Lust for Dracula

For years now, I've been an avid collector of Seduction Cinema DVDs. I like their mixture of low budget horror, modern exploitation and comedy spoof storylines. While many people aren't always entertained when they watch Seduction Cinema DVDs, I like the fact that they don't always take themselves too seriously and I thoroughly enjoy the mixture of horror, comedy and dirty lesbians their DVDs provide. Playmate of the Apes still remains my favourite Seduction Cinema DVD and has been for a few years. I've yet still to see a Seduction Cinema film that can compete with Playmate of the Apes, and Lust for Dracula certainly doesn't.

Lust for Dracula isn't anywhere near the best Seduction Cinema DVD, and I highly doubt it's the worst either. Instead, it is a 90 minute display of rather confusing dream-like sequences that are quite hard to grasp. A second viewing made it more clearer; however, I was still relatively confused and came away disappointed. I'm not saying Lust for Dracula is bad film because there are some positive aspects going for it, especially the bloody opening sequence; but Lust for Dracula kind of takes itself too seriously with a combined mixture of horror and decent acting merged with eccentric scenes that seem out of place, but more on this later. The acting and direction is relatively good when compared to other Seduction Cinema releases, especially the acting of Misty Mundae who puts in a crazy performance. What causes bewilderment when watching Lust for Dracula is the script. All the characters are female and it is this that creates confusion when you see the husband of Misty Mundae as a woman and Dracula and Van Helsing also as women. I know Seduction Cinema material chiefly feature women in lesbian situations, but the idea of a husband being a woman in order to film more lesbian romping is going a bit too far - and I regard myself as a fanatical Seduction Cinema fan more than the next person.

We begin the film with a bloody schoolgirl (Casey Jones) starring into the mirror of the ladies' toilets. She starts to undress herself before heading off into the shower. As she does so, we see a bloody man with long hair curled up into a corner beginning to crawl for her. While she washes the blood from her breasts in the shower, his hands reaches out to grab Casey's face. Before Casey has had a chance to turn around to see the injured man reach for her, a stunning blonde-haired vampire (Andrea Davis) gnaws into his neck, spraying a torrent of blood everywhere. The blonde vampire, called Sara, then takes the crucifix necklace from around Casey's neck and swallows it. It is this opening scene that is the best throughout the entire film. The opening credits are then shown and here is where the confusion starts.

Misty Mundae plays Mina Harker, an unhappy wife who longs for the happiness a child would bring. She is married to Jonathan Harker, played by Seduction Cinema regular, Julian Wells. Jonathan Harker happens to be a woman who keeps Mina drugged up by giving her tablets whenever Mina expresses sadness. Mina finds comfort away from her depression of not being able to receive a baby from Jonathan by singing a lullaby to a potato whom she imagines to be a baby. Unknown to Mina, Dracula is in the next room listening to everything being said. Dracula is played by another Seduction Cinema regular, Darian Caine, who's long dark hair and voluptuous figure is certainly reminiscent of a vampire.

Dracula then enters Mina's life and gives her what she has been craving for, which in itself is strange because Dracula is also a woman! Mina's sister is Abigail Van Helsing (Shelly Jones) who not only seeks to destroy Dracula but to erase her from Mina's life. Not only that, she also has desires for Mina's husband, dreaming of having lesbian sex with her/him in the shower. What is confusing about this sub-plot is that we aren't given enough time see why Abigail has this desire to lure her sister's husband away from her. Abigail meets Dracula twice throughout the film and engages in lesbian sex with her, imagining her to be Jonathan. Another confusing sub-plot is the blonde-haired vampire who lured Casey Jones into believing that she's a vampire during the beginning of the film. We don't get to know who they are or what part they play in the unfolding story until the very end. They both get involved in having lesbian sex with each other and even murder a male goth in a cemetery. All these sub-plots are merged together and it is this that causes the confusion among the dream-like fantasies of Abigail Van Helsing. However, we finally do discover the true meaning behind these plots towards the end of the film, but I gave up caring where they were heading because it was hard to concentrate on the story spread among the sex scenes. When watching Lust for Dracula, you observe an interesting plot beginning to develop, only to have that plot postponed during a 10 minute lesbian sex scene. After the sex scene, another plot is thrown up and you tend to lose concentration on where each plot is developing or heading, at least until the very end. Even then you're still left wondering. That is why a second viewing is important for the viewer to understand the film. However, I still didn't entirely get it.

It is the sex scenes themselves that make Lust for Dracula worth watching. As this review is for the unrated version, the sex scenes happen to be far are more explicit than the rated version. When the two teenage vampires, Casey and Sara, masturbate in two chairs facing the camera, we see some near hardcore pornographic shots of their fingers caressing the entrance of their shaved vaginas. Another sex scene features Mina having sex with Dracula by the swimming pool on Mina's back garden. This is a genuinely erotic scene, especially as the light reflecting from the ripples on the pool water illuminates the surrounding area where they have sex. The two teenage vampires once again have sex, this time on the cemetery floor after they murder the goth. It is after this third sex scene that the sex scenes dwindle and the sub-plots get more attention. However, you'll probably have lost all interest with these plots during the confusion created when discovering Mina's husband is a woman trying to get her pregnant and the jumbled sequences of Abigail's fantasies with Dracula.

Now, the eccentric scenes that creates confusion. The fantasies of both Abigail and Dracula are merged among the lesbian sex scenes. These erotic dream-like sequences make you ponder on which is a fantasy and which is really happening. The scene where Dracula drinks blood from a baby's bottle is surely intended to be funny; but with the serious, albeit confusing, script, this intentionally funny scene seems to be out of place. The most eccentric scene yet is when Mina discovers her husband is really woman. All these scenes create a lot of confusion and you end up not caring where the film is going to go next. I believe the film was intended to be that way, but it certainly fails to hold your interest.

As I've said: Misty Mundae puts in a crazy performance. But unlike other Misty Mundae flicks, the sole reason to purchase this DVD isn't because it stars the gorgeous Misty Mundae, but because of the superb performance by the highly attractive, Andrea Davis. She alone is the star of this film. Personally, I would like to see her to get a starring role in a future Seduction Cinema release. The older Shelly Jones as Abigail Van Helsing is downright sexy with her deeper and coarse female voice. Her body isn't that bad either. Shelly Jones, prior to Lust for Dracula, starred in a few hardcore adult films. She played more of a soft core role in Lust for Dracula, but I just wish there were more scenes with her with her bra off. Casey Jones is also Shelly's real life sister. Casey Jones' performance as a vulnerable teenager being deceived into believing she's a vampire is brilliant. It was this sub-plot that I understood the most. Darian Caine's performance isn't her greatest as her performance is rather mute.

The extras on the DVD are quite impressive. You get six Shock-O-Rama trailers, eleven seduction Cinema trailers and eight Retro-Seduction Cinema trailers. All are highly entraining and I discovered many gems I need to purchase after watching the trailers from the Retro-Seduction Cinema vault. You get an interesting six minute interview with Misty Mundae where even she herself mentions of the confusing plot, especially the constant scenes of characters taking pills which aren't properly explained. You also get an entertaining six minutes of behind the scenes. The commentary by the Director (Anthony Mersiglia) and the Producer (Michael Raso) is average at best.

Finally, the DVD contains a short film called Insex, written and directed by Tim Friend. This is a peculiar short film and is just as confusing as Lust for Dracula. A man who works in an office forgets that it is his birthday. A fellow work colleague gives him a red knitted jumper as a birthday present. He thanks her and walks home after declining her offers to take him out and celebrate. While he walks home, he notices an exotic looking woman with the eyes of an animal in the dark. Her illuminating skin makes her presence discernible in the dead of night. A few days later, he awakes from his sleep and feels the urge to look out his bedroom window. Once again, he sees the illuminating woman looking at him with a cluster of butterflies circling her. He goes outside to investigate, only to discover that she has vanished. However, he discovers a circle of dead butterflies around the area she was sighted. He then takes a dead butterfly back to his apartment and begins to unravel the red jumper he was given on his birthday, proceeding to create a spider-like web around his room with the fabric. The butterfly woman returns and ties him up with the fabric, wrapping him into a cocoon of fabric and her own juices. The butterfly woman then pulls him beneath the cocoon and eats him. There is no gore, blood or violence. A very strange film that lasts 13 minutes. Insex is provided with two minutes worth of behind the scenes.

The picture quality of both Lust for Dracula and Insex is crystal clear, as is the audio. The DVD is Region 1 encoded.

I have seen better Seduction Cinema releases. If you can figure out the plot and unravel the ultra-odd ending of Lust for Dracula then I congratulate you on doing something that I couldn't have done. If Lust for Dracula didn't contain the dream-like images that caused the bewilderment I went through then it would have been much easier to understand. But whilst the plot and script may not have been up to scratch, the sex scenes are brilliant and should provide you with enough entertainment to make up for the confusing story.

Happy Nightmares!

Reviewed by Pryce