Director – Donald Farmer (Shark Exorcist, Demon Queen)
Starring – Ed Cannon, Melissa Moore (Repossessed, Evil Spawn), Mal Arnold (Blood Feast, Scum of the Earth)
Release Date – 1990
Rating – 2.5/5
After watching the exploitation comedy Gay for Pray: The Erotic Adventures of Jesus Christ I wanted to set my sights on horror to get more in the October spirits. I want to stay away from Halloween centered films so I wouldn’t make myself sick of Halloween films like I typically do every year.
Not long ago SRS Cinema and MVD released the 1990 Donald Farmer flick Vampire Cop. Donald Farmer is one I had heard about for sometime but I haven’t check out much of his work with the exception of the Wild Eye release of Shark Exorcist. I was looking forward to checking out some early 90s vampire carnage!
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows officer Lucas (Cannon) who works the night shift for the local police department. After his partner is killed during a drug bust he sets out to bring the drug lord responsible down which means teaming with a smoking hot reporter.**Spoiler Alert**
Honestly, Vampire Cop was not the film I was expecting. When I first heard of Vampire Cop I was expecting a cop that killed and fed on evil doers like a horror based superhero. Instead, the film is more like a crime drama centered around a vampire.
The acting in this one is fun for the most part but there was definite room for improvement. The cast went through their dialogue and was mildly entertaining but they failed to deliver any emotion. People are dying and their characters don’t seem to care. The acting just feels very dry even for a S.O.V. horror flick.
The story for this one is not as horror oriented as I would have liked. Instead, it was more like a supernatural crime drama centered around a cop with a vendetta against a drug lord. The film does a solid job at character development but struggles desperately with the pacing. Some of the scenes are so painful to watch. The timing is so wrong and tries the viewer’s patience. I have to assume that this one was butchered in the editing room.
Finally, for a vampire film the movie lacks blood. We get the cop with the fangs clamping down on his victims but we are not given blood that we want to see. A few drops here and there but nothing to write home about. Overall, Vampire Cop is a literal title that is a little misleading. The film is about a cop that is a vampire but the film is not really a horror flick. Even as a crime drama it is very underwhelming. This isn’t one for me.
