‘In the dead of night, souls come alive’
Pale Blood is a 1990 American direct-to-video vampire film directed by V.V. Dachin Hsu and Michael W. Leighton. It was written by Hsu an Takashi Matsuoka, and produced by Omar Kaczmarczyk and Leighton. Includes clips from Nosferatu (1922).
The film stars George Chakiris, Wings Hauser (The Carpenter; Tales from the Hood; Watchers III), Pamela Ludwig (Rush Week; Midnight Ride), Diana Frank (Monster High; Dead of Night; Club Vampire), Darcy DeMoss (Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI; Return to Horror High; Night Life), Frazer Smith (Transylvania Twist), Sybil Danning [uncredited]. New wave band Agent Orange is featured twice.
Plot:
Michael Fury (Chakiris) arrives in Los Angeles to investigate a series of mysterious high-profile murders where the victims have been completely drained of blood. Aiding him in his quest is Lori (Ludwig), a junior member at an investigative firm who is obsessed with the occult. Unbeknownst to her, Fury is himself a vampire…
Reviews:
“Plot wise, Pale Blood just oozes along. Michael Fury’s “investigation” into the murders consists of standing at his window looking moody or suffering repetitive and tiresome psychic visions. Despite some prominent makeup artists involved, special effects are amazingly skimpy, consisting mainly of blood, blood and more blood.” TV Guide
“Acting wise I wasn’t too convinced with Pamela Ludwig’s performance, though I have seen a whole lot worse, however Chakiris was excellently mysterious as Fury and Wings Hauser was fantastically mad as the psychotic Van. The whole thing held together well but was perhaps a little too clever for its own good in places and it tended to meander at those points.” Taliesen Meets the Vampires
“Pale Blood is a vacant and stylistically empty attempt at a modern day vampire film. It is all posed mood – washes of synthesizer sound, downbeat lighting, lots of slow-motion and endless street scenes, plus lots of padding footage involving a laughably pretentious New Wave band called Agent Orange. However, the plot is far too insubstantial (read non-existent!) to support anything that is going on.” Richard Scheib, Moria
“A pretty good direct-to-video vampire tale that has an intriguing premise but doesn’t completely live up to its potential … There’s quite a bit of talk in this one, but there’s also a good sense of humor and Hauser contributes a memorably (and appropriately) overwrought performance.” The Bloody Pit of Horror
Buy VHS: Amazon.co.uk
Cast and characters:
- George Chakiris as Michael Fury
- Wings Hauser as Van Vandameer
- Pamela Ludwig as Lori
- Diana Frank as Jenny
- Darcy DeMoss as Cherry
- Earl Garnes as Harker
- Frazer Smith as Frazer Kelly
- Michael Palm as Lead Singer in Band
- Agent Orange as Band
- Steven Bramble as Lori’s Date
- Randy Almazon, Frank Barajas, Sheryl Bence, Wanda Blunt, Den Daniel, Jr., Marc Leighton, Michaele Leighton, Michael Shane Leighton, Michael Rosen, Rita M. Saiz, Lindsay Santos and Tom Sidell as People of the Night
Wikipedia | IMDb | Image credit: Taliesen Meets the Vampires
