Last night we watched American Vampire. Mid-90s film involving beaches, vampires, and a darn, bloody ghoul. Released in 1997, it is a bit of a cult classic, especially with fans of the Beach movies from the mid-60s that starred Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, it’s actually a pretty good film.
The synopsis is – Frankie’s parents are in Europe for the summer. He and pal Bogie meet vampire Count Erik Von Zipper, aka Moondoggie, at the beach. Bogie invites von Zipper and his entourage to come party and Frankie’s house. The vampires move in, along with their ghoul, Bruno. Frankie now needs help to rid himself of these troublesome vampires. To accomplish this, he turns to the Big Kahuna, Professor von Helsingmeister. No wonder Stoker shortened the name!
Oh, and Von Zipper’s ghoul, Bruno (Sydney Lassick), really gave us a case of the creeps. Unlike the vampires, who were very neat and clean vampires, taking their dinner out, Bruno made huge messes in the kitchen.
Overall, a pretty good film, although some of the dialog is not suitable for young ears (like my daughter’s). It has fun with the beach movie connection, with Frankie and DeeDee, Erik Von Zipper, who also uses the name Moondoggie from the film Gidget, and Adam West as the Big Kahuna. Oh, and least I forget, Dick Dale, the King of the Surf Guitar, puts in a cameo playing at the beach with his son on drums.
Count Erik Von Zipper was played by Johnny Venocur, and he carried the Von Zipper role quite well, even looking a lot like Harvey Lembeck, the original Von Zipper.
Also of interest, this was Carmen Electra’s first film, and she really vamped it up as one of Von Zipper’s vampire girls.
If you have never heard of it before, don’t be surprised. I ran across mention of it quite by accident and was intrigued because of the beach movie connections, Adam West, and Dick Dale.
So, if you really dig the beach movies of the ’60s, give this film a shot. Maybe Bruno the ghoul won’t wig you out as much as he did us.
