To Sleep With a Vampire (1992)

Good Remake of Dance of the Damned

What makes To Sleep With a Vampire so fascinating is that it uses the same script, with only a minor rewrite, as Dance of the Damned made only three years before. Dance of the Damned was written by Andy Ruben and Katt Shea (credited as Katt Shea Ruben) and directed by Katt Shea. In To Sleep With a Vampire total script credit was given to Patricia Harrington with no mention of Ruben's or Shea's contribution at all. This strikes me a more than a little disengenuous. Credit for a rewrite, sure. Total script credit, no.

In Dance of the Damned, Cyril O'Reilly plays a vampire who hates killing, and each feeding requires he drain his victim of so much blood it will indeed kill them. Thus he puts off each kill until he's almost starved, on the edge of dying himself, and chooses as victims only those his psychic senses tell him long for death. Starr Andreef plays Jodi Hurtz (the Dickensian properties of the last name, given Jodi's personality, are not lost on me), a depressed, near-suicidal stripper. Jodi is the sort of person who has no joy in life but can't quite find the balls to end it all herself. The vampire makes her an offer she can't refuse - because he's not giving her a choice - they'll spend one night together, she will tell him of her life, assuaging his loneliness, and at dawn he'll end her pain.

In To Sleep With a Vampire, the vampire is played by Scott Valentine and the stripper, renamed Nina, by Charlie Spradling who, despite her first name, is most definitely a girl. As if there were any doubt, she proves this by getting mostly naked numerous times throughout the film. Most of the dialogue, the situations, the characters, are identical between the two movies. But To Sleep With a Vampire has more nudity and violence than its predecessor. I do not put that forth as a negative comment, just an observation - in all cases these elements serve the story in my opinion. Both films are actors' movies. Except for a handful of minor characters, mostly walk-ons, the vampire and Jodi/Nina are the only roles. Thus the films stand or fall on the quality of the performances. Fortunately, all four actors do really quite impressive work.

If I had to pick one movie as better, it would be Dance of the Damned. Starr Andreef does an excellent job of believably portraying Jodi as a woman sick unto death of life, just totally strung-out and depressed. Charlie Spradling's Nina is still feisty, and quite willing to fight for her continued existence. Which of these takes on the character appeals more to you will be very much an individual reaction.

Director Katt Shea in Dance of the Damned, more so than Adam Friedman in To Sleep With a Vampire, to my mind does a better job of setting up and recording truly impressive imagery. Note the differences in the scene where the vampire rips open a door toward the end of the film. In To Sleep With a Vampire it's straightforward and over in an instant. In Dance of the Damned it's one of the most emotionally affecting, visually impressive moments I've seen in any film, regardless of budget.

The final freeze frame of Dance of the Damned is a homage to one of the most famous images in Western culture, Adam reaching for God on Michaelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling. It's an ambiguous ending that can be interpreted in numerous ways. To Sleep With a Vampire, whatever else you say about it, is not an ambiguous film - there's no doubt what happens at the end of that movie.

Watching both Dance of the Damned and To Sleep With a Vampire is a textbook study of the dramatic possibilities inherent in a single script, of how, with only minor script revision, a different director and actors, and emphasis on particular elements over others, you can wind up with movies quite different in feel and overall effect. Fortunately in this case both final products are well worth watching. August 5, 2004

A sleeper of a film

This film is more brooding than bloodletting. A vampire with Angst decides to tell his woes to a beautiful Charile (are they real?) Spralding (she's just as beautiful in Meridian: Kiss of the Beast).

He's about to bite her, then tells her of his woes. Then he's just about to bite her, & he decides he's a few more woes to tell about. This continues for the rest of the film till they finally 'do it' in a scene that I beleive is only PG-rated.

It must be tough to be a vampire. It was tough watching this film. August 16, 2002

An Unusual Vampire Film

Here we find Scott Valentine playing a vampire who goes out searching for somebody who wishes to die when his bloodlust finally gets so strong he can't put off killing any longer. This time he chooses a [prostitute] who seems to be at the end of her rope. As it turns out, the [prostitute] is more than a handful and a bizarre friendship is born. At the end of the night, one of them will end up with a new will to live and one of them will die . . . but which one will live? It's and engaging film if you like the brooding type of vampires and it's set in modern times. It's certainly not of the caliber of some of the better known films in the genre but I'd nonetheless recommend it for your vampire film collection. July 15, 2002

A gem of a film...for some.

This is absolutely one of my all-time favorite films, and it's difficult to explain why. It's not a porn flick though one of the protagonists happens to be a stripper (well-played by Charlie Spradling) and yes, there's nudity. Ultimately the film explores two troubled people; a lonely vampire and a suicidal dancer. Like a cult film, it may not appeal to the general public, but will resonate nonetheless with those able to appreciate what the story's really about. December 26, 2001

Under Rated Vampire Flic

From the reviews I read on this movie I was expecting typical B movie fair. Yes it's B movie, but high end B. Resonable acting, interesting plot line, and novel twist on the vampire story. Personally I enjoy varity and like vampire movies which dare to play with the conventions. I wonder at the reviews which call this soft porn. This is only mildly erotic in my opinion. Most main stream films have more sex and show more flesh. Watch this because you like vampire flics not for an erotic thrill. July 23, 2001

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