Verdict
Summary
Made for cable T.V., the half-serious, half-spoof Nightlife is pretty good thanks to decent production values, resembling a sort of riff on the Hammer films, with dedicated performances and a commitment to the genre. It’s funny some of the time, and appropriately gothic with a new wave style that capitalizes on the ’80s trendiness that was already going out of style when this was released. Not quite a “gem,” but certainly worthy for fans of vampire films of the ’80s and ’90s, Nightlife has some life left in it yet.
Plot:
A beautiful vampire wakes up in modern day Mexico and resumes her on-again, off-again romance with the king of the vampires.
Review:
A couple of grave robbers unearth a coffin from a Mexican cemetery, awakening the beautiful (and beautifully intact) vampire Angelique (Maryam D’Abo), who hasn’t seen the light of day in at least a hundred years. She wanders around modern day Mexico (at night) in a daze, looking for blood, finding herself at a dingy blood bank where she thinks she can “make a withdrawal” as she says, not realizing that it’s a place where donors “make deposits.” She passes out from lack of blood and wakes up in a nearby hospital where a doctor (played by Keith Szarabajka) watches over her, smitten by her at first sight, making sure she receives a blood transfusion. Examining her blood under a microscope, the doc immediately realizes that Angelique is very unique, so unique that she is unclassifiable. When she leaves, he ensures that they have another “date” for another blood transfusion, and she sets herself up with a penthouse suite using the jewelry she had on her to exchange for currency, and she hires on a live-in maid (played by Camille Saviola, this film’s comedy relief) who instantly understands that Angelique is a vampire with her strange habits such as the coffin she uses for a bed and her “liquid diet.” While Angelique carries on a cautious romance with the doctor, her previous boyfriend – the king of the vampires, a slick character named Vlad (Ben Cross who plays this with tongue in cheek) – comes calling on her again, now that she’s back from the grave …
Made for cable T.V., the half-serious, half-spoof Nightlife is pretty good thanks to decent production values, resembling a sort of riff on the Hammer films, with dedicated performances and a commitment to the genre. It’s funny some of the time, and appropriately gothic with a new wave style that capitalizes on the ’80s trendiness that was already going out of style when this was released. Not quite a “gem,” but certainly worthy for fans of vampire films of the ’80s and ’90s, Nightlife has some life left in it yet. From director Daniel Taplitz.
Kino Lorber brings Nightlife to Blu-ray for the first time, and it comes in a nice new 2K master, plus two new audio commentaries by two sets of film historians. There’s also a slipcover.
