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Vampire Strangler 2-DVD Collector's Edition

Other // Unrated // February 5, 2008
List Price: $39.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]

Review by Ian Jane | posted March 5, 2008 | E-mail the Author
The Movie:

After a viewing of the notorious Misty Mundae film, Vampire Strangler, it's not hard to see why it's touted on the packaging as 'the movie Misty Mundae doesn't want you to see!' While the lengths she goes to in this film have likely got something to do with it, the fact of the matter is that this is a low rent film shot on a camcorder for about the cost of a VHS tape. Oh, and it's essentially porno, and not very good porno either.

The film begins on day one with Misty in the bathtub. Her relaxing interlude is interrupted by a dude in a long black cape who makes her suck his fingers before strangling her. From there we see Misty wake up, she's visiting her cousin, and it's now day two. We watch some grainy European travelogue/porno footage projected onto her wall. The projector disappears and the same caped figure shows up and strangles her again. She talks to her cousin (William Hellfire) on the phone and meets him outside, the two goof around and she rollerskates for a bit. They head indoors and strip down and start to have sex. From there, we cut to the two of them fully clothed and playing guitar in the same room. They start to fool around and another girl watches them. Cut to day three and we see Misty and Hellfire going at it again.

SPOILERS:

They finish up and we cut to day four, the footage is grainy and dark. Someone with a Satanic symbol on his chest walks in holding one of those tiki torches you buy for you garden at Home Depot and wearing a skull mask. He and Hellfire hang out, while Misty sits in the next room without a top on. She plays with herself while the masked guy dances around outside. A vampire shows up in the bathroom, it's Hellfire, he wanders in on Misty and he bites her as they have sex. The end.

END OF SPOILERS.

While Misty's legions of fans will no doubt jump for joy that her one and only hardcore performance is back in print on DVD, that doesn't mean that Vampire Strangler is good, or even interesting. Yes, Misty does give a rather scraggy looking William Hellfire oral sex in plain view of the camera (the two were a real life couple at the time) and there is some fairly explicit petting in a few scenes, anyone expecting the full meal deal may be left hungry. Making matters worse is the fact that there is pretty much no plot at all, meaning we're left with a poorly made and unerotic smut film that isn't entertaining on any level whatsoever (well, you do have to laugh at the guy in the mask at the end of the film, but aside from that...). This film is dumb, poorly made, and completely uninspired.

The DVD

Video:

Vampire Strangler was shot on a consumer grade camcorder and it shows. The fullframe transfer, which was taken from the master tape, suffers from softness and fuzziness throughout and the colors look a little faded. Presented in its original 1.33.1 fullframe aspect ratio, the disc is reasonably well authored in that although it isn't flagged for progressive scan, at least there aren't any compression artifacts or edge enhancement problems to complain about. In all fairness to After Hours Cinema, the movie probably looks as good here as it realistically can - just go into this one knowing that it looks like a home movie.

Sound:

The English Dolby Digital 2.0 mix sounds about as good as the movie looks. There's a bit of hiss here and there and the levels bounce around a little bit. Don't expect optional subtitles of any kind, you're not going to find any. That said, there isn't a whole lot of dialogue here any way and what is here is perfectly understandable, it just doesn't sound very good.

Extras:

Extras on the first disc are limited to some animated menus and trailers for a few other E.I. releases: The Erotic Diary Of Misty Mundae, Flesh For Olivia, Chantal, Darian Caine Exposed, Sexual Delerium (their typo, not mine!), Vampire Strangler, and E.I.'s upcoming releases of Sexual Freedom In Denmark, Sexual Liberty Now, The Starlets, and The Starlets 2: Chastity.

Disc two includes the Vampire Strangler Lost Opening (15:15), an amateurish bit where some teenagers sit around in a paneled basement/rec room and fool around on a grubby mattress after gawking at the corpse of a staked vampire. It's pretty graphic, hardcore material with some hokey gore effects. This goes on for quite some time before cutting to a topless Misty on the phone.

From there we get the first of three short films, My Property (9:00) from 1998. Misty walks into a hotel room and gives a handjob to a sleeping guy. They have poorly simulated sex with their underwear on, and she smothers him to death, suffocating him with a pillow. Once he's dead, she continues to fondle him and then gives him a fake hummer. She then gets dressed and leaves.

The second short, Vibrating Maid (25:39) from 2001 begins with Misty sitting around in her lingerie reading erotic fiction. She gets turned on and goes to find Lilly Tiger, who is pleasuring herself in the closet with a vibrator wearing a French Maid's outfit. After a brief conversation they head to the bedroom and watch one another masturbate before Lilly uses her toy on Misty. We then cut back to Lilly all by herself on the bed before the end credits role. Was this simulated romp real or just a figment of her imagination?

The third and final short, My Date With Misty (18:54) from 2002 starts with Misty and her boyfriend holding hands while walking through a field. They head home, drink some wine and exchange gifts and then they get busy on the couch. The next day they eat pizza and fool around some more, and then after that they have phone sex. The end.

But wait, that's not all! Also included on the second disc are isolated sex scenes from Vampire Strangler in addition to a deleted scene entitled Incest Or Something (1:55). The scene adds nothing to the plot, nor does it contain any naked Misty bits.

Disc Two also contains trailers for other Factory 2000 releases -Nude Strangler, Infamous Bondage Murders, Infamous Bondage Murders 2, Snuff Perversions, Shock 2000, and Duck! The Colombine High Massacre.

Inside the keepcase (which features some alternate cover art from that scene on the slipcase) are some liner notes, illustrated with still photos, that detail the strange history of the film, it's various releases, and which give some background on the Factory 2000 features.

Final Thoughts:

This expensive two-disc set obviously caters to the Misty Mundae collectors out there. The woman has her fans and those who bow at her alter might find some value here, simply because she does dirty things on camera. E.I. has included some extras that add a bit of value but unless you're a hardcore Misty-phile, you can safely steer clear of Vampire Strangler. Skip it.

Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.

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