Vamp, o Filme

If you like campy 80s flicks, don't even bother reading this review. Just go watch the movie. Now.

What more can be said? "Vamp" is totally 80s to the max. Let's begin with the actors... We've got Chris Makepeace ("Meatballs", "My Bodyguard") sporting tight jeans and a oh-so-fashionable blue football jacket. We've got Robert Rusler ("Weird Science", "The Facts of Life") sporting a lovely pastel shirt and wool blazer with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows. Then we've got Gedde Watanabe (Long Duk Dong in "16 Candles") reprising his classic nerdy role, only this time without the horribly contrived Asian accent so you can safely laugh at him without feeling racist. And of course we've got Grace Jones, 80s icon extraordinaire ("Conan the Destroyer", "A View to a Kill") sporting a wire bikini that makes Princess Leia's brass swimsuit look like a nun's habit.

But for my money, the actor who steals the show is the late, great Sandy Baron as Vic the seedy nightclub owner. You've definitely seen his mug all over TV in minor roles that always stole the show (on Seinfeld he was the cranky retiree who gave Jerry the "astronaut pen"). He definitely steals the show in "Vamp" as the lovably sinister old timer who just wants to get to Vegas, even if it means selling his soul to a clan of bloodthirsty vampires. Sandy even has a few dramatic monologues which add depth to this otherwise silly romp. When he proselytizes about his "service" of ridding society of the dregs, the wanderers and the losers, and he punctuates it with a toothy Cheshire-cat grin, it sends a chill right up your spine.

Plot-wise, it's your basic creatures-of-the-night-run-amok-in-a-bar story. You know, the one Tarantino recycled in "From Dusk Til Dawn" 10 years later. Yes, "Vamp" was the original and don't you forget it.

There's some great comedy in this movie, and for that reason it's hard to approach it as a horror film. The whole thing is tongue-in-cheek which takes away the terror and replaces it with laughs. It's a crying shame that director/writer Richard Wenk didn't do more films because he had a great approach to filmmaking: a cross between John Hughes ("16 Candles") and the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker team ("Airplane!").

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you buy the DVD, which you must, be sure to get the 2001 Starz/Anchor Bay release, NOT the 2011 Image Entertainment release. Why? Because the 2001 release includes the hilarious Richard Wenk short film "Dracula Bites the Big Apple". His first film short, this is what got him the "Vamp" gig, and you don't want to miss it. Why they didn't include it in the 2011 release (dvd OR blu-ray) is beyond me.

So there you have it. See this film for the 80s nostalgia, see it for Sandy Baron, just see it. Other campy 80s gems I recommend are "The Alien from L.A." (1986) which was Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Kathy Ireland's big break, "Elvira: Mistress of the Dark" (1988) which is so bad it's ...well... BAD. And although you've probably seen it you gotta see it again: "Beetlejuice" (1988).

Vamp is a curious lost little lamb from the 1980's, all lit in bizarre green and purple tones and featuring all manner of Grace Jones wiggling around like a monster. It's a fun ride, cleverly done and not entirely unoriginal, with terrific acting talent and a loopy sense of humor pitched somewhere between After Hours and a sideways college comedy. Another aspect I appreciated was how each vampire had a personality, and they weren't always one hundred percent proud to be vampires. They're very aware that in a lot of ways they're perfectly lame. Fairly cool stuff, especially in the confrontation between a character who "turns" and the protagonist.

On the other hand, the last half lacks the zip and zap of the first and some characters seemed a little undernourished. The geek who owns the car seemed a little extraneous towards the end, and the albino gang, while sort of awesome, didn't really belong.

But either way. If you're interested in an offbeat 80's vampire movie or just seeing Grace Jones scare the s**t out of you with her face, by all means rent Vamp. You will become a much wiser person as a result and your parents will no longer hate you.

Want to know where Quentin Tarantino got his idea for the script for Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn? Well, replace that film's bank robbers with a group of hormonal teens, swop gorgeous Salma Hayek for scary disco-diva Grace Jones, and turn Mexican biker-bar The Titty Twister into a skid-row strip club, and what you've got is Vamp, an under-rated teen horror from the 80s that was undoubtedly the inspiration for Rodriguez's horror hit.

Vamp follows three frat boys, Keith, AJ, and Duncan (Chris Makepeace, Robert Rusler and Gedde Watanabe), as they venture to the wrong side of town in the hope of hiring a stripper for a college party. After a run in with a nasty street gang, led by albino thug Snow (Billy Drago), the lads pay a visit to The After Dark Club, a sleazy joint that, unbeknownst to them, is home to a nest of vampires that feed on the lonely patrons.

When AJ is fed to Katrina (Jones), the queen of the bloodsuckers, Keith and Duncan attempt to flee the city, along with cute waitress Amaretto (Dedee Pfeiffer), but find their escape hampered not only by countless members of the undead, but also by Snow and his fellow gang members.

Featuring a witty script, excellent art direction, great make-up effects from Greg Cannom, and lively, fun performances from all involved, Vamp proves to be one of the better 'cheesy' horrors of the 80s, and is my third favourite teen vampire film of the decade (after The Lost Boys and Fright Night). The film makes stunning use of garish, coloured lighting (perhaps inspired by Dario Argento's Suspiria, which uses similar strong colours), giving the whole affair a freakish and rather unsettling look; this disturbing atmosphere is further compounded by a feeling of complete helplessness that is reminiscent of Scorsese's similarly surreal After Hours.

Admittedly, Vamp does occasionally veer a little too close to dumb teen comedy territory, and one or two scenes are rather convoluted or silly (what kind of vampire keeps metal drums full of flammable liquid in their crypt? And that Formica quip.... weak!), but on the whole, this is a refreshingly offbeat and stylish effort that deserves more recognition.

7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

Vamp is a great movie! The comedy mixes with the horror to form an entertaining time! Grace Jones gives a great performance of Katrina! Very recommended. The rest of the cast is funny, and it's really worth it

This has to be the most underrated vamp flick that i have come across, most could be put off by bottom shelf, fading icon Chris Makepiece gurning his way through frat-cliche after another, but sit tight and you will become witness to invention in a low budget movie not seen since the likes of The Black Gestapo and You can't buy love. Grace Jones makes compelling viewing as the said vamp and the soundtrack is a lesson in the tried and tested sublime to the ridiculous pitch. All in all this is a quality movie and very creepy i might add, could have toned down the pink and green lighting though (maybe Jerry Bruckheimer got a job onset as exec producer)