET 2. And Jones we making her mark on movies at the time, something she never really pursued strongly after just a few films. All in all the movie offered great entertainment which is what they were shooting for. Fans discovered it on cable and video and it was more popular after its initial release than during. Since then fans have been hoping for more and now they have it since Arrow Video has released it with a special version. Start with the fact that this is a new digital transfer. Included in the extras are the documentary ONE OF THESE NIGHTS: THE MAKING OF VAMP, behind the scenes rehearsals, a blooper reel, an image gallery, Dracula BITES THE BIG APPLE a celebrated short film from director Richard Wenk and a reversible sleeve featuring newly commissioned artwork by Twins of Evil.Arrow comes through once again with a solid take on a movie most would find unworthy of special attention. As always it shows why they are one of the best companies around when it comes to material like this.

VAMP is a well-known '80s comedy about a strip club that just so happens to be home to a gang of vampires who murder their patrons and drink their blood in order to make a living. The story writes itself and is a low budget yarn with plenty of vampire jokes and humour and a few bloody death scenes to keep it moving along. As an '80s comedy horror flick it's one of the lesser ones I've seen, purely because the execution isn't great and the jokes aren't very funny.I can lay the blame for this squarely on the shoulders of the various writers who really should be making this on par with the likes of RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD or NIGHT OF THE CREEPS. It pales in comparison to other '80s vampire movies like FRIGHT NIGHT and THE LOST BOYS. Story-wise, the set-up is a little similar to FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, but without the urgency or excitement of that movie. Instead what we get is a whole lot of teen speak and boring character humour, and a memorable striptease sequence from the ever-bizarre Grace Jones. Some of the gooey special effects are good, and it's a delight to see Billy Drago in support, but otherwise VAMP is a disappointment.

This is one of those weird little films that has the power to grow on you. Ostensibly, it should not be all that much as it details the story of three college boys in search of a great stripper as appeasement for joining a fraternity. How quickly we derail from that story(in fact it just about disappears and never resurfaces again) and go to the dark, twisted, removed world of the After Dark Club. This is where the guys are to find their stripper - in this case a very bizarre, strangely erotic, wholly creepy Grace Jones! There we find a sub-culture, apparently unbeknown-st to the police - who either look the other way or fear this bad part of town, of vampirism hidden behind the facade of a decaying strip show. Now, we do get some girls showing us their wares, though this really is not the major point of this film. We do get some genuinely eerie and scary moments as well. We do get those God-awful special effects that are so common in the 80s. We do get Grace Jones and all that that entails. But the primary purpose of this film is to interlace humor with all of that. It succeeds. I laughed quite a bit actually. The guys running the club are hilarious, particularly Sandy Baron who is the emcee and wearing some pink/red lounge blazer like a comedian might from yesteryear in the Catskills. He keeps ranting about he wants to take the act/show/everything to Vegas...his great dream. He of course works for Katrina, Grace Jones, the Egyptian vampire who owns the place. Anyway, we soon get one boy meeting Katrina and the other boy trying to find him and the story runs pretty strongly just from that. Comedy abounds from moments with a strange albino non-vampire group after the boys being assaulted from vampires in the community(the little girl flying and biting the neck of Billy Drago had me in stitches!) to the bizarre ending where we get this great rendition of Domenico Modugno singing "Volare!." Of course that means "to fly" in Italian, and it is that tongue planted firmly in cheek that made this film enjoyable for me. As I said before, there are some truly scary moments as well. The atmosphere is very well-done by director Richard Wenk sans those atrocious special effects. One can definitely see how this was an inspiration possibly for From Dusk till Dawn.

Some might say that living in the past is not a good thing! But when I think about the movies that I remember fondly from my formative teenage years the Richard Wenk written/directed Vamp has remained a firm cult favourite of mine ever since then.Just recently I thought I would dust off my Anchor Bay release and give a welcome return to old familiar territory after watching many a dud of late, and truth to tell the movie has not lost any of it's style and wit after all the years.Granted the presence of Grace Jones is the main selling point of the movie, and from the original poster release, video release and the Anchor Bay release, her face is plastered all over them, I've never been a fan of the woman, I've never found attractive and her music has no appeal whatsoever.For me the main stars of the movie are the protagonists of Keith & A.J. ably assisted by Duncan as they go on a nocturnal search for the perfect stripper, why you might ask? To gain access to their chosen frat house, they offer to garner the services of said stripper to entertain the frat boys and make it easier for them to gain admittance to the frat house of their choice.Sounds like a simple task Right? If only! As our three heroes discover to their cost as their journey into hell more or less begins when they have a run in with Billy Drago and his cohorts, from there they head straight into the After Dark Club, and then the real horror begins.Any horror fan worth their salt knows the story, so I wont tread over familiar ground but needless to say Messrs Makepeace(who looks like a young Mel Gibson) & Robert Rusler make a great double team, I could take or leave the Dedee Pfeiffer character and the presence of the late great Sandy Baron as the After Dark Club emcee really gives the movie a certain edge.A truly great vampire movie, that has in abundance a great visual style, a seriously good soundtrack, the first song played in the After Dark Club when Candy(Sweet Sweet Candy) is dancing is still my favourite, plus Gedde Watanabe's line to the waitress when he asks her what time do she get off is still a classic.Once bitten forever smitten that's how I feel about this 80's entry in the vampire genre.My rating is an immortal 10/10