Popular reviews

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  Review by Scumbalina ★★★★ 2

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  Caligari's Casket, Burden of Dreams

  I've seen a lot of softcore vampire movies, my expectations are always set appropriately low. The cover reminded me of an Alternative Cinema release, maybe starring Tina Krause or Julie Strain. But what we get is something more like an elevated Addicted to Murder, better even. With broad German Expressionist brush strokes, a very 80's lighting scheme. A very specific New York No Wave flavor imo, almost transgressive. Supported by the inclusion of Henry Rollins and a post-punk/death rock soundtrack. It would fit nicely in a double bill with Charles Pinion's "We Await". I'm here for it. Deserves a proper restoration and re-release.

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  Review by LordSlaw ★★★ 2

  Jugular Wine gives off arthouse vibes and, at the same time, student-film vibes. It's not fully coherent yet not fully incomprehensible. It is intriguing and curious with some compelling images. Grainy and lo-fi.

  A grad student working on his thesis encounters, on a ship in the Bering sea, a beautiful vampire woman in a white fur coat. She bites him, then is attacked by vampiro supremo Legion. The student uses a flare gun to shoot a different woman. Then he wakes up at his home in Philadelphia, unsure as to how he got there.

  He feels odd; something weird is happening to him. Determined to find out just what is going on, he travels from Philadelphia to New Orleans to…

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  Review by #1 Bratz Fan ★★★

  Weird indie vampire movie that Henry Rollins, Frank Miller, and Stan Lee show up in for some reason. It turns out if you give Stan Lee more than a line of dialogue or just a quick appearance, he’ll over-act like crazy and be pretty funny. The movie was ok, and had some decent ideas, but Lee was kinda the highlight.

  Chainsawktober Film #40

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  Review by mads ★★★★

  Ambitious if uneven, a scattershot smattering of psychedelic vampire tropes. Scored with a post-punk and grunge sensibility that creates a unique mood unlike anything I've seen. Almost like an early survival horror game. The whole thing has an interesting take on vampire lore, and juggles several distinct settings to tell its story. Naked vampires in white fur coats and one of the earliest vampire night club scenes I can think of, underscored by brooding internal monologue.

  If you're really into vampire movies, there isn't another one there like this. Stan Lee gives an impressive supporting role as an overbearing and irate boss, with Frank Miller as his chuckling underling. And Henry Rollins shows up for one second in a scene that I'm still picking apart. The main cast's performances range from charmingly underdone to excessive melodrama, and I was here for every second of it. Even the parts I zoned out during.

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  Review by vhsfordays ★★★

  Synopsis" Jet setting professor James Grace is on an expedition to Alaska when he comes across the beautiful vampire Alexandria, who shares with him the secrets of vampirism if he'll protect her from the vampire-slaying bloodsucker Legion. He immediately fails and she is slain but before James can be killed he takes a life raft back home to Philly. Now he feels a change occurring in him that he is unsure of so he tries to track down missing but famed occult expert Dr. Park. He is also being stalked by Legion and his vampires who seem to be toying with Jim. When he meets emotionless vampire to be Monica he thinks she may be the key to stopping these…

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  Review by John ★★½

  I saw this once long ago, when I was very young, and remembered completely hating it, finding it confusing and insufferably pretentious. Naturally, when I saw it on sale for 5 bucks a few years back I couldn't resist grabbing it just to perform a reassessment (who's going to trust a 14-year-old?).

  What a bizarre passion project this is. Clearly a lot of time and effort went into it, with location shooting in various cities (Philadelphia, New Orleans, LA, and somewhere in bumfuck Alaska). The script reads like the nightmare conjoined twin to someone's graduate thesis, hopping around all over the place through various half-formulated ideas. There are nightclubs playing footage from NOSFERATU (so easy when it's public domain!); a…

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  Review by John Beauchamp ★

  This was a Hollywood Video rental back in the day. Recently discovered the full thing is on YouTube. 

  Make no mistake, this is a terrible awful movie. But there are moments of novel entertainment. 

  So do I attempt to entice you first? Stan Lee and Frank Miller have acting roles in this and they are amazingly bad and their scenes are kind of amazing because of it. Henry Rollins is in it for like 10 seconds. 

  Buuuuut the movie looks like garbage and the editing is all over the place. You’ll rarely be able to tell what’s going on. 85% of the movie is close up shots. The bad editing however, is on occasion very funny. The movie is also…

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  Review by Midnightspook ★★★

  That was something! If Lovecraft had written a vampire story in the early 90s and that was read outloud to you while you did acid...you would get Jugular Wine. It often feels like you are missing key plot elements, and you almost never understand who the characters are...but it is rarely boring? There is something comforting to my old soul in seeing the style of that decade...makes me feel like a kid in the back of a weird comic book shop discovering bizarre shit that will form me into the freak I am today. This is more of an experience than a sensible film.