The Insatiable (2006)

Harry Balbo (Sean Patrick Flannery) a shy salesman witnesses a violent killing by a female vampire who rips the head off her victim. But when nobody believes the story Harry decides to track her down before she strikes again. Upon finding her he is seduced by her beauty and cannot kill her. Instead he captures and imprisons her in a cage in his cellar. Now a prisoner she must convince Harry to feed her or she will slowly die. Not wanting to kill her and not able to release her Harry is faced with an impossible choice - give in to her seductive powers or save innocent lives from a gruesome fate.System Requirements:Running Time: 103 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating: NR UPC: 821575556156 Manufacturer No: TF-55615 Product Description

13th review

The horror of obsession to the point of self-destruction is what this film was about for me.

I am the 13th reviewer and the other reviews give a good idea of the film, but I think I can add a few things.

Boy, I can imagine all sorts of different reactions to this film! I suppose I could get into a mood where I could get a lot of laughs out of it, thinking, "That dumb nerd was so hard up that he let some sexy chick lead him around by "the nose" and drag him down even though he knew she was a vampire. It was hysterical!"

Or, I could get into a mood where I would say, "This is just an example of how guys so typically go crazy over sex and can't think straight. Sure. But there could have been more blood and less talk, dude."

But actually I was in a mood to find it extremely creepy. There have been a lot of films about how guys can be driven into terrible compulsions by sex or some emotional longing. Baby Doll comes to mind. Rain/Miss Sadie Thompson. Reflections in a Golden Eye. Apartment Zero. We can all think of films we have seen. And terrible crimes of passion are on the TV every day. The hungry heart commonly makes fools of people and even criminals and this is an important theme about human nature that has been worked and reworked.

This film could be placed in that genre but is distinctive in a few ways. Obviously using a captive vampire as the object of desire should get an A for imagination and taking risks.

Also, there was indeed a lot of talk, and that worked for me. Without the dialogue the basic theme of a lonely guy falling for a vampire would have been over the top and probably not very interesting to me personally. The mind games that the vampire played with Harry were interesting to follow, as well as the mind games that he was playing with himself and his struggles with denial and rationalization. The film did not stoop to hamming this up and the director and actors did a pretty darned good job playing it straight. I very much appreciated the drama taking place in the mind games in the dialogue. There were some moral dilemmas and conflicts of interest with some substance to them and I wondered how they would come out.





August 22, 2008

For the vampire fanatic whose got everything.

I mean, come on, what horror geek doesn't want an impossibly sexy vampire seductress locked away in his basement? Got a real jerk of a coworker bothering you at the job? Hook the man up! No red-blooded American can resist the mysterious attraction of Women In Cages. See? They even make movies about nothing else. And when there aren't any A-holes handy, you can always feed her an adorable bunny rabbit. The possibilities are endless: whispering sweet nothings in your mind in the middle of the night, keeping those pesky repairmen away, and the girl knows how to work a chair like her name was Janet Jackson. I've really got to get me one of them she-vamps for my very own. I'm still trying to think of a way to broach the topic to the wife, though.

So "The Insatiable", then. Not a bad flick at all. Not great, but I can think of worse ways to spend an hour-and-a-half. The story starts out with a thoroughly average man, one Harry Balbo, witnessing a serial killer at work. A serial killer who rips the heads off of each victim. Turns out it's a pretty girl who drinks blood and can leap into a second-story window from a standing start. It's always who you least expect, isn't it? Naturally, the police think he's insane. So while trying to catch a peep show from an acquaintance whose been bragging about his new sex-crazed girlfriend he witnesses the same girl feeding on said acquaintance. She manages to scratch him and get a taste of the blood and our protagonist runs into the night, having gotten more than his jollies. Scouring the internet for other true believers, he comes into contact with a paraplegic vampire hunter who makes it his business to track the creatures of the night. Turns out that once a vampire tastes your blood, they can follow you anywhere. Long story short: man has no balls and winds up with his own pet vampire.

"The Insatiable" has an decent if uninspired premise but suffers from a thoroughly unlikeable protagonist and an underdeveloped supporting cast. Charlotte Ayanna is pitch perfect in her role as Tatiana (even her name is hot), and she's what really makes this movie work. There is also a pretty good subplot about one of Harry's cute neighbors who seems to be the classic "sexy girl next door pursuing clueless but good-hearted nerd" type, but turns out to be the kind of woman many of us so-called "nice guys" are all too familiar with. Nice touch. The main story manages to touch on some very nice underlying relationship themes as well; one of which being people who lock their spouses into loveless relationships in the hope that their fundamental differences will some day just resolve themselves and it will be all happily ever after some day. I like.

Unfortunately, this is a movie that doesn't deliver on some counts. There are a few solid gore shots as well as some twisted humor, but when one watches a movie with this premise and a title like "The Insatiable" you expect a bit more exploitation. Tatiana uses her nuclear arsenal of sex appeal to manipulate Harry throughout the film, but apparently is a very modest undead seductress of the night as she never even attempts to show some skin. Harry himself is embarrassing to watch at times and never really had me thinking "gee, I hope that guy doesn't die a horrible, blood-spurting death". That fact alone detracts from the tension that should be built up in a movie like this. The vampire hunter bit was very interesting, but was dropped like a hot potato once it's use as a plot device was over and the succubus was in her cage.

I figured there were only two ways to end the story and neither of them were very satisfying to me, but "The Insatiable" came through for me in the end with a conclusion that was dark, ironic, amusing, and utterly and completely fitting for all characters involved. That gets it out of the "meh" area and into the "check it out" zone with me. If you are a major vampire nut who can't get enough of the ladies in black then this is a decent little horror flick. Don't go in expecting a lot of sex and violence; go in for a hot leading lady, a few chills, a little fun, some insight into the awkwardness of human relationships, and an ending that will have you smiling a black little smile. July 26, 2008

Finally...

...a vampire film that doesn't suck (ok, pun intended). If you have read the wonderful (yet hard to find) Vampire novel; The Vampire Tapestry, then this film will seem very familiar. What is important to note is this movie is free of the Made for TV cheese and the Hyper Goth/Romanti-Erotic BS so common in most modern Vampire stories. Without giving too much away, it is the perceived and then logically deduced relationship of the human regarding his Vampire captive that truly make this movie above even most higher budget Vampire films. Sure, the production value is weak at times and gaps in the character's logic (well, one character named Javi, anyway) but I have to applaud the writer/director's desire to show a vampire as a cold and calculating hunter with a shadow of it's once human life. The leads are both actually quite good as is Michael Biehn in the only really good supporting role in the film. Great stuff! July 7, 2008

insatiable dvd

Did receive the item in good time. Unfortunately, my dvd player has been broken and I have not been able to watch it. Did get another one over this past weekend, but now that its summer - no time to watch dvd's!! Thanks much for this. June 9, 2008

Underated Horror/Comedy Gem

Folks, you need to see this film in its unrated entirety. "The Insatiable" has subtle humor, goofy dialogue, hilariously stereotyped heroes and villains, an attractive lady vampire, and an attitude. You just know there's a sequel to come, and hopefully it will get a general release at theaters. I've noticed that only a few video store chains are renting "The Insatiable", but it's doing good business at those places. The Sci/Fi channel has shown the PG version, which is incomprehensible. Rent "The Insatiable", friends, and see for yourselves. Don Delaney, McAllen, Texas May 27, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...