Vampire at Midnight

A vampire is terrorizing the city, victims found drained of blood, and so it's up to a close-to-the-wind detective to find the killer. The wonderfully enigmatic and sinister villain, posing as a hypnotherapist, is the most effective vampires of recent years, the film is well-paced and chilling and has strong characters and an excellently surreal and brooding soundtrack (which ought to be released on CD/cassette). The sets are imaginatively-designed and there is a very thought-provoking ending.

Didn't start out very well, with the introduction of the cliched, macho cop character (who single-handedly defused a hostage situation)... but grew to be a rather well-made film for the genre. I don't know if it was the xenophobe in me, but hurray for the return of the vampire with the Eastern European accent. (Is it any wonder Bela Lugosi is generally still remembered as the most popular Dracula?) This vampire's hiding behind the profession of hypnotherapy was an excellent idea, hypnotism being one of the powers of vampirism. The villain, however, seemed to be breaking the other rules of vampirism, keeping the viewer on his/her toes... could he have been George Romero's "MARTIN," all grown up? I also enjoyed the presence of the vampire's pretty boy "assistant" ("Raoul"), a novelty characterization we haven't seen until Brad Pitt in "INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE"!

I don't know what our macho cop hero saw in the blond piano-playing heroine, since she was always so depressed and lifeless. Maybe it was the fact that she had a nice body? (One that we later got to see, fortunately, undraped?) The annoying macho cop kind of grew on me as the film wore on, and when I read his other credits on the IMDB, I was totally won over when I noticed he was the actor who played "FLESH GORDON"! (I still have a soft spot, whenever I see him in B-movie potboilers, for Sam "FLASH GORDON" Jones, as well...)

"Vampire at Midnight" is an American horror story worthy to be ranked with British Hammer films. Most attempts at transposing Gothic material and themes of the 19th century into contemporary settings fail miserably, but this one succeeds on many levels, even invoking the eerie sense of atmosphere necessary to facilitate the chills. There is more outright gore, violence and nudity than usual, but not so much that it spoils the effect. A mature and still hunky Jason Williams is quite good as the typical macho detective, relieved of duty on the case who persists in investigating regardless. The minor characters, particularly the female cop who fancies him and the stand-up comic who pulls him into the case and becomes a victim, are well portrayed by the actors. I can't understand why this film is so downgraded by its detractors...it is far better than 90% of comparable films in the genre, with bigger names and budgets involved. A very competent film which deserves a wider audience.

Really more a crime drama than an out and out horror film,played very much like an episode of 'Kolcak - the Night Stalker.' Starts well, with the old cliché of 'it can't really be vampire at large, can It?' Then dips in the middle while the story brings all the plot elements together before a rousing finale.

Jason Williams as the hero detective is efficient if somewhat dull but the star turn is Gustav Vintas as the creepy and sinister villain of the piece.

An okay film but not quite what I was expecting from the packaging from 'Palace Horror' video company. Still, it kept the interest and wasn't too bad, just think it stretches the criteria of what a horror film should be.

L. A. police detective Roger Sutter (Jason 'Flesh Gordon' Williams) is on the case of the Vampire Killer, who drains his victims of blood; when not sleuthing, Sutter is trying to woo his aspiring concert pianist neighbour Jenny Carleton (Lesley Milne). Business and pleasure collide for Roger when Jenny visits balding psychoanalyst/hypnotherapist Victor Radikoff (Gustav Vintas), who claims that he can use his powers to help struggling artists to achieve amazing results: the mysterious doctor is, of course, the vampire killer, and he plans to make Jenny his 'bride'.

The plot for this one is fairly unremarkable, and the execution is routine; matters play out in a predictable manner, but the film is reasonably entertaining nonetheless thanks to some wonderfully dated elements and a degree of '80s cheeze. Clearly aware that the story and acting alone will not sell his film, director Gregory McClatchy sees fit to include a healthy dose of nudity, with almost every female character getting their kit off (the sex scene between Sutter and his horny colleague Lt. Lucia Giannini being one of the most gratuitous I can think of). We also get some effective moments of violence, including a shoot out with some street thugs, the brutal murder of a cop, and assorted slashing with the big blade that Victor keeps up his sleeve.

Adding to the fun are Victor's acolyte Raoul (Shendt), who sports a world-class mullet that reaches down to his ass, a couple of hilariously awful dance routines, Jonny Solomon as desperately unfunny stand up comic Lee Keller, and the entertaining ending in which Victor uses his hypnotism to make two cops turn their guns on each other.