Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Eulogy For A Vampire

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    Ian Jane
    Administrator

  • Eulogy For A Vampire



    Released by: Water Bearer Films
    Released on: 10/26/2010
    Director: Patrick McGuinn
    Cast: Wilson Hand, Damacio Ruiz, Ryan G. Metzger, Angelo Tursi
    Year: 2009
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Movie:

    Patrick McGuinn (the son of Roger McGuinn of The Byrds) has been making experimental gay themed cinema for the better part of twenty years now. His latest, a horror themed picture called Eulogy For A Vampire, follows a young man named Sebastian (Angelo Tursi) who is found sleeping on the grounds of a monastery where, a quarter century earlier, one of the monks murdered his lover in a crime of passion. The monks find Sebastian and welcome him into their fold, each of them quickly finding themselves lusting after the new arrival save for Abbott Anthony (Wilson Hand) who is rightfully suspicious of Sebastian's mysterious appearance and who seems to know more about Sebastian than he should.

    Shortly after his arrival at the monastery strange things start happening - the monks' behavior becomes increasingly bizarre (highlighted by a scene in which a character named Father Lars gets down with a pair of Sebastian's used underwear!), dead animals are found on the grounds and it starts to look like the crime from the monastery's past may be coming back to haunt all who reside there.

    So there's your plot: basically Sebastian shows up, a load of monks get horny for Sebastian and act accordingly and then some strange stuff goes on and, during the last twenty minutes or so, McGuinn sort of ties it into the past and throws in all manner of bizarre Catholic imagery and religious iconography. The gay equivalent of a nunsploitation film, this movie basically takes all of the requisite elements from those films and gives them a man on man slant. You get monks coupling with one another, a guy into punishment and Catholic guilt running around with a cat o' nine tails, and plenty of gratuitous sex set inside a monastery for no obvious reason other than to shock or provoke.

    Eulogy For A Vampire is a very mixed bag indeed. There are moments that work here and the locations used afford McGuinn to ensure his picture is ripe with gothic atmosphere. The cast all dive into their roles without fear and perform the sex scenes with what appears to be a good bit of genuine passion and lust. Random bits of artsy blasphemy help by providing interesting visuals and there's a bit of legitimate tension towards the end of the picture. All of this contrasts in remarkably bizarre fashion with the camp element of the picture (which doesn't seem to have been intentional on the part of the filmmakers - everyone here seems to be taking things very seriously). This definitely gives the film some pretty serious cult appeal. The performances tend to be overdone now and then and the attempts at confrontation by way of cinematic blasphemy and anti-Catholic leanings are just odd and… well… odd. The film is odd. It's entertaining enough and at times artistically competent but too erratic, broody, goofy-goth and campy to work as an actual horror film.

    Video/Audio/Extras:


    The 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is okay even if the darker scenes a bit on the murky side and the colors look a little soft. Detail varies accordingly from scene to scene but there aren't any obvious authoring problems of major issues here - for a modestly budgeted feature it looks fine.

    The English language Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track is on par with the video in that it's perfectly sufficient. There are problems with the source and the dialogue is perfectly audible. No alternate language options or subtitles are provided.

    Extras include a music video for a song called Evidence Remains and some screen tests used in the casting process while putting the film together. There's also a moderately interesting making of featurette that gives us some insight into the production and a theatrical trailer as well as the standard static menu and chapter selection options.

    The Final Word:

    An interesting if inconsistent work of alternative gay cinema, Eulogy For A Vampire has some impressive ideas and an intriguing gothic atmosphere - and it also has some unintentionally funny bits that border on high camp. Heavy on style but frequently falling short in substance, if you've got an interest in the material you'll probably appreciate what McGuinn has attempted here even if it doesn't always work. Water Bearer Films' DVD release looks and sounds alright and have some passable extra features as well.









      Posting comments is disabled.

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • Hot Spur (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Severin Films
      Released on: April 30th, 2024.
      Director: Lee Frost
      Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
      Year: 1969
      Purchase From Amazon

      Hot Spur – Movie Review:

      Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:53 AM
    • Death Squad (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Mondo Macabro
      Released on: April 9th, 2024.
      Director: Max Pecas
      Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
      Year: 1985
      Purchase From Amazon

      Death Squad – Movie Review:

      Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:46 AM
    • Roommates (Quality X) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Quality X
      Released on: February 28th, 2024.
      Director: Chuck Vincent
      Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
      Year: 1982
      Purchase From Amazon

      Roommates – Movie Review:

      Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:10 PM
    • Night Of The Blood Monster (Blue Underground) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Blue Underground
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Jess Franco
      Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
      Year: 1970
      Purchase From Amazon

      Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:

      Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:07 PM
    • Phase IV (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Saul Bass
      Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
      Year: 1974
      Purchase From Amazon

      Phase IV – Movie Review:

      Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:02 PM
    • The Bounty Hunter Trilogy (Radiance Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Radiance Films
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
      Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
      Year: 1969-1972
      Purchase From Amazon

      The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:

      Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this
      ...
      03-13-2024, 11:30 AM
    Working...
    X