Dance of the Damned

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source: Dance of the Damned

Moviecut—Dance of the Damned

source: Dance of the Damned

My review was written in March 1989 after watching the film on Virgin Vision video cassette. This morbid but engrossing vampire drama is skedded for direct-to-video release this month, but gets brief big-screen exposure at the AFI Festival in Los Angeles. Filmed back-to-back last year with same filmmaker's "Stripped to Kill 2", pic shares that sequel's strippers milieu. Starr Andreeff is a suicidal peeler, distraught at having a court order barring her from visiting her young son. A handsome vampire, Cyril O'Reilly is in the Paradise Cafe and senses Andreeff's despair, propositioning her after hours to spend the night with him for a quick g-note; he even promises to kill her at dawn after their confab. Despite that claustrophobic premise, reminiscent of the launching point of Anne Rice's novel "Interview with the Vampire", pic covers much ground, with an especially atmospheric late-night visit to the beach. Helmer Katt Shea Ruben bears down effectively on the various philosophical questions of the genre: emptiness of immortality, search for meaning in existence, etc. Punching it across is an uninhibited performance by brunette Andreeff, whose unusual beauty and on-the-edge thesping command sympathy and interest. O'Reilly also is impressive, rising above obvious James Dean mannerisms to create his own persona as the brooding, shoulder-length-hair night creature. Special effects are modest but fresh. Climax is predictable and undercut by an unintelligible final line of dialog.

Jodi (Starr Andreeff), a * contemplating suicide, is held captive by a vampire (Cyril O'Reilly) who wants to know what it is like to sunbathe. Yes, the vampire in Dance of the Damned gets to boff the *. I think. Well, it's implied. However, the film is mostly intercourse of the verbal kind, as the bloodsucker chin-wags with his next meal until daybreak. Not so long ago, I watched To Sleep With A Vampire (1992) by director Adam Friedman, which is a remake of this film by Katt Shea. The two movies are almost identical in every way, with many scenes and much of the dialogue from the original used verbatim in the remake. The biggest differences between the two films are that the vampire in this one has a mullet that would shame Michael Bolton, and that Charlie Spradling, who plays the * in the remake, is a damn sight hotter than Andreef. However, even though I much prefer Spradling to Andreef in terms of visual appeal, I do slightly prefer the original movie overall: Andreef is a better actress and Katt Shea is a better director than Friedman, plus this one has more style, even if it is late-80s style (lots of blue lighting and plenty of widdly guitar, sax solos, and synths). I also liked how, by the end of the film, the roles have reversed, with Jodi desperately wanting to live and the vampire developing a death wish; this might also have been the case with the remake, but that film was ultimately so forgettable I can't say for sure. 5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for the vampire's plasma ball and his bubbly water ornament. Man, that vampire has good taste in furnishings!

This movie is one seriously classy film. Now it's not classy as in highbrow, but more of an elegant, intelligent, well-cast, well-written, well-acted movie. This is worth the effort it might take to find it. Try watching it in the dark, and see if you don't get a claustrophobic feeling as you are drawn deeper into the movie. I'm not kidding....the edges of the TV set will blend right in with your darkened living room....well... maybe that's only old hippies and their flashbacks....I wouldn't really know about that. And if that is not enough, the star, Cyril O'Reilly, is totally sexy. And if you cannot find it, ask....ask all the time...ask in every video rental store, ask every time you are there. It will come....and we can both rent it....maybe buy it....

A vampire (Cyril O'Reilly) goes to a strip-club and overhears that the dancer Jodi Hurtz (Starr Andreeff) is thinking of committing suicide since her ex-husband did not let her see her son on his birthday. When she is leaving the club late night, the vampire says that he is lonely and offers one-thousand dollars to Jodi to talk to him sharing her life experience. They go to his house and soon she learns that she is trapped inside, and he is a vampire that will kill her drinking her blood at 6:00 AM. Along the night, the vampire discloses his existential crisis and Jodi discloses her unfortunate life but concludes she does not want to die. Their inner feelings unleash a strange sentiment between them that are different creatures of the night. "Dance of the Damned" is a different vampire movie, with a touching romance. Despite the low budget, the storyline and the screenplay are very well written in few locations. Therefore, the plot is theatrical and supported by magnificent performances of the lead cast. Unfortunately, this film was only released on VHS. My vote is seven. Title (Brazil): "Dança Macabra" ("Macabre Dance")

And it actually works. Feeling very much like a two-hander stage play, the movie has a great intimacy to it with a lot of philosophical intrigue to the areas of conversation that arise. Despite the leads looking about as Reaganomics in the most evocatively vintage way; their metaphysical topics of discourse are universal and timeless. ("What does the sun look like?") How I missed this growing up in the era of The Lost Boys and Fright Night I will never know. It isn't all claustrophobic undead chat with neon lights, arcade games and plasma globes though. Their struggle of a forced first date does take a midnight excursion to the beach. The movie also has an ending.

Not your average run-of-the-mill vampire movie, so at least that's something. Don't expect vampire-action, bat-like facial transformations or bloody killings in general from "Dance of the Damned" or you'll be disappointed. What we get here is more like a TV-drama play, with a bit of 80's cheesiness and nudity added for good measurement. Pretty much a 'doomed romance' type thing about a non-vampire * and a vampire-yuppie. One wants to die, the other one will have to die if that other one doesn't die. Something like that. Starr Andreef is damn sexy in this one (and she shows plenty of skin - yes, the top comes off) and it has an ending that will leave you hanging in there (in a neither-here-nor-there kinda way). Certainly worth a watch if you're into offbeat vampire movies (more like the cheesy romance ones, not the edgy arty ones). And it's at least about 5 times better than that awful Andrew Stevens vampire-vehicle "Red Blooded American Girl" from 1990 (I've said it before & I'll say it again: avoid movies with Andrew Stevens playing the leading role in them). Anyway, he's not in "Dance of the Damned", so you're safe to watch it.