This is New York Vampire……..wait…….no this is Undying Love! Apparently the director couldn’t decide, or perhaps he was drunk and or high because that would also explain the quality of the film.
This vampire movie is immensely 1990’s, the only way it physically could have been more 90’s is if everyone had the Flock Of Seagulls hairdo and travelled around each scene on a space hopper.
I had a space hopper once, I called him Mr Hoppy and was emotionally traumatized when I saw it with exactly the same name on the television show Monkey Dust (2003) as that particular Mr Hoppy is a psychotic and convinced it’s owner to do horrible horrible things! Thankfully mine didn’t, all the murders I committed were due to my slinky. His name was Mr Springy and he liked it when I burnt things and I don’t mean toast! Anyway I digress, back with the New York Vampire……*ahem*….Undying Love we have a generic vampire story but the vampires in question don’t follow any of your standard vampire rules, in fact they don’t even have fangs…..in fact they can be killed in anyway alike a human. Wait were they even vampires? Was this movie really about a bunch of pasty emo’s? Bottom line is if I had to choose between Hollywood Vampire & Twilight I’d triple backflip off the Brooklyn bridge while singing no no, no no no no, no no no no, no no there’s no limit. Also very 90’s and amazingly wasn’t in this movie. If they all sang that on their space hoppers while grooming their flock of seagulls hairdos this might have actually been entertaining! We can only dream of what that movie would have looked like!
A Thoroughly Enjoyable Low-Budget Take on Vampires
A young man (Tommy Sweeney) tries and fails to kill himself. Feeling alienated from his friends, he falls for a seductive model, who welcomes him into her fold. But for better or worse, that fold happens to be an underground lair of vampires. Now, the prospect of death is slim and eternal life is available at his fingertips… or teeth!
Of Greg Lamberson’s three low-budget films (with “Slime City” and “Naked Fear”), I find “Undying Love” to be his strongest piece. Sweeney is a solid actor, and the directing is tight… along with a real development of characters we don’t often see in no-frills cinema. The film is gritty, dark, and the grainy picture adds rather than takes away from the mood. There is a definite influence from George A. Romero’s “Martin”, and from the opening scene — a razor blade suicide — you’ll be left uneasy.
Some vampire films are able to pull off the non-traditional approach and others aren’t. This one, luckily, can and does. Despite the vampires facing sunlight, other classic obstacles and having no distinct fangs, this movie works. In some ways, it works better, because it seems almost plausible.
I really enjoyed this film, and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of vampire films or low-budget cinema (especially if you like seeing the same apartment reused for different scenes). Thanks to Alternative Cinema, you can now get this film on DVD with audio commentary, other features and Lamberson’s other projects in one collection.
