First of all, her's what it's about per Amazon:
A notorious bank robber kills his wife and flees the police, only to be captured by a mysterious group of figures in an abandoned town. His beautiful daughter, Lila Lee (played by the late Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith), receives a letter stating that Lila’s father is near death and that he needs to see her. Sneaking away at night from her minister guardian (EATING RAOUL co-writer Richard Blackburn, who also writes and directs), Lila embarks on a terrifying journey to find her father that leads her to a mansion run by Lemora, a seemingly loving woman who cares for a group of gypsy children and a witch-like servant. Once the terrifying secret of Lemora is revealed, Lila must uncover what happened to her father and fight for dear life as she tries to escape the clutches of the undead!
I think we were initially interested in this film because of Lila's gangster father, not to mention it was banned by the Catholic Film Board for over twenty years. Afterall, as soon as any media is banned it only makes the public more interested.
Anyways, on to my thoughts about the film...I enjoyed it, quite a bit. Probably helps that the movie was made in the 1970s and that's my all time favorite era for vampire movies. What I enjoyed most about the movie was it's 'weird' ambiguity. Lemora representing Dracula with lesbian undertones also made for an interesting coming of age story, possibly influenced by Alice in Wonderland or Little Red Riding. Visually there was a steady pace of the strange and creepy that I found captivating. And I liked that it left you wondering what happens in the end. Only thing I'd complain about is that the minor characters got a little too bizarre at times. All-in-all, his movie is unique and definitely worth viewing.
Since I really should be writing Bloodleggers and editing The Courier, I suggest you read more over at Film Threat about this movie. They've got a pretty good summary and review of it.
My Fangtastic Rating: 4 out of 5
R.J. Robyn is an aspiring fantasy and mystery novelist. He spent some time in the theater as a young man, and has a minor in Creative Writing and Arthurian Literature. He's been writing since he was 10, but has spent most of his life programming computers.
W. J. Howard is the author of the award winning novel, 
2 comments:
Actually, I think it was because it was a retelling of Lovecraft's "Shadow over Dunsmouth" (I think that's the title) with vampires instead of Deep Old Ones.
That's right!
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