Transylvania Twist

I love this movie. I think it belongs up there with other horror parodies like "Repossessed," "Silence of the Hams" and "Dracula-Dead and Loving It." Teri Copley was a funny, beautiful and talented actress; much more than just a pretty face. It's probably the only horror parody which makes the most horror references that I've seen even if it did leave out the Wolfman, Frankenstein's monster and the Mummy. It's also filled with cameos galore such as horror mogul Forrest J. Ackerman, scream queen Brinke Stevens as a sexy vampire, Deanna Lund from "Land of the Giants" as a teacher, Jay Robinson most recently of "Sleepy Hollow" and Angus Scrimm of "Phantasm." Video babe Becky LeBeau sings the songs which Teri lip-syncs to also has a bit part. Howard Morris from the "Andy Griffith Show" is a tamed down Ernest T. Bass as he plays the father of Teri's character. Ace Mask steals most of the laughs in this but Steve Altman is more than irritating as he tries to be funny; everytime I watch this, I do his lines so that I feel I've got the role. Robert Vaughn is also woefully miscast as he tries his hand at comedy. Steve Franken is also on hand as an inept constable who wouldn't know a vampire if it was already on his neck. Otherwise, the movie is one long enjoyable laughfest. It's a shame you can't find this on video anymore.

Dexter Ward (Steve Altman) goes to his uncle Ephram's funeral- and is told about "The Book of Ulthar"- an ancient book which has the power to raise an ancient evil demon. (Uncle Ephram, it turns out, isn't really dead!) He tells Dexter that he had lent the book to a man named Marinus Orlock some years ago, and had never got it back. So, Dexter goes to Transylvania with Marinus' daughter, Marissa (Teri Copley), and a vampire hunter, Victor van Helsing (Ace Mask). They end up in a spooky castle, in which Marissa's uncle Byron Orlock, now stays. The Book of Ulthar is hidden in the castle somewhere, and Dexter must find it before Byron does.

Surprisingly, this is a very funny and entertaining movie. It even includes footage of Boris Karloff from the movie "The Terror". The music score for Transylvania Twist was composed by Chuck Cirino, and it's very good. There are also some nice songs on the soundtrack. Writer R. J. Robertson appears as "Hans Phull". Watch the end credits too.

If you liked "Hot Shots!" or "The Naked Gun" or similar films, you'll like this one.

People always automatically think about "Scary Movie" and "Young Frankenstein" when mentioning the only successful horror spoofs, but the surprisingly enough the 80's brought forward a handful of worthwhile comedies that have been long forgotten by now, like "Student Bodies", Pandemonium" (both covering the territory of teen-slashers) and "Transylvania 6-5000" (similar to this movie). "Transylvania Twist" is easily the best of them all. Oh, and please note that "Saturday the 14th" is NOT part of this list.

This spoof reasonably succeeds well where others – especially the nowadays ones – fail embarrassingly: a witty script and a wide selection of gags and parody elements that are both clever and laugh-out-loud funny. The story (something about a librarian traveling to Transylvania to find a book that belongs to the evil Count Orlok) is unimportant but that actually doesn't bother you, as the velocity of the jokes is incredibly high and most of them are truly imaginative and spot-on. The comedy highlights include, for example, a randomly pointless interlude song about … a randomly pointless interlude song! You really have to listen carefully to the lyrics on that one; I swear you'll hurt your stomach laughing. There's also a downright fantastic collage of bit and pieces of Boris Karloff lines out of "The Terror" cut and edited into a conversation with this film's lead hero. Robert Vaughn receives top billing, and probably also a pay check that used up 50% of the film's budget, only to appear after more than an hour into the film. Horror cult icon Angus Scrimm has a delightful supportive role as Orlok's spontaneously vaporizing butler and, yes, there is a silly "Phantasm" tribute towards the infamous flying spheres. Sweet movie! Admittedly certain gags (like the game show of death, to name just one) feel a little overwrought and outstay their welcome, but those little flaws are easily forgiven.

I remembered a long time ago that I did enjoy Transylvanis Twist, and after re-watching it I still do. True, the characters are rather clichéd and while not awful to look at the low budget does show at times. However, the soundtrack is cool, the film is smartly written with amusing nods to recognisable horror figures/films and some very funny jokes. The stock footage may be too much occasionally, but still well-used and interesting and the story is always fun and rarely dull. The acting I thought was good also, Angus Schrimm and especially Ace Mask are hoots in their roles and Terri Copley is very sexy without being too vapid. Steve Altman does a good job making sure his character isn't too tiresome and Robert Vaughn while he's been better is still good value. All in all, a very entertaining movie. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This film is a huge valentine (in a nice, blood-red heart) for fans of 80's horror movies. The pre-credits sequence alone is great if you've seen (and enjoyed) Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The rest of the movie is wonderful too, the perfect film for those of us who have, alas, seen way too many horror movies and still think the world ought to work that way. Teri Copley and Monique Gabrielle are gorgeous, sexy and funny, and Angus Scrimm, "Ace Mask" (uh, okay, Mr. Mask) and Robert Vaughn acquit themselves well with the material. Male lead Steve Altman doesn't make himself too tiresome, which is better than I expected, and there's a nice out-take from the late great Boris Karloff. The plot? It's all over the place, yet familiar at the same time, and makes all the right moves. See it if you love horror movies, and if you don't love horror movies...well, what are you doing here anyway?