Date With A Vampire — Date With A Vampire( Blu Ray)
Date With A Vampire is an early 2000s straight-to-video example of the erotic horror genre, with things largely focusing on the softcore, fleshly side of things- though there’s a creepy/ feral basement vamp, some bickering about biting, and a few darting moments of gore. This Visual Vengeance Blu-ray release brings together a director's commentary track and other extras. Plus, a second bonus film by the same director, Blood Craving, which features horror legend Carloine Monroe.
Date With A Vampire is from the year 2000. It was directed by New York-born Jeffrey Arsenault, who has seventeen features to his name, and pretty much all of them have a vampiric edge to them. I was aware of his work due to a Vinegar Syndrome reissue of his first film, Night Owl, from 1993; this was a film shot in black & white, a grimy and moody take on the vamp film, set around NYC’s Lower East Side's nocturnal pizza shops, house music clubs, and murky apartments.
The film to hand slides in at just under the one-hour mark, being set wholly inside a large oak-lined mansion house. It opens with dark, tall, and muscular Chuck (Robin Macklin) returning late at night to the house with its owner, Volet (Lori Thomas)- who I’m guessing is mid-thirties, with brownish to red-tinged hair.
Fairly soon, the pair are getting down to it- with a musical backdrop of easy listening/ mellow keyboard ambience, and instrumental blends of low-key beats, melodic synths, with the odd touches of guitar & horn. The first twenty to twenty-five minutes tread what you expect from 90’s softcore.
Then Volet decides to take a bite out of Chuck’s neck, which he’s not too pleased about, but after having a shower (a lot of showers are taken in this film), he tries to get away, but stumbles and passes out, awakening to find himself tied to her bed.
As we move on, we have woman-on-woman action, a heart is ripped out & bitten, an intruder breaks in, and there’s a violent/ unpredictable male vamp in the basement.
The primary focus of the film is the softcore, which moves from man-on-woman to woman-on-woman- it’s fairly standard of what you’d expect, though I do rather like the soundtrack, which is effectively mellow/ camp/cheesy.
When the horror elements come in, they are fairly surprising. The acting, for the most part, moves between rather flat & amateur dramatics, which gives some unintentional amusement. There’s a rewarding enough twist at the end regarding Chuck.
Date With A Vampire is a passable enough example of the erotic horror form- I just wish there’d been a bit more horror in the mix, as what there is manages to be effectively jarring & low-key eerie.
On the extras, I’m presuming they are all-new extras; we have a few things. First off is a commentary track from director Jeffrey Arsenault. He starts by talking about how this was the second film he shot on a digital camera, and how it was shot back-to-back with Crimson Night in the summer of 1999. He talks about the two leads- how both looked good, there was chemistry between them, and they could handle dialogue well. We find out the house location was down a side street in Brooklyn- it had been owned by a cat lady and was haunted. Later on, he discusses filming outside, comments on the prop used, and a few other things. It’s a passable enough director's cut- though he’s a little full of himself, and at points runs dry with things to say.
Otherwise, for this film, we have the following: Interview with director Jeffrey Arsenault (3.32), Interview with screenwriter Kevin J. Lindenmuth (11.04), Interview with actress Cynthia Polakovich (7.51), Interview with ‘Basement Vampire’ actor Joe Zaso (22.02), Location Manager Nathan Thompson: Date With a Vampire Memories (1.56), and Buckingham Manor Location Video with Nathan Thompson (6.10)
The bonus film here is 2002’s Blood Craving- it’s listed on IMDB as one hour and fifteen minutes, but the version we have here lasts under thirty minutes. And as a result, it definitely seems to be missing a lot…
We have two sets of main characters- there’s a smartly dressed middle-aged couple, having supper/ drinking red wine. They're acting in a very bad/ glossy, soapy manner, discussing what's happening to local Vamps- that they are somehow connected to.
The other set of characters are in a corridor-lined house- there’s a blond woman seducing men, then either drugging them or draining their blood. Then hanging them up in shadowy rooms with handcuffs.
The mentioned Caroline Monroe is a real con, as it just one of the film's characters watching her being interviewed on TV- the interview itself, I guess, is interesting enough- though it takes up five or so minutes of the film.
There is some passable stalking through corridors footage, lots of cheesy guitar led easy/ sleazy easy listening. There’s no nudity here, and just a few moments of blood. All in all, Blood Craving is a very puzzling/ unresolved short.
We get a few extras for this film. First off, director Jeffrey Arsenault gives us a commentary track. He goes from talking about how it was meant to be a sequel to Night Owl- with the longer versions taking in big chunks of that film. We find out the basement was in the apartment block he lived in. He comments on how good the Carloine Monroe interview was- we find out it was shot by a crew of four, and it cost a lot to film. He points out actors as they appear, along with a few other things. Again, it’s a passable track. Otherwise, there’s: Blood Craving Interview with director Jeffrey Arsenault (2.21), Blood Craving Image Gallery, Blood Craving: Original First Draft Trailers, and After Midnight Entertainment: Trailer Reel.
The first pressing comes with a reversible sleeve featuring new Blood Craving art, a folded mini-poster, and an O-Card slip by Rick Melton.
It is good to see Visual Vengeance putting out a release focusing on the work of Jeffrey Arsenault, as he certainly has a distinctive vision/ feel to his work, with his own take on erotic horror. As always with VV, we get a bulging selection of extras.