After an unsettling start, this roars off in exciting manner through night streets, bathed as if by Mario Bava in streaks of green, pink and mauve. This could even be Planet of the Vampires, did we but know it. Inside a strip club we have a whole delirious section, fantastically designed and choreographed, the centre piece of which is the turn of Grace Jones. It is as good as anything she has ever done as she prances and dances and more to one of her own songs. Things get more vampiric and the delirium continues. Some time after halfway through, however, we suddenly notice the absence of the wondrous lady and realise just how flat and juvenile things have become. Things pick up towards the end and all in all, even including the music (very decent, especially for an 80s film) this is well worth a watch and much underrated.

Dumb teen sex comedies centered around high school or college students were big in the 80s and vampire films were starting to see a big resurgence thanks to several surprise hits in the subgenre, so VAMP was a no-brainer green light for its time. It has since fallen through the cracks and it's pretty easy to see why. It failed to come close to matching the commercial and critical success of FRIGHT NIGHT (1985) or THE LOST BOYS (1987), wasn't stylish enough to rope in the artsy-fartsy crowd like THE HUNGER (1983), wasn't inventive and atmospheric enough to gain a cult following similar to that of NEAR DARK (1987) and couldn't even retrospectively be viewed through the rose-colored nostalgia glasses like THE MONSTER SQUAD (1987) because it's not quite charming enough. Not that this is a bad film per se; it just happens to be "just OK" in most areas while never really excelling at anything.Dipsa Phi fraternity pledges Keith (Chris Makepeace, from MEATBALLS) and AJ (Robert Rusler, from A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2) talk themselves out of a silly hazing ceremony by agreeing to get anything the frat needs for an upcoming party. That turns out to be a stripper and, since they're living in a small town, strippers require a two hour drive into Los Angeles to acquire. The problem? Neither of them has a car. They're then forced to enlist the aid of the friendless, extremely annoying and pathetic try-hard Duncan Spriggs (Gedde Watanabe) to get them there. Duncan agrees in exchange for a week's worth of their friendship (?!), which may make this 'comic' depiction of an Asian- American even more offensive than Watanabe's turn as "Long Duk Dong" in SIXTEEN CANDLES. The three guys finally arrive in L.A., have a run in with albino gang leader Snow (Billy Drago) at a diner and finally make it to the "After Hours Club" in once piece. After viewing a truly strange performance art strip act by exotic club owner / star attraction Katrina (Grace Jones), AJ gets permission to go to her dressing room to discuss employing her for the frat party. He doesn't return. Keith eventually realizes that nearly the entire strip club, including the emcee (Sandy Baron), the bouncer (Brad Logan) and most of the dancers are actually vampires. They usually prey on vagrants, bums and other people no one will miss, but this time they've made a mistake with AJ and now must cover their tracks by eliminating all evidence he was there. Since Keith himself is part of that evidence, he teams up with an excessively perky non-vampire waitress / dancer (Dedee Pfeiffer) and basically just tries to survive the "wacky" night.I've seen numerous people question Grace Jones' sex appeal as the sultry queen bee vampire who runs things. Sure, she's not for everyone, but in my opinion she is the only truly memorable aspect of this entire movie. The former model turned singer and actress doesn't utter a single word in the film but manages to be both intimidating and creepy thanks to her offbeat demeanor, ultra-bizarre Egyptian-themed wardrobe choice and androgynous facial structure, which is made even more striking thanks to blue contact lenses, white face paint and a bright red wig. There's a good reason it was her image and her image alone that has been used to market the film over the years and if anything this film suffers most because she's underutilized and not on screen nearly as much as she should have been. Aside from the presence of Jones, the makeup effects from Greg Cannom are good and the production values in general are adequate down the board. It's also VERY 80s and the whole film is shot through with a hideous neon pink and green lighting scheme. What is most surprising of all is just how restrained, unexciting and glib the whole thing is considering the premise involves vampires working out of a strip club. In other words, this would have been much better had it been a little more freewheeling and uninhibited than it is. This same idea would be done much better later on in FROM DUSK TILL DAWN (1996).

Two fraternity pledges go to a sleazy bar looking for strippers to entertain their college friends. They have problems with transportation, Biker gangs, and worst of all, the staff of the bar, all of whom seem to be vampires, with Grace Jones playing the head vampire.Richard Wenk had written and directed "Dracula Bites the Big Apple" (1979), a rather funny short film which is self-explanatory: a goofy Dracula goes to disco-era New York. Because of this, Wenk was offered the film "Vamp", if it could be called a film. At the time, it was simply a title and a poster, with Wenk told to develop something involving vampire hookers.Producer Donald P. Borchers, though not a big name, had already been involved in a handful of cult and horror projects. "Beastmaster" (1982), "Children of the Corn" (1984) and Ken Russell's "Crimes of Passion" (1985), just to name a few. He was an ideal force to have behind this film.Concerning Billy Drago as Snow... I definitely needed more Drago in this film, so that is my biggest complaint. Where was Drago? Not in this film very much, that is all I know. Which is a shame, considering all the trouble they went through to bleach his hair, eyebrows, and everything else to create the illusion that he was an albino.Although a cult film, this is not a great film or a forgotten classic or anything like that. It just simply is not. What makes it memorable today is probably one of two things (or both): the incredible cast, or the fact that it predated "From Dusk Till Dawn" as a film with a strip club and vampires... but to say this film inspired the other is probably not accurate. Probably...Arrow Video (as always) has provided a fully loaded Blu-ray. We have a brand new 44-minute documentary featuring interviews with director Richard Wenk, stars Robert Rusler, Dedee Pfeiffer, Gedde Watanabe, Billy Drago and more. Rusler, as usual, is quite funny (in real life he is a joy to be around). The disc also has behind-the-scenes rehearsals, a blooper reel, and even "Dracula Bites the Big Apple" (1979), Richard Wenk's short film.

The 1980's were a great time in horror. There are some out there who believe the majority of the titles were nothing but straight cheese but that's not always the case. This special decade in time gave movie producers the opportunity to boast some impressive special effects that brought many outdated themes current with the young audience of the time. One of which that benefited greatly was that of the vampiric sub- genre. After Hammer's numerous and desperate attempts to cash in on the countless reincarnations of Dracula, movie-goers lost interest. Something needed to be done and the result was a successful one. Titles like 1985's Fright Night (and yes, including its sequel) and 1987's Near Dark, starring Bill Paxton, are perfect examples. One could even mention the venerable Lost Boys and '83's The Hunger, starring the ever-popular David Bowie.Vamp follows suit when it comes to campy yet fun vampire flicks. Essentially, I liken it to Fright Night - certainly not the most serious collection of titles in the sub-genre but fulfilling enough. The premise concerns a young group of college kids who decide to embark on a roadtrip. Their final destination? To visit a nightclub that turns out to be less than ordinary. As you can deduce from the title, I'm sure you're aware of the trouble the main characters are in for. It's interesting to note here that a young (well...younger) Billy Drago makes an appearance as an offbeat thug, wandering the dark alleys of no-mans- land. You may recognize Drago for his contributions to Takashi Miike's twisted Masters of Horror tale Imprint, Michael Jackson's You Rock My World video, an episode of Supernatural, an episode from the Friday the 13th series back in '88, or an episode from another horror/sci-fi anthology entitled Monsters, that ran from 1988-1990.Vamp has that 80's flair to it that doesn't exist in any other decade. What mainly catches my interest about the 80's is the fashion, first and foremost, and the music that was released at the time. I appreciate the experimentation that was occurring behind the scenes but I'm still not overly impressed by the mainstream flavor. Vamp has every cliché you'd expect which is why I'm sure they consider it a comedy. Although humorous, the makeup is no joke - they had talented artists on board for sure. There will be times you'll ask yourself, "Wait, why did he just go and do that?" There will be moments with lewd and immature behavior...possibly even jokes that just aren't funny. If you're a fan of the protagonist looking much older than his intended age, brave 80's fashion, and a soundtrack that will bring you back, you won't be disappointed by Vamp whatsoever. Here's your assignment for the weekend: Go out and rent Vamp, Fright Night, The Hunger, Near Dark, and Lost Boys. Go one step further and put on the Fright Night soundtrack (admittingly I have songs from that in my collection) and pay tribute to this splendid era in horror. Have a report on my desk by Monday and if you have anything bad to say about the 80's...I'll murder you in your sleep.