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You've got "Embrace" and "Darkness" in the title, and it's made in the '90s, so what else can it be but a soft-core vampire flick? But unlike a lot of "vampire romance" movies, this one is actually pretty damn sexy. It is NOT a very good movie if you take out all the sex, but taken for what it is -- a softcore vampire flick -- it delivers in spades. Although, I could use a little less of the male vampire playing the piano to soothe away his vampire thirst -- or for whatever nonsense he was playing it. A great fast-forward movie, with plenty of opportunity to press the "play" button, since there's plenty of flesh to be spotted.

Yeah I saw this movie. I'm only admitting it because I wrote a comment on Dracula 2000 about fans of the genre. Immediately after doing so, I noticed this was on, so I decided to give it a chance to be fair as well as to see it attempt to be horrific in any way. I'd like to start by saying that I will NEVER understand how this gets listed as a horror flick. It should fall under the adult or mature category because it's nothing more than soft porn. That being said, as soft porn goes, it definitely has more of a story line to it than most. As a HORROR film expect the cheapest, most over dramatized(and used) effects. I swear they used red paint in a tube for blood. One victim had blood spots on his neck that looked exactly like red versions of chocolate chips complete with the little swirly bit on top. If this were horror, it's pure cheese. As for mature, one of the best I've seen. Seriously. For horror-a 1 on a scale of 1-10. For soft porn-I'd say about an 8. Very sexy. Not the murderous bit, but the truly sexual stuff. I am a woman, so a man may not agree with the thought.

"Embrace the Darkness" is a superior soft-core flick for a few different reasons.

For one thing, it's actually erotic, which puts it in ahead of an estimated 99% of the material out there. If you're not familiar with it, you wouldn't believe how much soft porn is boring as hell and utterly un-sexy. The movie's many scenes of sexuality, including a masturbation scene, a lesbian scene and a threesome, in addition to the heterosexual couplings, are tastefully done, and exciting.

The movie is also not a parade of plastic surgery disasters, which is another rarity in the world of soft-core made from the '90s onward. Most of these flicks resemble video catalogues of augmentations starlets should be warned against having. Maybe one of the actresses in it had some work done - I'm not sure - which is how it should be, right?

Finally, and this might be the most impressive thing, the young actress who played the main character was able to arouse more than just my libido. She created a character I cared about, a genuinely sympathetic figure I found easy to root for.

Of course, the plot is very silly. It's something about a vampire couple who move to Los Angeles and begin stalking the aforementioned young woman, who is some kind of performance artist who creates backdrops she then strips in front of before an audience. The undead duo seduce men and women with sex before drinking their blood. They become enraptured with the artist after the male vampire witnesses her masturbating while he floats outside her window.

Also on the tail of the vamps is a down-on-his-luck detective who used to date the artist, and wants to get back with her - but he has some pretty stiff competition from these creatures of the night.

The silly plot didn't really bother me, because it provided room for the actors to do their thing - the guy who plays the detective is a superior performer as well. It was only at the end that I realised how cheesy the whole thing was, as the movie needed to pull out some ridiculous special effects in an effort to tie the whole thing up.

But you know what? I still enjoyed it. The 2.9 IMDB rating is ridiculous. So-bad-it's-good (as the closing scenes certainly are) is still a good time at the movies.

Embrace the Darkness is the first in a trilogy of sex and vampire films which makes up a three-DVD box-set. The other two films are called, unsurprisingly, Embrace the Darkness 2 and Embrace the Darkness 3. They all come under the Playboy brand and so they naturally contain a fair quota of sex and nudity. This first film is from Mystique Films while the other two are from Indigo Entertainment.

The action starts in a hospital with a bloody murder and the theft of the hospital's blood supply. Moving on from there to LA, we find Miranda (Angelia High) and Galen (Kevin Spirtas) have taken up residence in a run-down part of the city. While Galen spends his time playing his piano, it is Miranda who is the one who actively searches for new victims and brings them back to their apartment. Across the street lives Jennifer, (Madison Clark) a dancer who captures Galen's attention when he sees her dancing almost naked. Into this mix comes Ryan, (Brad Bartram) Jennifer's old flame who wants to restart their relationship. When Ryan finds out what Galen and Miranda really are, they are all set for a showdown but who will survive? There are twists and the outcome is not a foregone conclusion.

Why this film has got such a low vote is a bit of a mystery. More blood in the bloodsucking scenes would have been welcome but overall production values are quite high. The actors acquit themselves well enough and there is a good script with a contemplative ending. The women are what you would expect from a Playboy production with Madison Clark being naturally beautiful, and a welcome appearance by the statuesque Jennifer Ludlow. A good attempt at vampire erotica, so 5 stars.

It was Angelina High who brought this movie beyond its pedantic writing. When was the last time you saw a short haired lady with fangs? Maybe it was the director's choice but her lovely appearance (and decidedly "un-vampire" attire) made me dispose of some preconceptions and see she and the role for what they were: a better than average job - especially for the genre.