| Cover Art |
 |
| Credits |
Director: Lee Bennett
Sobel
Starring: Stephen Blackehart,
Paul Stevenson, Margaret Lancaster, Valentine
Miele
Screenplay: Lee Bennett
Sobel, Paul Gambino
Country: USA
AKA: Burnin' Love; Rockabilly
Vampire: Burnin' Love
|
Rockabilly Vampire was originally
called Burnin' Love. Troma
re-christened the film Rockabilly Vampire:
Burnin' Love, but on the DVD sleeve
left out the Burnin' Love bit. And this sort of pointless info is EXACTLY
why you read this review, isn't it?
The Rockabilly Vampire DVD begins
with an intro by Lloyd Kaufman, president of Troma
and creator of the Toxic Avenger. Lloyd claims
the two bands with live footage in the extras
are 'many bands.' Lloyd also refers
to one of the bands as the 'Amazing Crowns,'
which is also what they're called on the
DVD menu. A discrepancy arises when you actually
select their live video, where they appear to
be the Royal Crowns.
Anyway, Rockabilly Vampire is
the story of a young man who was turned into a
nosferatu by his brother in the 50s. This leaves
him saying things like 'make like an
Eskimo Pie and cool it,' because evidently
vampirism freezes your vocabulary as well as your
physical appearance at the time of the bite. So,
Mr. Rockabilly meets his soul mate, a bookworm
lady stuck in the 50s (despite being too young
to have lived in them). She is an investigative
author wanting to prove that Elvis is alive, yet
doesn't seem to realise that the biggest
proof is that his name is an anagram for 'lives.'
She initially falls for Mr. Rockabilly because
he looks like Elvis, and immediately accepts he's
a vampire. Unfortunately for the would-be happy
couple, Mr. Rockabilly's bro is still tracking
him down, and traces him to the lady somehow.
An obvious comparison for this film is Rockula,
but I'm not sure which film comes out ahead.
While there are some oddly funny things, like
menacing toenail clippings, the general storyline
isn't ludicrous enough to be humorous, or
even engaging, on its own. This leaves Rockabilly
Vampire as just a slow movie where not
much happens. The film tries to be funny, but
the pacing is off, and the film is just too slow.
The dialog can be trying, even more so than the
Eskimo Pie line, and the acting, well, actually
the acting isn't bad at all for the budget.
If you like rockabilly music, though, this movie
has some. |
Be the first to comment on this item!