Vamp **

This was the VHS cover I remember

I have brand new thoughts being prepared for today. I wanted to include this huge review from the past as an alternative take from 13 years ago.
 To become members of a fraternity, AJ(Robert Rusler)concocts a scheme to get in by bringing a hooker to their party. He'll persuade his pal, Keith(Chris Makepeace)to use nerdy, rich Duncan's(Gedde Watanabe, scene stealing as always)car..and wallet.. to drive to the city to pick up a hooker(..or hookers, but preferably one will be sufficient). They immediately run into a no-good albino thug(Billy Drago)and his group and escape a scrape. But, their night takes a turn for the worse when they find a strip club, called "After Hours" whose boss, Katrina(Grace Jones)is an Egyptian vamp. The ones under her employ are vamps as well, and soon poor AJ will make the mistake of meeting Katrina in her living quarters back stage after her provocative, unusual number for the crowd of patrons. She'll tear into his neck leaving him for dead..until they find out that he was not alone and actually had two friends along, Keith and Duncan. Luckily, a non-vamp, Amaretto(Dedee Pfeiffer, who is a wonderful, welcome presence)who had a past kiss with Keith will assist him when he's running for his life and looking for AJ, who had been temporarily disposed. But, Keith doesn't just have the vamps to contend with, the Albino has rounded up his gang of co-horts so escape for the poor guy seems nearly impossible. That's not counting the number of vamps who live around the club and underneath in the abandoned sewer system below. Finding that his best friend is indeed a vampire, Keith and AJ have a very awkward moment where friendship will be called into question as the blood-thirst becomes unbearable. Keith will find that a route out of the clutches of those vamps around him seems almost impossible as even his friends are after his blood. It'll come down to Keith and Amaretto to somehow find a way out of the situation they find themselves as even Duncan is turned over to the dark-side, and even escaping in a car will be a daunting task as garbage men are "corrupted" by Katrina as well. Katrina has a man under her, Vic(Sandy Baron;always dreaming about Vegas)that watches after things in the club..always returning to Katrina when mistakes are made by her hired help or when things regarding their secret may be divulged.

Silly, colorful, stylish 80's vampire comedy is quite lurid thanks to the setting around the strip club. The casting excels as Makepeace is quite a likable hero displaying his dismay, confusion, and horror at what is taken place around him. Sandy Baron has some of the best lines as he explains to Makepeace about there being no escape and that their business is a lucrative one for it eliminates the degenerate slime of the world by making them lunch. Watanabe carries a facade of sophistication trying to sound rich with his voice..he so desperately craves to belong to a popular group and Keith & AJ provide that glimmer of hope as he often shells out bucks for their beer amongst other things. Then you have Pfeiffer as the sweet, bubbly love-interest with an aura of natural charm. She really shines bright, radiating such an, at times, quite sleazy flick. And, she's sexy to boot which is a knock-out combination, a winning role she should be proud of. Rusler has some great moments as a conflicted vampire, trying to determine what's best when faced with possibly drinking his best friend's blood or falling on the stake. Except for a jaw-droppingly bizarre opening act, Grace Jones has limited time on screen. Her dance number stops the show, though..it's hard to forget. And, her feast of Rusler's neck is quite gruesome. She's equally exotic and menacing, never uttering a word, using her sheer presence to seduce and captivate the viewer. Good make-up effects, and a heavy dose of humor really make this a surprising gem ready for fans of 80's horror. It is a required taste, however, for it dwells in some rather scuzzy places. Great use of neon shading the buildings, streets, and sewers bring an atmosphere that reminds us of the time this flick was made. Billy Drago has like 5 or so minutes and compliments Grace in the menace department..although, his work is often used for laughs, even though his intensity is at a high as he confronts our heroes ready to inflict damage. The violence includes a stripper vampire stabbed in the heart by the heel of a stiletto shoe, a heart ripped from the chest of an employee by Jones who was displeased with her mistake at selecting a victim with friends, and a smashing finale where we see a vampire's face strip away at the sight of sunlight. And, Jones' transformation(..teeth protruding, eyes rolling back, toe nails extending)into a vampire is eerie, and her ripping away at the neck wound of a victim she's feeding from is perfectly savage. Really has that kind of off-the-wall, disastrous, exhausting "night in the life" premise where a character escapes one perilous situation after another, wondering, like the viewer, what could possibly happen next..maybe, that's what draws me to this movie.

--IMDb user comments, June 2007