Vampire at Midnight (1988)

Nice effects though.

Fresh and Exciting

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

I know. This is not a great movie. But within its purposes (making a cheap action film) and within its historical context (80's) it is a very cool film. Demonic villain, inelegant protagonist and a beautiful girl. All this in a climate of mystery that the serial killer, dubbed by the newspapers of "Vampire Killer", causes in the city where the feature film is spent. My grade 9 seems like an exaggeration, but I really enjoyed the sympathy of the film and its ambient thriller. And the final scene shows why less famous films are so cool. I can not forget to quote the soundtrack, which is very good. A great independent movie from the 80 years.

"Vampire at Midnight" is an American horror story worthy to be ranked with British Hammer films. Most attempts at transposing Gothic material and themes of the 19th century into contemporary settings fail miserably, but this one succeeds on many levels, even invoking the eerie sense of atmosphere necessary to facilitate the chills. There is more outright gore, violence and nudity than usual, but not so much that it spoils the effect. A mature and still hunky Jason Williams is quite good as the typical macho detective, relieved of duty on the case who persists in investigating regardless. The minor characters, particularly the female cop who fancies him and the stand-up comic who pulls him into the case and becomes a victim, are well portrayed by the actors. I can't understand why this film is so downgraded by its detractors...it is far better than 90% of comparable films in the genre, with bigger names and budgets involved. A very competent film which deserves a wider audience.

Paul Andrews, who already submitted a review for this film, hits the nail on the head. When I saw the VHS cover for this film many years ago, I really wanted to watch it. It had very alluring cover art and some interesting screen-caps on the back, the whole premise of a deranged doctor acting out his vampire fantasies sounded promising. Plus it had a restriction of 2-18! Being a bit under age at the time and in an obscure video store near my dads office, it was no go. But the memory stuck.I got the film for next to nothing and watched it last night. Two things struck me immediately, the first being the quality of the DVD. Or rather lack of. The film looks like it was recorded straight off of a VHS tape in somebodies squalid basement. It's very grainy, but I did not expect a digitally remastered classic, so no big deal.Secondly, they screwed up the title on the DVD menu screen. Renaming it VAMPIRES at Midnight, in the most cheesy horror font you could cut off of a packet of Monster Munch.Now I love B-grade, but this was really bottom of the barrel stuff. A god-awful script combined with bargain basement extras and tacky sets does not a stylish inner city vampire flick make. Nudity and gore are severely lacking as well. Some boring malformed breasts and the occasional blood splatter. I don't know if its a reflection of todays society, but this would have a 13 age rating if released today.The plot and pacing are beyond redemption. Attempts to come across as arty seem more like efforts to patch up areas where the writer just gave up on his own film (and future Hollywood aspirations too I hope.) The detective is unintentionally hilarious too. His infatuation for his dull neighbor comes across as obsessive and creepy. (Climbing out of bed and watching her through his window with binoculars, constantly harassing her and other such romantic gestures.) The vampire had potential, but he soon degenerates into something quite pathetic and gets frustrated and panicky a lot of the time. He also seems to own only one suit. (Which he also sleeps in.) He wears this same suit to public appearances and high brow parties. (Keeping in mind he is not a real vampire, so any supernatural connotations to him being constantly immaculate go right out the window.) Despite being clearly wealthy he lives in a sparsely furnished house and sleeps on what looks like a table, with no cushions. He is also addicted to cigarettes, which kind of lessens the fear factor.As Paul mentioned, the most frightening parts of this film manifest in visual/audio results of a couple doing some funky "dance moves". If the movie was attempting to build any kind of creepy atmosphere, these scenes tear it down and defecate on the violated remains.Frank the Fish indeed steals the show and I enjoyed his screen time. After a while I just wanted all the other characters to choke on their own rubbish dialogue and rot for all eternity.Stay away.

Vampire at Midnight is set in Los Angeles where over a past number of months a killer has stalked the streets, a killer who drains his victims of their blood. He has become known as the Vampire killer & his victims so far total 9 & Detective Al Childress (Robert Random) hasn't got a single clue to go on until he gets lucky one night, or unlucky I suppose, when he runs into the Vampire killer & ends up with his throat slashed. Homicide Detective Roger Sutter (Jason Williams) takes over & receives a call from a comic named Lee Keller (Jonny Solomon) who claims to know who the Vampire killer is. Sutter drives round his house & finds Lee dead & become seven more determined to find the Vampire killer. Meanwhile his pretty neighbour Jenny Carleton (Lesley Milne) is an aspiring concert pianist struggling for confidence so visits a hypnotherapist named Victor Radikoff (Gustav Vintas) to help her self esteem. In one of those film only co-incidences Victor turns out to be the Vampire killer & instead of killing Jenny, like everyone else he comes into contact with, he falls for her & tries to make her his woman, or something like that. Super cop-turned boyfriend Roger to the rescue, he can solve the Vampire killings & come out of it with a good looking bird on his arm as well, sounds good to me...Directed by Gregory McClatchy I found very little to enjoy in Vampire at Midnight which is one of those obscure films that you look forward to watching but when you finally get the opportunity to do so it provides nothing but disappointment. The script by Dulany Ross Clements has virtually no narrative, has no focused story, takes itself extremely seriously & is very thin on plot. Vampire at Midnight is patchy to say the least, at the start it focuses on the Vampire killer & the police investigation which is when it's at it's best, then after Al is killed it switches & focuses on Rogers personal life & his attempts to bed his pretty next door neighbour Jenny & then finally the last third of the film concentrates on Victor the Vampire trying to seduce Jenny. Vampire at Midnight plays really strangely & it really can be divided into three distinct parts, unfortunately it is also very boring & dull oh & I don't want to forget about Bobbie Rio (Eddie Jr.) the black break dancing guy who appears in a couple of scenes in the middle for seemingly no reason whatsoever other than to embarrass himself with his lame 80's dancing. Not much in the way of traditional Vampire law is featured in Vampire at Midnight, the only reason this could be described as a Vampire film is that Victor drinks blood from people's necks after he has slashed them with a huge retractable blade that shoots out of his sleeve. The twist ending was interesting & almost saves the film although when I think about it it just seems stupid now. This could have been a decent horror but as it is it turned out very confused, bland, unlikable & flat.Director McClarthy shows occasional glimpses of style throughout but for the most part Vampire at Midnight flirts between visually impressive & visually dull. Vampire at Midnight is a real product of the 80's, the houses, the decor, the clothes, the hairstyles & the overall feel. Forget about any blood or gore, two slashed throats which are hard to see as they happen in the dark & that's it.Technically Vampire at Midnight is competently made, some parts of it seem to have had more time spent on them than other's. The acting was OK at best although I never felt for anyone & I can happily report that Frank the Fish playing Himself puts in a blinding performance! Hey, the little fella's even listed in the credits.Vampire at Midnight was a disappointment, the story is all over the place & lacks any sort of focus, lacks decent horror elements & isn't much fun to watch. I found my eyelids becoming heavier as the film wore on which is never a good sign. Not worth bothering with.