Late-Night Excitement

Children Of The Night...
Ever since 1922 silent film Nosferatu, vampire movies have been terrifying movie goers for nearly 85 years. Soon vampires entered the world of sound with the 1931 Universal movie, Dracula with Bela Lugosi who helped shape the vampire from blood-hungry demons to thick accents and gothic castles. After various Universal vampire movies, other studios jumped on the vampire wagon. One studio in particular was Hammer Pictures, the British studio that is responsible for The Horror Of Dracula, Dracula: Prince Of Darkness;, The Vampire Lovers;, and other horror movies.
Shift a few years to 1992 with the release of Bram Stoker's Dracula with Gary Oldman. Francis Ford Coppola's take on the vampire legend helped make it one of the most profitable and famous takes on the classic vampire.

In 1994, film editor Anne Goursaud (Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Outsiders); decided to film her take on vampires and their erotic blood thirst. Hence, EMBRACE OF THE VAMPIRE; was born.


Embrace Of The Vampire starts off centuries earlier in the European countryside. Our vampire (Martin Kemp), in a long voice-over, tells on how he became one of the undead after bidding farewell to his sweet heart and passing out near a lake. Soon, three eye-catching, sensual, and topless women surround him and feed on his blood.

Fast foward years later to a college campus. We meet sweet, young, and virginal Charlotte (Alyssa Milano) is starting to sleepwalk and have carnal pleasures. After discovering his girlfriend outside, asleep outside a dorm, Charlotte's boyfriend (Harold Pruett) takes it upon himself to look after her more careful and invade every moment she has alone.

As time passes, Charlotte's dreams are becoming more vivid and sexual as the strange vampire invades her dreams. As the dreams increase, Charlotte's personality slowly changes. She begins to smoke, enjoy the dreams, and even goes to the limit of experimenting with the same sex.

However, the vampire does not have all the time in the world. If he can not win Charlotte's love before her 18th birthday, he will truly die.

Embrace Of The Vampire is not your typical vampire movie. For instance, the gore is very limited. Vampires are known for drinking blood yet hardly any blood is in the movie. Then again, nobody looks for gore when watching this film. Replacing the blood are numerous nude scenes and soft-core dream sequences.


The Cast:

Alyssa Milano stars as the innocent Charlotte, the freshman college student who has won the affections of the vampire.
Alyssa Milano's acting is fine but, quite frankly, who cares. This film is not famous for her acting ability but for being her first adult role. Alyssa Milano sheds her innocent background by her numerous nude scenes and her sexual encounter with another female student.

Martin Kemp stars as the Vampire. In this movie, our vampire has no name. Martin's character spends much of the movie moping around with depression.
Unlike other vampires who show force, determination and horror, this vampire is simply a cry-baby.

Harold Pruett stars as Chris, the over-protective boyfriend. Harold's acting was average and nothing to rave about. I found his character to be annoying and was hoping his character would be killed off.

Charlotte Lewis co-stars as Sarah, a Bi-sexual college photographer. Sarah is drawn to Charlotte for her youth and innocence and soon starts a small romance with the virginal 17 year old.

Jennifer Tilly has a cameo as Marika, the Vampire in disguise. The Vampire transforms into the sultry woman in order to seduce Chris, helping him forget about Charlotte.


Why This Film Is Weak:

Embrace Of The Vampire, in all due respect, is a bad movie. It's so bad that it can be enjoyable, especially for young males.
The movie features many plot holes, long voice overs, pointless added footage, weak script, numerous incorrect Vampire myths, flat characters, and a weak ending.

The film features tons of plot holes, holes that are not minor. By the end of the film you will be asking yourself numerous questions without finding answers.

Questions you will face during/after viewing:
How did the vampire get to the college campus?
Why did he choose Charlotte?
How can a Vampire die from lack of love?
How could they end the movie like that?!


Another problem with the movie are the Vampire's long voice overs, especially in the opening sequence. The voice of the Vampire has no emotion and at times makes me doze off. The voice overs aren't that important considering we are seeing what he is telling us. It's not that hard to just watch and see what happens.

Some of the footage is also pointless in the movie. Don't get me wrong, I love Alyssa Milano in her nude scenes as much as the next guy but enough was enough! Many of the scenes in the movie were irrelevant to the movie and just slowed down the movie.

The script was nothing to praise. It was a decent script, being fairly weak at times, especially the Vampire's lines.

The myths of Vampires are also altered in this movie. Nothing is mentioned about killing a vampire with a stake, using a cross as a weapon, or even beheading. The only myths left intact were its desire for blood and sunlight being harmful. One of the worst ideas for the film was the idea that the Vampire will die from lack of love.
The Vampire in the movie only has 3 days to gain Charlotte's love before falling into an eternal sleep. How that is possible and why is never explained.


As I already mentioned, the characters are boring and flat.
There's a depressed Vampire, the virgin, the over protective boyfriend, and a bunch of college party animals. Nothing that hasn't been seen in a movie before.

The ending was just... well.. you'll know when you see it.


Embrace Of The Vampire, in my opinion, is your average late-night erotic movie. Is it worth a viewing? Sure cause it's not a full out terrible movie. The movie has some great scenes. Alyssa Milano is gorgeous and is worth the watch. The gothic college campus is great to look at, especially during the sunrise and sunset sequences. The soundtrack helps set the mood and was extremely well done.



Should I Watch?
If you are a vampire or erotic movie fan, it may be worth a look or two. If you are looking for gore and horror, stay away. If you are looking for sex and Alyssa Milano, this is up your alley.


The Dvd:

Embrace Of The Vampire, released by New Line Cinema, is on DVD.
The DVD contains:
*Widescreen and Fullscreen Versions
*Unrated And R-Rated Versions
*Cast/Crew Biographies

The DVD sells for a high price, especially for a one-disc Dvd. The lowest price I have seen this for is around $16 dollars.
The Unrated version is only a minute longer than the R-Rated so it's nothing so great. The only thing added is just more nude shots by Alyssa Milano.



Final Thoughts

Embrace Of The Vampire is a weak vampire film with tons of nudity and weak characters. Overall, I give it 2 stars out of 5. It still is worth a look for some.