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VAMPS 2: BLOODLUST
Produced by Michael Fox and Mark Burchett
Written and Directed by Mark Burchett
Director of Photography - Jeff BarklageSeamus - Paul Morris
Heather - Glori-Anne Gilber
Elizabeth - Amber NewmanThere was a time when VAMPS: DEADLY DREAMGIRLS was the movie to which I compared all other shot-on-video titles. It was back when I first started learning about the world of SOV and most of the titles that could be found were little more than amateurish backyard productions. The moviemakers behind VAMPS came across as if they were seriously trying to produce something that could be equated to the rental products hitting the shelves. They paid attention to moviemaking basics such as lighting, acting, and continuity, and it was reflected in a movie that far outweighed its contemporaries in terms of no-budget bufftitude.
At least that's what I remember thinking.
It's been a long time since VAMPS, and truth be told, I can't remember much about the movie other than a few choice scenes with a naked Amber Newman. I've heard the movie doesn't hold up all that well anymore...maybe I should seek it out just to confirm for myself. I know EI Cinema released it on DVD a few years back through one of their sub-labels.
While roughly 6 years of have passed in real time, VAMPS 2: BLOODLUST, picks up 6 months after the events of the first film. In the VAMPS universe, a few things have changed, most notably Seamus, who is loving every minute of his fallen priest lifestyle as his shape-shifting, vampire-stripper girlfriend Heather decides the scrumptious figure of Glori-Anne Gilbert makes for better tips (and sex) than Jennifer Huss (who played the role in the original). Seamus is carefree as spends time among the stripers, no doubt making up for lost time.
For what it's worth, there are LOTS of stripers for Seamus to spend time with. Director Mark Burchett must have cornered every hottie in the Cincinnati/Covington tri-county. In every scene there's anywhere from 10-20 lbs. of boob bouncing around unencumbered from such constraints as ... say... clothes. A good 50% of the movie is nothing more than the girls doing their stripper routines...God bless them...
All that bounce seems geared toward distracting the audience from what matters, the story. Perhaps a better description would be that all that bounce is geared towards making up for a lack there of. There's some backstory about the child born to a vampire and human that's going to change the world. Before you start crying foul, remember that production started on VAMPS 2 long before a similar plotline developed on WB's Angel.
To be honest, much of the actual story came to infrequently for me to remember it all. I have no idea if Heather and Seamus' child was meant to bring world peace or destruction, but I do know it brought Amber Newman back to the VAMPS universe in the form of Elizabeth, twin sister of her character in the first VAMPS. To her credit, Amber is more gorgeous than ever and an even better actress than she was in the original. Too bad she left the industry.
Whether VAMPS 2 is an improvement over the original is hard for me to say, but I'm sure fans of VAMPS: DEADLY DREAMGIRLS will want to seek this one out anyway. If taken lightly, VAMPS 2 is a great sort of Fred Olen Ray popcorn movie that can only be found nowadays in the world of micro-cinema. It's a far cry from art, but it's still fun.