Vampire At Midnight — Vampire At Midnight( DVD)
Vampire At Midnight is a late 80s film which blends elements of crime thriller, action, fanged horror, and unintentionally awkward romantic drama. The film features a soundtrack that shifts between 80s muzak, moody synth ’n’ beats, and cheesy hip-hop, with the addition of sudden/ ill-fitting street dance scenes. Here from MVD’s classic line is a bare bones/region-free DVD release of the film.
Vampire At Midnight (aka L.A. Midnight ) is a US production from the year 1987. Been filmed in various locations in L.A., and Alhambra, California. It was the debut film from Houston-born Gregory McClatchy- he had one other feature-length film to his name, family sports comedy Soccer Mum (2008). And it’s fair to say Vampire At Midnight is somewhat of a mixed bag in quality, with the camp and hammy, sitting next to the devious and deadly.
We open on a nighttime hillside road, where a woman with a blood red necklace is being grabbed at by a male hand as they drive along. The car comes to a dusty stop, with the woman’s neck having been ripped open before, she is tossed over the edge. As we get into the film, we find out the body is the next in a series of murders that have occurred near/ around L.A.- where glamorous women have been drained of all their blood.
One of the cops looking into the crimes is unsmiling/cold-eyed Detective Roger Sutter (Jason Williams), who is somewhat obsessed/ stalking his blond big-haired neighbour Lesley (Jenny Carleton), who is an aspiring pianist.
Who's behind the murders is not kept quiet for long, as we meet Victor Radikoff(Gustav Vintas) a bald, bow-tied, suited, with an Eastern European accent, hypnotherapist- who has a penchant for both pretty women and blood.
To begin with, the just over one hour and a half film sits more in the crime thriller/ action side of things. But as we go on, we start drifting into a blend of horror/ romantic drama- the latter comes from the pushy Detective Sutter, who is literally forcing himself on Lesley, as well as watching her with binoculars.
Radikoff is a light sleazed/sinister character with a rather neat flick sword in his cuff, which he slits throats & brutal stabs folk with. He lives in a grand, isolated mansion with a lengthy mullet-haired henchman.
The blend of action, cop stuff, and horror is done well enough. The acting is largely not great, with Vintas being the highlight here, nicely hamming things up as the suited and sleazy fanged killer.
Moving on to this recent DVD release, it’s a very bare bones affair, with just the film and a German subtitled trailer for the film. It doesn’t look like much has been done with the print, aside from maybe some clarity added, as it looks like an old DVD print of the film.
Vampire At Midnight is a watchable enough blend of crime thriller & horror, with a fair bit of blood and action. Just don’t expect too much, and be ready for some ’80s camp and generally hamming it up to rather dull-eyed/ flat acting.