Tag Archives: vampire

Lifeforce (1985) | Tobe Hooper

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In Cannon Films’ Lifeforce, we find a space shuttle mission co-funded by American and British space agencies traveling to explore Halley’s Comet up close. They soon make a discovery of an alien ship hiding in the comet’s coma, so they go on board to investigate, only to find desiccated bat-like creatures and three naked humanoid beings, a woman and two men, seemingly in a perpetual state of sleep in their individual glass sarcophagus-like pods. They bring the pods aboard to bring to study, but things go awry in ways that we don’t quite learn about until the pods are brought down to the European Space Research Centre in London. The shuttle mission’s sole human survivor, Colonel Tom Carlsen (Steve Railsback) also makes his way to Earth to spin a crazy tale, and to help with the mission to track down the space vampires trying to make their escape and wreak havoc on an unsuspecting planet. Tobe Hooper directs this big-budget oddity from 1985.

Fright Night Part 2 (1989) | Tommy Lee Wallace

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Fright Night Part 2 is a follow-up to the 1985 cult hit, Fright Night (naturally), where we find the same protagonist, Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale), as a college student no longer believing in the existence of vampires after three years of therapy. Also helping him overcome his supposed fantasies is his new girlfriend and fellow student at the college, Alex (Traci Lind). However, things get dicey in their relationship when Charley gets seduced through his dreams by a sexy vampire posing as a performance artist named Regine Dandridge (Julie Carmen), the sister of the vampire that Jerry defeated in the first film. Regine wants revenge in the form of turning Charley into her wicked vampire servant until the end of time. Knowing he’s in trouble if he doesn’t get help, he again goes to the only source who will believe him, b-movie horror host and vampire slayer, Peter Vincent. However, Regine is cunning and powerful, and she’s brought along a gang of fellow vampires to protect her. Tommy Lee Wallace directs this lesser-known and seen sequel that has garnered a minor cult following of its own.

Fright Night (1985) | Tom Holland

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Charley Brewster (William Ragsdale) is a typical suburban teenager with a special interest in old-time horror b-movies, the kind seen on the local creep-fest TV showcase, “Fright Night”, hosted by the self-proclaimed king of vampire hunting films, Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall).  It’s all fantasy to Charley until he spies on his new neighbors in the house next door to discover that there is a man there that is, in fact, a vampire himself (Chris Sarandon).  As bodies end up dead throughout the town, no one will listen to Charley’s assertions. 

Trouble brews when his tenaciousness draws the ire of Jerry, the vampire himself, who threatens that he’s going to take down Charley and everyone he loves before Charley can take him down first.  Knowing he needs help, Charley turns to the only man he knows known to kill vampires, Peter Vincent himself, though he’s no killer — he just plays one on TV.  When Jerry has his sights set on Charley’s girlfriend Amy (Amanda Bearse), the war is on between the men for love and continued life.

Tom Holland writes and directs this beloved 80s horror-comedy.

The Lost Boys (1987) | Joel Schumacher

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Lucy Emerson (Dianne Wiest) is a divorced mother of two teenage sons, Michael (Jason Patric) and Sam (Coey Haim), who relocates to the strange oceanside California town of Santa Carla, which is filled with a mix of punk and hippie cultures.  The residents of Santa Carla have taken to calling it the “murder capital of the world”, with deaths and disappearances occurring on an increasingly frequent basis.  Kiefer Sutherland plays David, the leader of a motorcycle gang that has been terrorizing the community, and one of the members, a sexy female named Star (Jami Gertz), has taken a mutual liking to Michael.  Michael wants to get closer to Star, but this proves to be a risk, as David makes him a member of the gang through a blood ritual that ends up turning Michael into a half-vampire (not full until he makes his first kill).   With Star’s help, along with his brother Sam and a couple of comic book geeks with vampire knowledge named Edgar and Allen, aka the Frog Brothers, Michael has to find a way to reverse the curse. Joel Schumacher directs this 80s horror-comedy vampire favorite.

Near Dark (1987) | Kathryn Bigelow

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Adrian Pasdar stars as Caleb Colton, a young and somewhat passive small-town guy in Oklahoma who has his eye set on a visiting mysterious boyish beauty named Mae (Jenny Wright).  Caleb and Mae spend the night talking and flirting, but Mae has to make it home before the sun comes up, for reasons that aren’t too clear for Caleb.  Before the end of the evening, Mae bites Caleb on the neck, although she doesn’t really drink his blood, setting forth a reaction in his body that makes him very strong and agile, fry up in direct sunlight, and crave human blood himself.  Before Caleb can get home, he is “adopted” by his new family, a clan of immortals with the same condition he is in, although they aren’t taking too kindly to Mae’s decision to “turn” Caleb into one of them, especially since she must feed him from her own blood.  Caleb doesn’t want to kill other humans like the others, but to be part of them, he finds he must, because he can’t survive on his own.  Tensions flare in the group, as well as within Caleb himself, as to what the proper thing to do is. Lance Henriksen, Jenette Goldstein, and Tim Thomerson, and Bill Paxton get supporting roles. Kathryn Bigelow’s debut as a solo director.