Kemp has the best lines. Like many vampires, he agonizes and suffers hyper-romantic vampire angst over a lost love. His appearance is a touch effeminate (too much eyeliner), but it lends an appropriate sinister element to his character. He is part romantic vampire, part bloodthirsty beast. Lewis's small part is pointless to the "story." All that's required is that she undress, and when she does, it was worth the wait. Rachel True (The Craft) has an even smaller role, the fate of all the characters that keep their clothes on.
All of the above three are more interesting and more charismatic than Milano or her boyfriend. At film's end, Kemp's tearful bloodthirsty angst, Milano's tearful rediscovery of her love, the "tragic" star-crossed ending, and the Christian iconography, all mirror Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992). One senses that director Goursaud was trying to rise above her porn material.
However, this is no poor woman's Bram Stoker's Dracula. Milano is no Winona Ryder and Kemp is no Gary Oldman. For that matter, none of the other talent on this film compare to their counterparts. And the budget just isn't there. The strength of low-budget horror is a gritty authenticity, which this film tries to hide rather than utilize.
How low was the budget? Listen, I was an extra on both Bram Stoker's Dracula and Embrace of the Vampire. (In both instances I kept my clothes on.) I worked one day on Embrace of the Vampire. Don't look for me; I ended up on the cutting room floor and extras are rarely mentioned in credits. But let me tell you an inside story on the making of this film:
We were shooting in a nightclub on the Sunset Strip. The extras were divided into three camps: union, nonunion, and Modesto extras. Union extras earn the most, especially once overtime kicks in, so they were wrapped after eight hours. (They were only hired in the first place to fill a union quota.) This was during my nonunion days (I'm in SAG now), so I put in a full 14 hours, after which we were paid in cash and wrapped. The Modesto extras were still working when we left.
Now what, you may ask, is a Modesto extra? I also wondered, and so I asked one. I was told they were from an acting class in Modesto, California. They had been bussed in to work on the film as part of a "class assignment." In other words, they were paying to come to work.
Article comments
1 - TimP
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