Ronin Flix, with sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has a new 2K scan (from the director’s personal print, no less) of director Richard Elfman’s 1998 mixed-genre gem, Modern Vampires, ready for Blu-ray on Mar. 22.
Romantic comedy. Horror tale. Arthouse entry? Take your pick, or mix them together. Modern Vampires opened on the film festival circuit in 1997, but never found a theatrical distributor despite positive feedback and a solid cast. Perhaps it was the black comedy nature of the film or the horror elements … or some other thing, but it ended up as a direct-to-video DVD release in October of 1999 through Trimark (aka: Lionsgate) … a special “director’s cut” edition followed in 2004. Now it arrives on Blu-ray on Mar. 22, retire the DVDs and savor this one.
Dallas, an odd name for a vampire (played by Casper Van Dien — Starship Troopers, Dracula 3000, The Omega Code), has a good heart, loves to party, makes odd decisions and is on the outs with “The Count” (Robert Pastorelli — Dances with Wolves, Eraser, etc. … as Eldin on the Murphy Brown sitcom).
Not only is he on unfriendly terms with “The Count,” but he’s also managed to tick off legendary vampire hunter Dr. Frederick Van Helsing (Rod Steiger — nominated for acting Oscars three times, winning for In the Heat of the Night), who would like nothing better than to hunt Dallas down and kill him.
As we said, Dallas loves to party and after a long absence from the Los Angeles nightclub scene he has returned. He hooks up with his friends, Ulrike (Kim Cattrall … as Samantha in Sex in the City), Vincent (Udo Kier — The Story of O, Mark of the Devil, My Own Private Idaho, etc.), Panthia (Natalya Andreychenko — Little Odessa) and her husband, Richard (Craig Ferguson) … and later with serial killer Nico (Natasha Gregson Wagner — Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost Highway), who Dallas took a liking to and transformed her into one of the children of the night.
Oh yes, and there is Nico’s friend, Rachel (Natasha Lyonne … as Nicky in Orange Is the New Black) … quite the little gathering.
With Dallas back in town and the combined forces of Van Helsing and “The Count,” it isn’t long before the streets of Los Angeles run red with blood. Such are the things of love, lust and blood-letting when vampires have a falling out and vampire hunters seek their revenge.
Bonus goodies for this little horror gem from filmmaker Richard Elfman (Forbidden Zone) include commentary, where he is joined by Casper Van Dien, a newly-prepared video session with Elfman and a behind-the-scenes featurette.
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