Vampire (1979)

VAMPIRE (1979)

Dir: E.W. Swackhamer

Swackhamer’s TV movie follow up to Night Drive (1977) may not feature Valerie Harper being terrorized by a killer on the road, but it does follow Father Karris (Jason Miller from The Exorcist (1973)) as a vampire hunter. Vampire tells the story of Prince Anton Voytek (Richard Lynch from Invasion U.S.A (1985)), an age-old bloodsucker, who is awakened after a few decade sleep by the construction of a church. Voytek befriends an architect, Jason Rowlins (Jason Miller) and requests his help to unearth a collection of artwork. When Rowlins does a little digging, literal and metaphorical, he finds all the lost works of art had been stolen through the ages. Rowlins calls the authorities and all of Voytek’s artwork and potential wealth are taken. This triggers our main plot: the vampire seeking revenge and Rowlins forced into becoming a vampire hunter.

Aired on October 7, 1979 on ABC Vampire has become overshadowed by history. In a little over a month, on November 17, 1979 CBS would give the world Salem’s Lot. And vampire cinema would never be the same. Placed in direct comparison by the one month that separated them, there is no comparison. Vampire fails to create enough suspense to keep you immersed. The film isn’t without merit as Richard Lynch is more than serviceable as Voytek and story wise, seeing a vampire seeking revenge is straight from the pages of Dracula. Jessica Walter plays the vampire’s daytime servant lawyer, but she believes she’s his lover. She provides a monologue late in the film about how she had no control when he was around. There are a few scenes that make the film watchable, maybe not enjoyable, but at least viewable. After Anton’s been locked up for stolen artwork, he has to rush home against the morning sun. We see smoke rising from his body in a few interesting exterior shots. Anton kills the architect’s wife off-screen, and later he must drive a stake through her heart. And the most memorable aspect of Vampire is the ending.

Normally, because it is uncouth for a review to reveal a film’s ending, we stay away from those spoils of spectacle. But in this case, there may be a select few who wish to track this film down because it features an open-ended ending. The vampire is never destroyed, and our protagonists must continue their search for him. It is handled as a happy ending. As good as somehow prevailed. But, it all felt like wishing for a spin-off show. While it could have been fun to see Father Karris Vampire Hunter go into a season or two, Vampire was no The Night Stalker (1972) and the architect was definitely no Kolchak.