‘She’ll love you to death.’
Vamp is a 1986 American comedy horror film directed by Richard Wenk (Dracula Bites the Big Apple; Wishcraft), from a screenplay co-written with Donald P. Borchers (producer of Children of the Corn; Leprechaun 2; Voodoo).
Cast:
Chris Makepeace, Sandy Baron, Robert Rusler, Dedee Pfeiffer, Gedde Watanabe, Grace Jones, Billy Drago.
Plot teaser:
Two college students, Keith and AJ want to hire a stripper to buy their way into a campus fraternity. They borrow a Cadillac from lonely rich Oriental student Duncan, who insists on coming with them to scope out strip clubs in a nearby city. The three boys find themselves at a club in a shady party of town and, after being impressed by an surreally artistic stripper Queen Katrina, AJ visits her dressing room to convince her to come strip for their college party. Katrina seduces AJ, then pins him down, killing him with a bite to the neck…
Reviews:
This is a vapid American Werewolf-influenced frat humour-filled time-waster that did well on VHS in the mid-1980s. Grace Jones featured extensively in the sales imagery but her role is minimal. The overt green/blue/red lighting was stylish when Dario Argento defined it well in Inferno (1980) but six years later it was passé and now makes Vamp seem very dated. Making the combo of vampires and strippers dull would seen to be impossible but, alas, Wenk and his cohorts manage it.
Adrian J Smith, Horrorpedia
“There are some funny lines, and the relationship between the human kid and his best pal the vampire is handled with a lot of original twists. But the movie finally descends, as so many films do these days, to one of those assembly-line endings made up of fights and chases.” Roger Ebert
” … a fun vampire movie with that undeniable 80’s movie feel. It plays with that delicate balance between comedy and horror. Not every movie is successful in this merging of genres. Vampire in Brooklyn (1995) for example failed horribly at it. The comedy in Vamp falls a little on the silly side; it has the kind of humor you’d find in films like Revenge of the Nerds (1984) or Porky’s (1982).” The Film Connossieur
“Director Richard Wenk slathers the film in 80’s purple and green lighting through almost the entire run time. I would say this looks like crap if I saw it in a modern movie but this is an 80’s movie and for whatever reason it seems to work. Wenk seems to know how to set up some interesting ideas and visuals and they do mostly work for the film.” Rogue’s Hollow
In the UK, Vamp was released as a Blu-ray + DVD by Arrow Video on July 14, 2014 with the following features:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of the feature and extras [1 Blu-ray, 2 DVDs]
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Original uncompressed mono PCM audio
- Audio commentary with star Robert Rusler, moderated by Calum Waddell
- Introduction by Robert Rusler
- Vamp it Up An interview with star Dedee Pfeiffer
- Vamp Stripped Bare An interview with director Richard Wenk
- Back to the 80s Producing a campy cult classic
- Scrapbook of scares Richard Wenk looks over his collection of Vamp memorabilia
- Behind the Scenes rehearsals
- Blooper Reel
- Dracula Bites the Big Apple (1979) A short film by Richard Wenk
- Original Trailer
- Easter Egg
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tom The Dude Designs Hodge
- Booklet featuring writing on the film by Jay Slater
Choice dialogue:
“They’re boring creeps. They don’t call them walking dead for nothing.”
