ABOUT VAMP AFTER DARK

...Then came this HUGE explosion! Chartreuse green vapor rising from ancient decaying flesh, being sucked into the ether stripped from the blazing skeletal remains below, as the beautifully disfigured monster collapses to the ground, finally defeated. Then nothing. Just long enough to recapture a stolen breath. And movement... an arm, then a hand, fingers reaching out, clawing their way back to life. Living, but non-living. They falter, a last-ditch effort at salvation. Losing momentum, the cadaverous hand pauses in mid-air. Slowly... purposefully, the charred, boney remnants raise their middle finger. One final act of defiance. Then the bones come tumbling down into a pile of osseous matter. The kid from "My Bodyguard" - all grown up now - looks on in shock and disbelief, before he and a pretty blonde exit the seemingly abandoned underground sewage system... 

and THIS is my introduction to VAMP.

Originally considered by some critics to be an "exploitation flick" and released on the back of such 1980's teen-romp comedies as "Screwballs", "Weird Science", "Meatballs" and the commercially popular "Porky's" series, VAMP was publicized as a sort of a "Porky's with Fangs" and with the recent resurgence of vampire horror returning from the celluloid graveyard, the time was right for a contemporary foray into vampires living in the big city during mid-80's America. 

In retrospect, VAMP is far from exploitative. For a movie that is set in a strip club owned by vampires, there is little on-screen nudity or violence. The few sexually charged scenes in the movie are more artistic and suggestive, rather than graphic and distasteful. The special makeup effects, although now a little dated in appearance perhaps, are more terrifying than gratuitous. 

VAMP holds its own in a world of larger, more commercially appealing vampire movie productions of the period such as "The Hunger" (1983) and "Fright Night" (1985). Grace Jones makes for a worthy adversary and the surrounding cast members are each likable and relatable in this suspension of disbelief. As consummate horror fans we hunger for our heroes to defeat the bad guy and save the day, we thirst for our vampires to be sexy, but scary and we crave our supporting characters to feel real, most of all we WANT to have fun and, on these counts, VAMP delivers in spades. 

Marketed as a "comedy horror" picture, VAMP sinks its fangs somewhere between black comedy and farce yet pulls it off with class and sophistication. The humor is dry, clever and never belittling to the audience, the horror is truly terrifying. 

For me, VAMP is a contemporary urban fairy-tale. The city is the wardrobe, vampire club-owner Katrina is the White Witch and once inside their "Narnia", the college kids must fight to stay alive and return to the faraway comforts of home, unscathed. The beating heart of the story is the friendship between the two boys, with all its ambiguities and horrific tenderness, who plunge head-long into a situation that they may never escape from.

I first saw the full-length version of VAMP when I was 8 years old. A few of us neighborhood kids would get together and watch scary movies during summer vacation. I was late to one such gathering and came into VAMP- 3 or 4 minutes before the end of the movie- and was instantly intrigued. I borrowed the VHS copy and watched it several times that week. Already an avid horror movie fan, I had never seen anything quite like it before. I was immediately captivated by its unusual lighting and distinctive style and humor. I liked that the plot of the film unfolds throughout a 24-hour period. We start the day with the two main characters (Keith and AJ) and take a ride into the big city with them, we go through the whole experience with them and emerge from the sewer to a bright sunny new day, safe and out of harm's way.

VAMP is the gift that keeps on giving for me. Without first experiencing the movie during my formative years, I might not have discovered the ground-breaking discography of performer Grace Jones, the jocular comedy albums of the late-great Sandy Baron who played “Vic” or the countless hours of entertainment provided by actors Robert Rusler and Chris Makepeace. The list is endless.

Richard Wenk once told me that I am "the keeper of the {VAMP} flame" so, in celebration of 35 years since VAMP was released in theaters, I have created this website as a retrospective for all things VAMP. After collecting VAMP memorabilia for many years, I wanted to generate a collective space to showcase the many items from my own personal collection as well as photos, videos and memorabilia, some of which has been kindly provided to me by VAMP production cast, crew members and fans from around the world! 

So please join me at The After Dark Club (where all the fun people coagulate!), in raising a glass of house-red to 35 years of VAMP!