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VAMPIRE SISTERS
Produced by Don Dohler
Directed by Joe Ripple
Director of Photography - Don DohlerDawn - Darla Albornaz
Stacy - Jeannie Michelle Jameson
Tasha - Syn Devil
Detective Renko - Mark Lassie
Detective Hunt - Leanna ChamishForget what you think you know about the filmic output of Time Warp Films. The production team of Joe Ripple and Don Dohler can't always take upon themselves the burden of making logistics-intensive features such as HARVESTERS and STAKES, two of the more accomplished and original shot-of-video horror productions to find distribution. Every so often filmmakers have to cut loose and make something quick and fun to get the creative juices flowing again. It's that kind of attitude that led Wong Kar-wai to make one of my favorite films, CHUNGKING EXPRESS, after the extended burden of ASHES OF TIME.
Ripple and Dohler are exploitation filmmakers, so don't expect anything like the independent spirit of CHUNGKING EXPRESS in their newest movie, VAMPIRE SISTERS. It's straight formulaic cheese, the kind Fred Olen Ray or David DeCauteu might have made back in the late ‘80s. Usually, this sort of movie would get a negative review, but Dohler and Ripple gleefully play up the nostalgia factor while satirically mocking the porn-obsessed fan community surrounding the b-movie industry - specifically the very people this movie is intended for.
The Vampire Sisters in question are Dawn, Stacy, and Tasha. At first glace these gals are nude models who specialize in running a vampire fetish website...only they're real vampires making do with their natural assets. The Sisters like to lure in their high-dollar clients by offering them a special hands-on evening in the their own vampire home. The fans show up and after being treated to a short girl-on-girl show, they are promptly bleed dry.
The logic on that last part confuses me. One would think that the girls would want to keep the paying costumers around. Once a client is dead the girls might as well just kiss that $20-plus a month goodbye. The cheapskates and deadbeats are the ones they should concentrate on...it's not like those guys are much good for anything other than a nightly feeding.
This repetitive model of skin shows and murders comprises the majority of the picture, perhaps 3 quarters. It's not something I can honestly complain about - the girls are sexy to the max...and that's what the movie is about. With true life fetish models portraying Tasha and Stacy, the movie provides plenty busty skin. And for those looking for gore, the H.G. Lewis-simple plot provides more than enough red stuff.
True to his cop nature, Ripple fills the final act with a pair of detectives piecing the clues together and tracking the girls to their lair. Going against the type set by her two previous Ripple/Dohler roles, Leanna Chamish is one of the detectives. I found myself longing for her Vampire Queen outfit from STAKES. She's a gorgeous lady who needs to show more skin.
The police aspect provides a thread of closure, but I would have liked the movie more if it had been dropped. It's kind of a distraction that takes away from the simplistic fun of the movie.