Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

Lawbolisted Powerful

Humbersi The first must-see film of the year.

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

a_baron Lovers smooching in a graveyard – you take me to the nicest places, darling – when their canoodling is interrupted by an intruder who opens his coffin, rips off the car door, murders the teenager in love, and rapes his sweetheart. Fortunately the rape is implied rather than explicit, but this is a strange beginning even for a vampire flick.One person is wise to what has happened, a detective who has obviously seen one too many Bela Lugosi film; we are told as much. Unfortunately, America's answer to Sherlock Holmes is murdered around half hour into the film. By whom? You guessed. So what happens to our rape victim? She becomes pregnant, convinces herself the baby belongs to her dead boyfriend – which does rather make one wonder what her mother told her about the birds and the bees – and keeps the baby. Baby is born and we fast-forward twenty or so years, when baby's mission in life is revealed – to kill his father. Murder is a bit of a strong word, come to think of it, so is kill. So who is Daddy? Would you believe a college lecturer? Teaching evening classes of course. Well, sure beats lying in that coffin all night. We are spared little details such as what he put on his CV and how he obtained his fake identity, but clearly he must be stopped, because he's been a busy lad since he impregnated that wench in the cemetery, indeed he murders another innocent girl a few minutes before his son succeeds in tracking him down.Do you really want to hear anymore?

Scarecrow-88 A powerful, savage vampire, Caleb Croft(Pataki) rises from his tomb who destroys a man and rapes his woman(in turn, impregnating this poor girl who had just accepted her now dead boyfriend's wedding proposal). This vampire isn't through. In life, Croft was a serial rapist, and his sadism towards women will continue in vampiric form, the thirst of blood another motivating factor behind attacks on humans. After being chased into a Boston subway by police, Croft was electrocuted when he fell on the rails. Leslie attempts, with help from drugs, will attempt to pick up the pieces and move on with her life. Believing her unborn child is Paul's, Leslie will not accept the advice from her doctor that she should abort it(the child is considered a parasite, only nourishing itself through her provided blood, half-human/half-vampire). Along with a patient she befriends while recovering in the hospital, Olga, Leslie has the child. She extracts blood through a hypodermic and feeds her child with it in a bottle, substituting milk. Caleb Croft, an assumed name replacing his infamous true identity of Charles Croyden(a 17th Century nobleman), has metamorphosed from a wrinkled, shriveled corpse into a young, handsome professor thanks to the fresh blood of college students he drinks from as a professor. Lots of students pack his classroom, Professor Lockwood's course at night(as expected since he's a bloodsucker), regarding folklore and history(but mostly philosophy).William Smith stars as Croft's haunted hellspawn, James Easman, hungry for revenge for his mother's suffering and early demise(the blood she provided him shortened her own life)and a student in Lockwood's night class. Ann is a teacher of English literature who reminds Croft of his former bride, Sarah. Anita is a fellow student interested in James, finding out that Lockwood is Croyden, yearning to become one of the undead(even Lockwood's vampire bride, to serve him for all eternity to replace his dead wife, Sarah who was burned at the stake). Well, that notion is dismissed rather quickly. The ending concludes with Lockwood conducting a séance at his mansion, Ann, James, and other students gathered as participants. Exciting close with James and Lockwood locked in battle, engaged in a spirited dual. Lockwood, interesting enough, encourages his own downfall, by putting together the séance, because Ann is used as the medium for which Anita can inhibit to call Croyden out.It's not a surprise anymore to me that I turn up yet another gem from the 70s in regards to a previously undiscovered quality vampire horror drive-in flick. I think what makes this film stand out is Michael Pataki as the vicious, menacing vampire, Caleb Croft, who, once gaining his youth after draining enough blood from victims, can move amongst the living, albeit at night time. Pataki's Lockwood is rather snobbish and aristocratic, but when he is angered or threatened, he disposes of humans with relative ease and lack of empathy. He will kill your ass and not think twice about it..plain and simple. Smith steps out as a hero, in a change of pace role, until the evil within finally becomes too difficult to contain, but not before he unleashes his fury on the vampire that has caused him much pain. Lyn Peters and Diane Holden are the women of the film, Anne and Anita respectively. Not a traditional vampire film, set in the contemporary, swinging 70s, absent youth, adults portraying the college students here. Television veteran Carmen Argenziano has an early role here as cynical Sam who finds the séance to be a load of hogwash and learns that bullets fired from his gun have little effect on a vampire..and he learns the hard way, to say the least.

gavin6942 Vampires that impregnate human chicks... an idea that makes no sense, but suspend your belief for a bit and you might be entertained, son. In this flick, a vampire kills a dude and then rapes a chick... but the chick gets totally pregnant and gives birth to a hybrid (like Blade or Alucard or something). And then, you know, the hybrid makes his intentions of killing the daddy clear.This film has one big failure: it was filmed with just about the lowest quality humanly possible. Very grainy footage and sound and whatnot, so until you learn to ignore it, you'll be forcing yourself against your will. I mean, it's not as cruddy as "House of Death" (aka "Death Screams")... but what is? So, yeah, there's the raping and killing vampire against his own son. The interesting twist, if that's not enough, is that from the very beginning, one of the wise and level-headed cops suspects a vampire to be responsible for the violence. Immediately after the attack on the woman, he shows her a photo of the dead man (or, undead man) and she recoils in terror. What makes him think a vampire is involved? You have to watch to see.Now, there's hope of this some day getting cleaned up and appreciated by a new generation of horror fans who want to scour the obscure titles from yesteryear. Mill Creek offers a DVD that is a poor transfer, but Unicorn video had the VHS rights... with Unicorn gone and the rights gone public, who knows where the original print is? I certainly don't. But I think with a little work, and plenty of luck, some company (Dark Sky?) will come along and snatch up the Unicorn properties and save them from obscurity like they did with "She Beast".

Cujo108 A vamp by the name of Caleb Croft rises from his crypt in a cemetery and happens upon a couple making out in their car. After killing the man and having a few sips of his blood, Croft rapes the woman in an empty grave. Eventually, the woman gives birth to a half human, half vampire baby. In order to feed him, she uses a syringe to extract her own blood, eventually leading to her demise. Her now grown son seeks vengeance against his father and is determined to track him down. Did I mention that Croft is now teaching night classes on the occult?This offbeat vampire film has many interesting twists in it's storyline. One of Croft's students longs to be a vampire, for instance. As the vile vamp himself, Michael Pataki comes across as cold-blooded and cruel. While the film isn't very bloody, the acts of violence he commits seem more vicious than the norm. William Smith plays the son, and he reminded me more of a bump on a log than anything. I suppose that's just the part, that of a secluded outsider with no world experience. There's a fight towards the end that is surprisingly well-done. The film isn't as good as director John Hayes earlier effort, "Dream No Evil", but it's a unique addition to the vampire sub-genre all the same.