For those of us of
a certain age the name Donald F. Glut conjures up memories of trips
to the library to get such thick scholarly tomes as “The Dracula
Book” or “The Frankenstein Legend”. To those a few years
younger he was a writer of many comics in including Captain America
and Savage Sword of Conan. And to a more recent generation he's known
as the director of several T& A horror and fantasy films. And
that's where this review fits in...
Back in the old
West, or at least California 1897, settlers had to deal with worse
threats than wildlife and Indians, they had to contend with silicone
enhanced female vampires making out and even running off with their
womenfolk. After one such attack leads to Lord Ruthven and his
assistant Diana being staked we flash forward to present day Los
Angeles.
From here the
story, (calling it a plot is giving it to much credit), involves
resurrected vampires, lost loves, strip clubs, soft core girl/girl
action and lots of fake boobs. It does have the occasional flash of
inspiration like one of the vampires having to drink blood that's
been filtered through another vampire's system due to an infection or
Dracula's concern that his revived friend is making himself to
noticeable but they're few and far between.
Having seen a couple of Glut's earlier
films such as Blood Scarab and Dinosaur Valley Girls I had an idea
what to expect here. Unfortunately this falls a little short of the
mark compared to those films. The plot is pointless and convoluted in
the extreme. While his previous efforts weren't exactly serious at
least the plot somewhat made sense. This time it's like they didn't
even try, all that mattered was getting the women's clothes off.
And the
women are quite attractive, if you like the silicone Barbie type, (not really my thing), although Glori-Anne Gilbert is starting to show her
age and seems a little over implanted. And it seems that every few
minutes their getting undressed and engaging in some softcore antics
with each other. After a while I was hoping for some plot or at least
a male/female scene to spice things up.
This was Spanish horror icon Paul
Naschy's first American film and that makes it worth a watch for his
fans. Despite the top billing, he doesn't have all that large a role.
The minimal effects are provided by John Carl Buechler who's done effects for
and/or directed plenty of genre efforts over the years.
So what you have here is a harmless, if
brainless softcore romp. It's not bad but neither is it anything out
of the ordinary. It's an ok diversion, even more than that if you're
the type who can trade a lack of plot for an abundance of bare
breasts. And judging by the success of films like this, there's
plenty of folks who can.
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