Female vampires once ruled the world. Now they are overlooked for glittering guys with big hair. It's time to point out why the female of the species should be the center of attention.
The Gist: Based on the movie of the same title the series much in the same light as the show "The Office" follows a first person documentary/ reality tv format. In it a film crew documents the everyday lives of a group of four vampires living together in Staten Island with them talking to the crew about the everyday happenings in their lives. Three of the tenants are old world vampires while the fourth is an energy vampire who feeds by sucking the energy out of rooms through boring stories and ruining fun. The three blood drinking vampires try to avoid him as much as possible.
Female Vampire Factor:
The female of the house is Nadja (Natasia Demetriou)
As the series goes on Nadja sees and eventually turns a nerdy college girl named Jenna who becomes her fledgling.
Jenna even after becoming a vampire struggles socially. Eventually we find out while Nadja is teaching her to seduce and feed that she has the vampire ability to become invisible.
Season 1 of the series includes several cameo's from famous actors and actresses playing vampires. The first of which is former SNL actress Vanessa Bayer who plays an emotion vampire name Evie in the episode "Werewolf Feud"
An emotional vampire is someone who feeds off of sympathy from others. She ends up working in the same office as the energy vampire Colin Robinson. They start out in competition feeding off of their co-workers by making them miserable (him with his long boring stories and her announcing a new crisis in her life every day to the office) but eventually join forces and even develop a short lived romance.
Season 1: Episode 7 "The Trial" includes a ton of vampire cameos.
In this episode one of the head vampires comes to stay with the clan in their long island home. Eventually they teach him to ditch his old ways and he starts to enjoy life in the modern new world. Eventually he gets too comfortable even being up during daylight hours when the vampires familiar opens the door to the home at the wrong time exposing him to daylight instantly killing him. This leads to the roommates being put on trial by an all star vampire counsel. The one who leads them to the trial is played by a vamped out Kristin Schaal.
The council of vampires is pretty much a who's who of people who have played vampires in film and television. This includes the three original stars of the film adaptation as well as Danny Trejo (From Dusk Till Dawn), Paul Ruebens (Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie) & Wesley Snipes (Blade) (Dave Bautista also make a cameo in this episode as a vampire inmate waiting for his trial). As far as the females of the counsel we have Evan Rachel Wood (True Blood).
The running gag in this case not being that they're playing their characters from their films but instead that they weren't acting in their movies and the actors themselves are vampires as they are all playing themselves.
The Gist: A college student recruits his friend and a college professor to follow two girls to Vegas in order to save them from a brood of vampires who run an adult website.
Clarification: The concept gets an A+. The execution gets an F--- (yep that's three minuses this one is pretty bad). So from what I understand this was a web series that was then re-released as a full film. Problem is the story goes all over the place. In order to pull this off the film needs to be re-edited to tell one story instead of the several stories split up by episode that you get in a web series.
Biggest Complaint: The bulk of this film revolves around a search for a peeping tom. This storyline does get resolved by the end. Problem is it has no bearing on the films advertised main plot. This happens quite a bit with subplots that get introduced that in the end never relate to the main plot of the film and are just time filler making almost the whole film filler. That results is basically you being told in scenes about the vampire story while the less interesting stuff plays out on screen. It also doesn't help that none of the characters in the film are likable at all. Basically 3 out of the four main protagonists are in a battle for who can be more obnoxious.
Female Vampire Factor: So we start with the concept that the vampires are killing guys who just watch their website by appearing behind them and biting them. That makes this seem like it's going to be a horror in the style of The Ring. Don't get used to this as it never happens again.
From there the plot completely dumps the "vampires attacking perverts in their home while they're distracted" (much better) plot for the concept that they are only a threat to the people they are molesting and biting on their website. They're only killing men it should be noted. It's later revealed that men can't be turned so basically men are food and women are recruits.
There's also a sub plot about a female vampire who is standing against the others.
This plot is the only time the female vamps get any real screen time and it only amounts to two scenes so this plot does not get resolved whatsoever in this film and goes against the last two attempted plots of they only attack perves who log onto their site or people on videos through their website. This is too bad as it had potential.
So in the end we just have an un-finished web series merged into a hard to follow film with no payoff. I give it a Vampire Beauty Rating of 2 out of 5. This is one hour of movie in which only 8 minutes actually has vampire or anything related to them in it with the rest being a very poor attempt at raunchy comedy. This one is a miss.
The Gist: A human federal agent enters a world of supernatural crime as he's informed that vampires are real and is given a vampire partner to help solve crimes that are believed to be committed by vampires.
Clarification: Basically a crime drama. Vampires have outed themselves to human authorities and are living as a sub race among them. Problem is there is a group of vampires who don't like the idea of living among humans and they have concocted a plan with the goal of eventually eliminating humans altogether.
Meanwhile a cop named Steven Grant must wrap his head around the fact that not only are vampires real but separating the negative stigma of them being a threat from the reality that some of them are good people. Basically this is a film about race relations with vampires playing the part of minorities.
Female Vampire Factor: While there are some background vamps in the film there is only one female vamp main character and that is Lucy Westenra(Bai Ling).
This isn't much of a vampire movie as much as it is a crime drama featuring vampires. The one positive is that her fangs are always out. Lucy starts out as a suspect in the case but ends up becoming more of a middle man informant who helps the detectives get to the right people they need talk to. Eventually her and Steven get very close to the point that his feelings for her helps him warm up to the idea of vampires as a group not being a threat.
I give the film a Vampire Beauty Rating of 2 out of 5. The movie is great and very entertaining on it's own just don't go into it looking for a horror film or any neck biting whatsoever.
The Gist: A group of friends invite a mysterious trio of girls to a party not knowing that they are a group of vampires passing through town.
Clarification: Originally a youtube web series, once finished it was re-released as a full length film. In it three vampires come to a town to get away from presumably hunters. After attending a party thrown by some of the local guys one of the vampires Ranai who is very innocent and childlike falls for a sad lonely guy resulting in a conflict in which she has to choose between her human love interest and her vampire sisters who are killing his friends.
Biggest Complaint: Low film quality. Much of the film is barely visible as there is little to no lighting in outdoor night scenes or scenes in large rooms in which the only light they use is regular house lamps which happens when it comes to videos like this filmed on older digital camcorders.
Female Vampire Factor: First we have Renai, the cute innocent vamp who spends the whole film/series like a love sick puppy and seems to still have human emotion.
Then you have Lenore. The girl who turned Renai and treats her very much like a little sister. She's the voice of reason in most situations between the girls though still a bloodthirsty vampire.
Finally you have the leader Svetlana. She's a cold blooded killer and only sees humans as food. She does not approve of the relationship between Renai and the human Ben.
There was also a girl named Lex who was recruited to help hunt the vampires who nearly turned but nothing came of it. Also Bens best friend Rachel gets turned toward the end but again, don't really get to see much of her as a vampire (which means every female in the film is a vampire at some point). I give the film a Vampire Beauty Rating of 3 out of 5. If this wasn't such a low budget amateur production the story is actually a very good and well written one to the point that it would be an easy 5 out of 5 with better production. It's a shame that this film is much better written than a lot of the movies I've seen that have way bigger budgets used to produce complete garbage. I would absolutely love to see Sonny Fernandez attempt to get some type of financial backing to redo this film.
The Gist: After being bitten by a snake a woman transforms into a blood sucking vampire.
Clarification: I had to go to the IMDB plot summery for that. This is a very artsy film full of camera tricks, screen filters and nothing plot wise is actually spelled out. Basically a woman is doing a video diary the whole movie explaining what's going on with her which is followed by scenes of her doing stuff with no dialogue or explanation till her next days diary and even then it's not very clear what's happening. Basically an over thought out music video or late 90's playboy strip tease video would be the best comparison I can make.
Selling Point: Generally the "Doing stuff" portion is either in lingerie, sexy club wear or nothing at all.
Female Vampire Factor: Your vampire in this film is played by British actress Melanie Denholme
So if you're going to watch a confusing film where the lead actress spends much of it in sexy clothes you can do much worse. Not much else I can add to this that wasn't said above as the film really doesn't have much substance to it. In the film she is either talking into a camera or in artistically edited scenes where she's doing things like taking a bath, walking around her home, getting dressed or undressed and by the movies end feeding on people she's seduced into her home (an assumption based on the clothing as very little of this film takes place outside of her home so you only see the feeding and nothing that leads to it).
Speaking of the feeding, she does have fangs but as seen on the box art they are the piranha style and not your traditional vampire fangs.
This is one point where the artsy style of the film does help as the weird vision and filters do make them sexier than they otherwise would be.
In the end I would say it's better than other British indy horror movies that are like this since they attempt a sexy horror movie without trying to over-saturate it with side plot like many of the others of this genre do.
but considering how bad some of those were that's not saying much. I give the film a Vampire Beauty Rating of 3 out of 5.
Forever Knight was a Canadian television series which aired for 3 seasons from 1992 to 1996. The show followed the life of Detective Nick Knight who is a vampire who is attempting to make up for things done in his past by working for the police. While most episodes just revolved around him solving cases but many include flashbacks to when he embraced the vampire lifestyle. Something he regrets.
Many have tried to recapture the popularity of the show including series like Moonlight and Blood Ties but none have come close as neither completed a full season. The show is originally based on a 1989 CBS made for TV Movie called "Nick Night" starring 80's rocker and soap alumnus Rick Springfield.
Vampiress Cast
Deborah Duchene (Janette Ducharme)
From day one Janette was a major factor in the show in that she was pretty much the main female vampire in the episode. The best thing about her was that she had absolutely no self control whatsoever regarding her blood lust and it often took Nick himself to get her to calm herself and not feed on the first person to look at her wrong. Originally a prostitute who was turned by Lucian LaCroix after she had been beaten by her pimp she always felt being a vampire was a sign of strength and often related to humans in similar situations that she was in. Unfortunately she left the show after the second season and the next time she would be seen was in the Season 3 episode "The Human Factor", no longer a vampire.
Christine Reeves (Alyce Hunter: Season 1, Episodes 2 "Dark Night: The Second Chapter")
Alyce was an Archeologist in the shows first official episode. In the episode a museum guard is killed and an artifact is stolen and Nick is put on the case to find out who did it. She ends up becoming a target for the killer who follows her to Nicks apartment where she is eventually turned by Lucien after she offers her blood to Nick who refuses to take it. The last you see of her is her vamping out from a window at the museum spying on Nick.
Tracey Cook (Alma: Season 1, Episode 3 "For I Have Sinned")
Alma was a frequent patron of "The Raven" (a bar owned by Janette). In this episode Nick brings his partner Detective Schanke to the Raven while he speaks with Janette. During this time frame Schanke decides to get to know Alma a little better which Nick advises him against. Thinking with something other then his brain he goes back and is almost bitten before Janette stops Alma at the last second and makes sure that Schanke never comes back.
Torri Higginson (Erica: Season 1, Episode 4 "Last Act")
Erica was a friend on Nicks from the old days. When he covers a case about a questionable suicide, he is reminded of her who herself committed suicide via sitting in the sun. Throughout the episode is flashbacks of their time together as well as her mindset that led to her depression and her eventual demise.
Denise McLeod (Elizabeth: Season 1, Episode 9 "I Will Repay")
Similar to Janette, Elizabeth was a women with issues when she was turned. In her case she had a bad skin disease and was treated pretty badly including being beaten buy some street thugs with her attackers attempting to rape her. Nick feeling bad for her turned her just to watch her become pretty evil and vindictive (can't understand why that was a surprise but whatever) as she goes for revenge on the men who attacked her. Unfortunately She meets her demise as Nick burns her to death.
Jennifer Dale (Sophia Jurgen: Season 1, Episode 19 "If Looks Could Kill")
Sophia was a Baroness who in modern day was posing as a doctor who had a flawless treatment for aging. She herself had a Elizabeth Bathory type obsession with not aging which lead her to being turned in the first place and was using her blood to keep women young. What lead Nick to her was that many of her patience were deteriorating and dying from the treatment (or so they thought). In a Sherlock Holmes style twist it was found out that the women were not deteriorating but in fact reverting to their actual ages when going too long without the treatment.
Cynthia Belliveau (Alexandra: Season 1, Episode 20 "Fatal Mistake")
Alexandra was a bar wench that Nick fed on during his early days as a vampire. He thought he had killed her but LaCroix unknowing to Nick came behind and turned her. She then plotted her revenge for attempting to kill her and eventually confronts him (after initially pretending to be her own ghost to guilt Nick) and the two fight which ends with a wooden rod through her heart.
Kimberly Huie (Bridget Hellman: Season 2, Episode 4 "Bad Blood")
Hellman was a police detective caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time when she meets Jack the Ripper who happens to be a vampire. Not understanding what to do against a supernatural being she is pretty much an easy snack for the vamp. She eventually rises from her grave a vampire herself but it's short lived as Interpol detective/vampire slayer Liam O'neal was waiting with a crossbow.
Joanna Bacalso (Angel: Season 3, Episode 2 "Black Buddha: Part 2")
The vamp who turned Vachon (one of the shows main characters at this point). She appears in a flashback during this episode showing her turning Vachon and "The Inca" before giving them final orders and killing herself. (Side Note: Bacalso made her first appearance on the show as "Briana" the vampire bartender in the episode "A More Permanent Hell".
Denise Virieux (Serena: Season 2, Episode 24 "Baby, Baby")
The only thing worse than a female who is only using a guy to get pregnant is a vampire female only using a guy to get pregnant and that's exactly what Serena was. Serena when she was a mortal connected with Nick because of his cocky carefree attitude and often and wanted him to be her "baby daddy". He (as usual) thought that she wanted to be a vampire (to be honest she wasn't very clear) and that's what he did. So because a Nick a female vampire who only slept with mortal men then killed them if she didn't get pregnant was unleashed on the world.
Diana Zimmer (Jody Fraser: Season 3, Episode 5 "Blind Faith")
A former helicopter pilot stricken with MS Jody was part of one of the weirder plot lines of the show. It literally revolved around her seeing eye dog becoming a vampire but still staying loyal to her though she was a mortal and protecting her. Eventually the dog turns Jody and the two live happily ever after together.
Krista Bridges (Jacqueline: Season 3, Episode 7 "Hearts of Darkness")
One of the better episodes (probably the best female vamp episode of the series) Jacquelines real name was Ellen Simmons. One day Ellen finds herself with a dead guy drained of all his blood and doesn't know how she got there. Most of the episode goes back and worth on whether she is a witness or the primary suspect but the answer ends up being that she's both. You see Ellen is a Skitzo with 3 different personalities. Personality #2 is a dominatrix named Monica (who sets the victims up through promises of kinky sex) well personality #3 is a blood thirsty vampire named Jaqueline. Jaqueline is the only one of the 3 personalities who knows the other ones exist and seems to have full control on when she shows up. When Ellen is told about the situation she isn't able to take it and jumps off the roof of a penthouse to her death.
When Nick is put on the case of the murder of a video game designer Rita is the guys partner. He finds that they were in development of a vampire based virtual reality game where you act as a vampire. Nick in thinking that the designer had put clues as to who was out to get him in the game plays the game but has a hard time as killing people in virtual reality brings back urges for him to do it in real life. Anyway the important part here is that in the game a vampire version of Rita is the one talking you through the levels.
Maria Syrgiannis (Francesca: Season 3, Episode 20 "Francesca")
A vamp turned by LaCroix Francesca was one of Nicks flings back in the 1700's. It was all fun and games till she tried to share a meal with him and he realized she was murdering people to provide it. Nick eventually kills her to save the rest who were held in a dungeon but she comes back in modern times in the body of a mortal named Frank who goes on a similar killing spree.
Kristin Lehman (Urs)
Pretty much the replacement tortured sole vampire chick of the series once Janette took off. Though their backgrounds were very similar their idea's as far as vampire lifestyle were completely different. Urs (Ursala) was all about helping people and was very positive and trusting whereas Jannette was a blood thirsty monster who's past experience with men made her very angry. Urs eventually met her demise at the hands of you Divia (below).
Kathryn Long (Divia)
Divia is the daughter of LaCroix and also his maker which isn't even the strangest thing about their relationship. As the rule I've mentioned many times in these blogs says, the younger the vampire the more evil she is and that especially is meant for Divia. Not only did Divia kill her own maker (because she didn't want to belong to anyone) but she wanted to have her father in EVERY WAY POSSIBLE (pretty nasty eh). LaCroix felt the same way and trapped her in a tomb. When she was resurrected in modern times she didn't get over it that much and proceeded to find LaCroix and kill almost every vamp associated with him before Nick finally took her out.
