Simply A Masterpiece

Don't listen to the negative reviews

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I wasn't expecting a lot when I sat down to watch this Roger Corman vampire production, but to a degree I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised. Director Stephanie Rothman managed to take a low budget and limited resources and made some very memorable moments. There is some real atmosphere here - the desert landscapes are striking, and the horror sequences have (ahem) some bite to them. And the expected scenes of nudity and sex do have a little eroticism to them. Rothman is also helped by some striking cinematography and an excellent musical score. Unfortunately, the movie does have a lead weight attached to it that prevents it from becoming a B movie classic, and that is the script. Even though the movie only runs about eighty minutes in length, the story is padded out to a ridiculous length. What story there is could have been told in half the time. It's hard to believe that it took three screenwriters (including Rothman) to write this extremely thin story. Because of this unsatisfying script, the movie just manages to escape being labelled a cult classic. While I don't regret watching it, in the end the movie is only for a select (and patient) audience.

The Velvet Vampire really could have been a good film; the plot is there, but the execution is really bad and serves only in making the film really boring for most of the duration. Things pick up a little for the final twenty minutes; but by then it's far too late. The film focuses on a young couple, Lee and Susan, who meet an older woman named Diane and agree to spend a few days with her at her place. However, Diane turns out to be more than what she initially seems when she at first tries to start an affair with both people; and eventually reveals herself as a vampire. The film really features very little vampire action, and it's a travesty that the word was featured in the title. The main bulk of the film concerns the interaction between the three central characters, and we end up with a sort of love triangle; although this is very dull indeed and most of it feels like padding - in particular the supposed-to-be trippy dream sequences that go nowhere. As previously mentioned, things do pick up a little in the final third when it is finally revealed that Diane is a vampire and what follows is really rather good; but not good enough to save the entire film. The Velvet Vampire is a rare film, and I'm confident that it will stay that way as there's no good reason to track this one down.

This movie is an interesting, rare take on vampirism from a female perspective. In most movies of this genre, the women are merely adjuncts to the male lead. I (accidentally) saw this as a kid, at a drive-in double-feature in the 70's, and have ALWAYS remembered specific scenes. I hadn't seen it since until recently, in 2008. Of course, nothing is as good as you remember. My younger friend who watched the DVD with me wasn't impressed with it. I guess this'll be forgotten like so many other films - regardless of the hard work that went in to producing them. The Cheezy Films DVD has a couple of good trailers for bad films - exactly what Tarentino was paying homage to in Grindhouse.

THE VELVET VAMPIRE is really one of the most underrated vampire movies, and well worth searching for a copy. Not available on DVD, the film's long out of print VHS tapes have sold for high amounts on eBay. Directed by 70s cult director Stephanie Rothman, THE VELVET VAMPIRE is a very low budget, yet very well done movie. I saw it screened in a theater once, in 1981, on a double bill with DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS. It was a perfect double feature, yet THE VELVET VAMPIRE does not have anywhere near the strong cult following DAUGHTERS OF DAKRNESS has achieved. A young couple meet a beautiful, mysterious woman in an art gallery in downtown Los Angeles. She invites them to spend the weekend at her desert home. They both have dreams of being seduced by her, and the dreams, in one way or another, become a reality. Celeste Yarnall is outstanding as Diane, The Velvet Vampire, and it always puzzled me that she did not achieve greater success as an actress.