Vamp (1986)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Richard Wenk

Writers:

Donald P. Borchers (story) &
Richard Wenk (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

18 July 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Horror

Tagline:

A Frightening Comedy

Plot:

Two fraternity pledges go to a sleazy bar looking for strippers to entertain their college friends. They have problems with transportation...

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Highway | Erotica | Gore | Razor Blade

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Chris Makepeace	...	Keith
Sandy Baron	...	Vic
Robert Rusler	...	AJ
Dedee Pfeiffer	...	Amaretto
Gedde Watanabe	...	Duncan
Grace Jones	...	Katrina
Billy Drago	...	Snow
Brad Logan	...	Vlad
Jim Boyle	...	Fraternity Leader
Larry Spinak	...	Student
Eric Welch	...	Student
Stuart Rogers	...	Student
Gary Swailes	...	Sock Salesman
Ray Ballard	...	Coffee Shop Proprietor
Paunita Nichols	...	Maven
Trudel Williams	...	Dragon Girl
Marlon McGann	...	Hard Hat
Thomas Bellin	...	Shorty
Bryan McGuire	...	Pool Player
Leila Lee Olsen	...	Seko
Hillary Carlip	...	Jess
Francie Swift	...	Dominique
Tricia Brown	...	Candi
Naomi Shohan	...	Bartendress
Janeen Davis	...	Bartendress
Tanya Papanicolas	...	Waitress
Robin Kaufman	...	Little Girl
Hy Pyke	...	Desk Clerk
Bob Schott	...	Gang Leader
Adam Barth	...	Dragon
Bill Morphew	...	Dragon
Simmy Bow	...	Bum
Roger Hampton	...	Police
Andy Rivas	...	Police
Julius LeFlore	...	Garbage Truck Driver
Greg Lewis	...	Bus Driver
Dar Robinson	...	Security Guard
Deborah Fallender	...	Additional Voice (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Lisa Lyon	...	Cimmaron
Bryan Michael McGuire	...	Pool player

Directed by
Richard Wenk

Writing credits
Donald P. Borchers		(story) &
Richard Wenk		(story)
Donald P. Borchers		(screenplay) &
Richard Wenk		(screenplay)

Produced by
Donald P. Borchers	....	producer

Original Music by
Jonathan Elias

Cinematography by
Elliot Davis
Douglas F. O'Neons

Film Editing by
Marc Grossman

Art Direction by
Alan Roderick-Jones

Costume Design by
Betty Pecha Madden

Makeup Department
Everett Burrell	....	special makeup effects artist
Frankie Campbell	....	key hair stylist
Greg Cannom	....	special makeup
Peter Tothpal	....	key hair stylist
Pamela S. Westmore	....	key makeup artist
Klexius Kolby	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)
Kelly Mann	....	effects technician (uncredited)
Lisa Rocco	....	makeup effects lab technician (uncredited)

Production Management
Mario Davis	....	production manager

Art Department
Bradley C. Golden	....	miscellaneous crew
Eugene McCarthy	....	property master
Pete von Sholly	....	storyboard artist

Sound Department
Gregg Barbanell	....	foley artist
Gregg Barbanell	....	supervising sound editor
Gary C. Bourgeois	....	sound re-recording mixer
David R. Finkelstein	....	apprentice sound editor
Patrushkha Mierzwa	....	boom operator
Jerry Trent	....	foley artist
Mark Ulano	....	production sound mixer

Special Effects by
Tom Chesney	....	special effects technician
Clive R. Kay	....	special effects contact lenses

Stunts
L.L. Brittany	....	stunts
Jeannie Epper	....	stunts
Kimberly Epper	....	stunts
George Fisher	....	stunts
Sandy J. Leavenworth	....	stunts (as Sandi Leavenworth)
Lane Leavitt	....	stunts
'Wild' Bill Mock	....	stunts (as Bill Mock)
Spiro Razatos	....	stunts
Dar Robinson	....	stunt coordinator
Debby Lynn Ross	....	stunts
Leland Sun	....	stunts
Jesse Wayne	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Marsha Blackburn	....	still photographer
Shunil Borpujari	....	key grip
Colin E. Fritz	....	electrician
Elwin 'Bub' Greer	....	best boy
Bob Myers	....	grip
Jorgen Wedseltoft	....	first assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Lydia Shiferaw	....	costumer

Editorial Department
James Gavin Bedford	....	assistant editor
Valerie Davidson	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Alicia Alexander	....	location manager
Lisa Hollingshead	....	production coordinator
Dennis Tufano	....	adr loop group
Ray Zimmerman	....	production accountant

Production Companies

• Balcor Film Investors

Distributors

• Metropolitan Filmexport (1987) (France) (theatrical)
• Succéfilm AB (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Altomedia. Co. Ltd. (Korea) (DVD)
• Altomedia. Co. Ltd. (Korea) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• Astro Distribution (1998) (Germany) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (laserdisc)
• New World Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• New World Pictures
• Paramount Home Video (video)
• Roadshow Home Video
• Top Tape (Brazil) (VHS)

Special Effects

• Makeup Effects Laboratories

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:R (DVD rating) | Australia:M | France:-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:R (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Balcor Film Investors

Goofs:

Continuity: After the car spins around when the drive into the city, the view from inside the car shows they are on the right side of the road. When the view changes to show the side of the car, they are stopped in the road on the left side of the road near the curb.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Stephen King's World of Horror (1986) (TV)

Good 80's fun

Vamp was apparently written in a weekend, and it shows! This isn't necessarily an insult to the film, because Richard Wenk's feature-length debut has a goofy, throwaway charm that really pays off for the most part. This isn't as good as Fright Night, The Lost Boys or Near Dark, but it's a very likable blend of horror and comedy. The premise is unbeatable: two students hope to win over a campus by delivering them a stripper for the night, only to realise that their choice of dancer is more likely to want to be paid in blood rather than cash.... Chris Makepeace is a good enough lead, and he's well matched by 80's god Robert Rusler as his best mate. Gedde Watanabe may test the patience of some with his wildly over-the-top performance as the dude who comes along for the ride, but i found him quite amusing. The best performances are to be found at the After Dark Club, where Keith, AJ and Duncan visit to find their stripper. Dedee Pfieffer (yep, Michelle's sister) is a treat as a waitress who may or may not be one of the undead, Sandy Baron is funny as the club's compere, but best of all is Grace Jones as Katrina, the vamp of all vamps. She's underused: in fact, she's barely in the second half of the film at all, but she exudes serious presence, sheer animal sensuality and she does all of this without saying a word. Her striptease might terrify more than titillate, while her seduction of one of the main characters is a terrific scene, the best thing in the film. After the first half hour, the action picks up, with amusing consequences: confrontations with deadly lifts, street punks and vamped-out friends make for lots of fun. The last half hour more or less repeats the same formula, with fairly agreeable results, though the final confrontation could have been a lot scarier.

Wenk effectively captures the seedy atmosphere of a strip joint, populated with drunken misery-guts who can never be traced because they never boast the fact that they're going to such a place. This is one of the film's cleverer conceits, and one that means the vampires can drink all they want without fear of being traced. The music is appropriately tacky, synth-led bar room music, quite memorable in places too.

Visually, Vamp is pretty cool stuff. As soon as it gets dark, the film adopts a brilliant colourscheme of pink and green lighting, making for some atmospheric action. It doesn't look realistic, but who cares? It looks great, and gives Vamp a identity all of its own. It also means that this film belongs to that category of 80's films that you couldn't imagine being made in any other decade, though the plot and even the vampiric make-up effects seem to have played an influential part in the making of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's cult bloodsucker favourite From Dusk Till Dawn.

Vamp isn't a particularly great film as it does run out of steam towards the end, but it has loads of excellent moments, remains exceptionally likable and has enough cool effects, good jokes and fun scares to provide a fine hour and a half's entertainment.