The Ironbound Vampire

Let's give it its due. There is some nice amateur cinematography here. The story is interesting and much better than many horror stories. Unfortunately, the actors (who probably aren't actors) mumble their lines. There is little give and take or timing. There are a lot of street elements thrown in because I suspect the filmmakers know some of these people. Things unfold sort of slowly. Still, I was somewhat captured by the thing. I disagree that anyone with a camera could make this film. It's far from even a good film but I think the movie shows talent behind the camera. That's worth something. There are a few good isolated scenes as well.

This film begins with a New Jersey cop named "Detective Eric Steele" (Dennis Drenth) investigating a series of murders and disappearances in Newark that have happened over many years. He hopes to solve the cases and include the details in a book he's writing. His research starts with an American soldier from World War I named "Tom Lane" (Richard Matyskiel), who was severely wounded in battle but miraculously survived thanks to an unknown man who gave him some of his blood. However, it wasn't until he returned to the United States that the murders suddenly started-and they have continued to this day, with rumors that Tom Lane is still alive and looks the same as he did nearly 80 years ago. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a typical ultra-low-budget film that suffers from the same issues as many others, with wooden acting, poorly written scripts, and action scenes that clearly needed more work. That being said, although this was definitely not a good film by any stretch of the imagination, I appreciated the fact that the director (Karl Petry) made an honest effort and didn't abdicate his responsibilities by making a film that was "so bad it's good," as many lesser directors tend to do.

Ironbound Vampire, The (1997)

* (out of 4)

Ultra low budget horror flick about a man injured during WW1 only to be bitten by a vampire. In current day Newark "Ironbound", NJ, the man starts looking for new women. The only reason I watched this thing was because Ed Wood regulars Dolorus Fuller and Conrad Brooks had small roles. It was nice seeing those two but other than that this film offers very little. Even though the film only runs 59-minutes it seems to go on forever.

Go watch an Ed Wood movie instead.

the storyline created by the director is imaginatively transferred, under the restraints of a low budget, he succeeds in bringing his artistic expression onto the screen that of the soulless world of vampires that inhabit the new jersey area. a slightly surreal atmosphere that transcends nicely! considering the budgetary limitations, one can only wonder what this talented director, could express with say a twenty million dollar budget?

Any feature that has to pad out its barely hour length with unrelated bump'n'grind footage has really got problems. There's no pace, no acting, no talent, no interest. The vampire looks like a member of the 80s band Whitesnake. The cult appeal of cameo appearances by PLAN 9 actors Conrad Brooks and Dolores Fuller is totally wasted. This video feature is beyond bottom-of-the-barrel.