Dinner with a Vampire

I saw this one last year and had a really good time with it.  It’s from Italian horror director Lamberto Bava who also did Demons (which I highly recommend checking out, it may take a bit to get going but once it does it’s almost non-stop action).  It’s a plot title so you don’t need to know much else, there’s a vampire and people have dinner with him.  He ends up trapping his guests in his house so he can pop up every once in a while to try and bite them. 

I think I like this one because it’s not too heavy.  Even though it’s a horror picture with dusty dungeons and a vivacious vampire (sorry for the alliteration kick there) there’s also the over the top house that the vampire lives in.  Each room is filled with so many different colors and architectural designs that there’s always something interesting to look at and wild for our characters to stand in front of and interact with.  And you know what?  I found myself caring for the old vamp, his Igor type assistant and I didn’t totally hate the twenty somethings that are supposed to be our heroes.  I wanted to see them all get along which they kind of do at first when the vampire toys with them.  Yeah, the ol’ bloodsucker even tells his wife character that he’s having the time of his life.  I guess vampires do enjoy their work on some level but it seems this guy hasn’t been able to for years so it’s nice to see him happy. 

This is a neat little film and if you’re looking for a sort of feel good vampire picture (also with zombies) then this is for you.