Review: Vampire in Vegas (2009)

Director: Jim Wynorski | 82 minutes | horror | Actors: Tony Todd, GiGi Erneta, Chris De Christopher, Delia Sheppard, Edward Spivak, Sonya Joy Sims, Frankie Cullen, Brandin Rackley, Jonathan Conrau, Melissa Brasselle

Las Vegas, the city where everything sparkles and even expensive things look cheap. A better setting is hardly imaginable for this unpretentious pulp film, which would not look out of place as the headliner of Nacht van de Wansmaak. It already starts with the Vincent Price-like voice-over at the beginning, in which protagonist Tony Todd tells the viewer about Sylvian’s previous history. The actor seems to realize that he has ended up in a kitsch product and is putting his best foot forward. It is not entirely clear whether his colleagues are ashamed of their role or enjoy their work, but work does work in the end, if only a little.

Cult director Jim Wynorski understands what his audience wants. Female scientists are supposed to be spectacled and wear a lab coat where they almost burst from the front. Tight girls should scream the loudest and tough guys should come to their aid, or vice versa (victims are also emancipated these days). And vampires, they have bat wings, even when a can of Sesame Street effects has to be ripped open. So far you can tick off all the clichés. Only Sylvian’s cat, she is painfully out of place with that gray coat and white bite. It should have been jet black, with eyes like embers. Anyway, if only the pets are miscast, then you can be lucky in a movie like this.

Let’s make no bones about it: “Vampire in Vegas” sucks. Still, the film has charm. You can’t call him exciting and calling him a parody is too much honor, but secretly it is still laughing-howling-roar about those bad dialogues, those bad effects, those fake tits and those cheap costumes. As a vampire, try to impress in a stretch velor cloak! “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas,” is a well-known gambler saying. You can have fun playing “Vampire in Vegas”, even if you really don’t think it’s possible. All things considered, the film is not worth more than 1 star, but because it is solo shining so sadly on The Strip, he just gets another one. A star that you can immediately remove if bad taste is not your taste.