Phil's Halloween Horror Watch: VAMPIRE COP (1990) from SRS Cinema - Oct. 20, 2018

VAMPIRE COP Blu-Ray

VAMPIRE COP
Starring Ed Cannon, Melissa Moore, Mal Arnold, Joey Thrower, Don Tilley, Morrow Faye
Screenplay by Donald Farmer
Cinematography by Glenn Kral
Edited by John Decker
Produced by Faye Chesney, Max Chesney, Donald Farmer
Directed by Donald Farmer
Originally released by Atlas Entertainment Corporation
Released by SRS Cinema

Welcome to Day 20 of Phil's Halloween Horror Watch! If you're not familiar with the name Donald Farmer, well, you should. He's been making low budget horror movies for over 30 years and is regarded as one of the pioneers of the Shot-On-Video movement. His resume includes CANNIBAL HOOKERS, VICIOUS LIPS, RED LIPS, and CHAINSAW CHEERLEADERS for starters. I remember learning about Mr. Farmer back in the early 90's through my local mom & pop video store and magazines like Scream Queens Illustrated and Alternative Cinema. Now, I've come full circle again, as I watched VAMPIRE COP, one of his all-time classics from SRS Cinema!

The film's official synopsis: It's not easy being a cop. Especially when you're a VAMPIRE COP like Officer Lucas (Ed Cannon). But with the city in the grip of a psycho drug kingpin, it's time to pull out all the stops and TAKE A BITE OUT OF CRIME! But now beautiful reporter Melanie Roberts (Melissa Moore) is onto Lucas' little secret. Will she expose him. . . or help him crack the biggest crime caper since Al Capone? Soon the streets are running red with stone dead hookers and bone dry mobsters -all with two little bites on their neck. Will Melanie be next? Or is Lucas ready to make the ultimate vampire's sacrifice to save her.

The movie screams of early 1990, which was a fun year to watch low budget movies. And no one made them better (or worse depending on your criteria) than Donald Farmer. He tried to make a really good movie on the rediciously small budget, but it's the film's limitations that make it fun to watch. This is probably the only vampire movie I have seen that doesn't show hardly any bloodletting! But the opening theme song "" rocked my world back then and brought me back to my simplistic youthful days. It's a movie shot with basic set-ups, framing, and composition, nothing really splashy and overly artsy, it's just a simple B-movie that was there to be entertaining. And with Farmer, it's anything but boring.

Original VHS Cover (1991)

Our two main leads in the film are the vampire cop himself Lucas, played by Ed Cannon and his love interest female reporter Melanie Roberts, played by the beautiful, buxom, and breathtaking Melissa Moore. Born in Versailles, Kentucky, she was a staple in the realm of B-movies, action flicks, erotica, and horror films, and her resume includes some of the all-time greats from the VHS era: THE INVISIBLE MANIAC, CAGED FURY, SORORITY HOUSE MASSACRE II, HARD TO DIE, ANGELFIST, and STORMSWEPT were some of her movies that I used to rent. In this move, Moore bares it all, literally, as she acts her way through her investigation of the mysterious vampire cop. Moore is one of the unsung Scream Queens that I feel has been looked over and forgotten, and I hope this movie will remind fans of the genre how much she was a part of our lives during this time.

The movie was filmed in late 1989 and early 1990 and released on VHS by Atlas Entertainment Corporation the following year. Again, I remember renting this at my favorite local video store American Video Center. They had the best selection of B-movies, horror films, and cult classics in town! I watched and ungodly amount of movies from that place! I can't recall if it was ever released on DVD after that, but SRS Cinema has come to the rescue and has re-released the movie in a brand new director's cut! They released it DVD, but also on a limited edition professional run and silk-screened BD-R to only 100 units, and a limited edition VHS clam shell with only 30 units available.

VAMPIRE COP is a 90's B-movie, cult classic that you can definitely sink your teeth into this Halloween! It shows audiences why everything was so damn cool about that decade! Yup, the 90's did have some cheesy B-movies and this is one of the best! So I dare you to watch this movie and try not to have a good time! 3 1/2 out of 5 stars! Definitely worth a watch!

VAMPIRE COP is available in a Special Collector's Edition Blu-ray (BD-R), DVD, and a Limited Edition Clam Shell VHS from SRS Cinema. To purchase a copy for yourself and other titles, please visit their website at srscinemastore.com.

Thanks for watching, and enjoy the horror!