Sang et passion

This is a very underrated vampire movie. I think it was one of the best vampire films ever made. It has a great cast (Brendan Hughes is just so sexy), good acting, a traditional, but different story, it has everything. The only thing I did not like about this movie was that SOME, not all, of the death scenes are cheesy. This movie was very romantic and when you watch it, you feel hypnotized. I strongly recommend this movie to everyone!

I watched movie few times since I was a teenager. I did like it , yes it could use some work and added some more in scenes that were lacking, but overall decent movie.

To Die For (1989) was just another d.t.v. feature that made an appearance on cable ad nasuem during the early nineties. The only thing notable about this feature was the last movie Duane Jones appeared in. Other than that there's no reason to watch this vampire flick unless you like pseudo chick flicks masquerading as a horror film. A tired vampire longs for love and searches the back streets of L.A. looking for it. Will he succeed or will Vlad just strike out again like he has for the last century?

This movie must have been big because a couple of sequels soon followed. They're so bad they make this one look like a classic. I know this is a movie about vampires but the film makers could have used to lighting.

Not recommended by me because I didn't like it.

'nuff said?

The above line, one of the last in the movie, is just so poignant it pretty much sums up the film. Colossally underrated vampire flick that is long on style and quite touching romantically. It should never have worked so well.

Well up there with FRIGHT NIGHT, THE LOST BOYS and NEAR DARK, how such a low-budget movie with a mega-young brit actor, towering barely 5'7" in built-up shoes, standing in as Vlad the Impaler, could work so well, is staggering. It is I suspect a combination of the avant-garde script, outstanding (at times) cinematography and charismatic performance from pretty Sydney Walsh that does it. The brilliance of this film is set right from the opening scenes, whose significance becomes crystal clear later on. Miss Walsh, so reminiscent of a very young Sigourney Weaver here, hits exactly the right note as feisty real estate rep Kate Wooten, who is swept off her feet by cashed-up young client Vlad Tsepsh who for his part, responds to her charms with a rare reluctance.

Just so much to pull out of this wonderful film. The antagonism between Vlad and his brother, the sparkling repartee between Kate and Vlad and the retro ending just so unusual in vampire films. Equally as good as a love story as a horror film. It works a treat on both scores! One cannot pass over the excellent soundtrack either, most notably Rod Stewart's great contribution during the on-board boat party at the very beginning of the film, when Kate is mesmerised by Vlad's intrusion into her life.

Interestingly, Brendan Hughes resurrected the exact same characterisation in HOWLING VI: THE FREAKS which left for dead the previous four sequels!

I love vampire films, except for when the vamps in question are emotionally tormented lovesick romantics: I want my vampires to be thoroughly evil and vicious, ripping out throats and draining virgins of blood, not getting all sappy over a woman. To Die For is a tacky, '80s, straight-to-video effort that features a particularly drippy vampire in the form of Vlad Tepish (Brendan Hughes), who falls for L. A. real estate agent Kate Wooten (Sydney Walsh), whose job it is to find Vlad a suitably gothic property in which to hold lavish soirées (she finds him a really gaudy mock castle). Out to sabotage Vlad's romantic intentions is rival vampire Tom (Steve Bond), who holds a centuries-old grudge against Tepish; meanwhile, Kate's friend Celia (Amanda Wyss) develops an obsession for Vlad.

The bulk of this film consists of the aforementioned mawkish romance, and it is extremely tedious, with very little in the way of horror. MUFX man John Carl Buechler provides some rubbery vampire hands and impressive sets of fangs (when in full on vamp-mode, Vlad and Tom possess several rows of sharp gnashers), but he is only given the chance to really impress with his effects in the film's two vampire melt scenes: Celia becomes a gloopy mess after been partially decapitated and staked through the heart, and Vlad disintegrates in the final act, committing suicide by exposing himself to sunlight.

If Embrace of the Vampire (1995) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) are your idea of a good vampire films, then have at it, but To Die for is anything but in my opinion.