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In the tradition
of Poison
Ivy, Alyssa Milano plays Charlotte, a sensuous but innocent
college freshman who is being seduced by an obsessive lover,
a lover who comes to her only in dreams. Problem is, this
guy really sucks. He's a vampire. Get it? He sucks? (Editor:
Ho, har, stop! You're "killing" me...get it? GET
IT!?) But seriously, folks, there are a couple of great
reasons to check out Embrace of the Vampire, and those reasons
are exposed in chapters 5, 6, 11 and 13. Those are the scenes
that you probably want to know about and we'll just skip all
the hoohaa to get right to them. Be warned though, the widescreen
version might not be the best option for really studying those
scenes for film class.
Oh yeah,
I almost forgot, there's a story. While asleep in her dreams,
Charlotte receives visits from a vampire looking for the love
he lost centuries ago. As he begins to invade her psyche more
and more, Charlotte's behavior and appearance start to change,
causing her friends and boyfriend to take notice. Is she becoming
the dark prince's devoted love slave, or is she just really
tired? Is Embrace of the Vampire really a good movie? That'll
depend on your definition of a "good." If you define
it as lots of gratuitous nudity, than yeah, it's a winner.
If you're looking for an effective horror film, run away.
Run far away.
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
New Line
has provided Embrace Of The Vampire, a straight-to-video film,
the same high-quality attention that they also give their
biggest hits. Viewing is available in either a full-frame
version or a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer that mattes
the top and bottom of the picture. Colors are strong but natural
with no bleeding, even in the literal bleedings and the reds
that so often can wreck havoc. Black level comes up just a
hair short which leaves shadow detail minutely muddled. A
small amount of compression pixelation and shimmer as well
as some film grain are visible from time to time, but they're
hardly objectionable.
Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?
The new
Dolby Digital 5.1 remix mainly expands the front soundstage
and adds detail to the surround channels over the 2 channel
version, which is also included. The surrounds are used subtly
to back up the onscreen action while the 2 channel provides
a more consistent presence but at a loss of dynamics. Dialog
is clean and devoid of any audible problems with good intelligibility.
The sub gets a few good kicks but never reaches down all that
low. Overall this is a good soundtrack, though a bit more
creativity could have been exercised. Somehow I don't think
people will necessarily be that concerned with the sound on
the disc though.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There? The biggest
highlight of the disc is that four viewing options have been
included: full-frame and widescreen R-rated and full-frame
and widescreen unrated. This is done via seamless branching
and I must say after going back to compare, it's flawless.
But exactly who watches the R-rated Embrace of the Vampire
that would be put off by them going the extra distance in
the unrated? I know little Tommy's only 9 but I think if he
can handle the R he's not going to be that much more corrupted
by the unrated. Cast and crew filmographies are the only literal
supplement though. Remember, this was straight to video. It
does have full color character artwork on disc, although for
some reason New Line hasn't highlighted that. (Editor:
Are you being sarcastic, Cliff?)
Parting Thoughts
The funny
thing is that my review is going to have absolutely no influence
on whether or not you buy Embrace of the Vampire. If you're
a fan of Alyssa Milano and her "body" of work, you
probably already had this on your list. If, by some stretch
of the imagination, you've been teetering on this release
based solely on the quality of the disc (yeah, right!) make
the plunge, it's worth it...
(For
more Alyssa Milano erotica, check out our review of Poison
Ivy 2: Lily.)
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