Director – Nick Millard (Death Nurse, Doctor Bloodbath)
Starring – Frances Millard (.357 Magnum, Granny Takes a Tinkle), Maximillian Grabinger, and April Leigh
Release Date – 1999
Rating – 2/5
The agreement between Slasher//Video and Olive Films has resulted in several shot on video gems finding their way to proper releases. Films like Death Nurse, Death Nurse II, Mankiller, Killer Workout, Cemetery Sisters, and Shock Em Dead are now out on blu and DVD thanks to this. Sadly, there is a few turds out now on blu that the world just didn’t really need.
Many, many months ago I was sent the DVD release of Dracula in Vegas from Olive Film’s sub label Martini. I had sit on this one for sometime now because it honestly looked like a huge waste of time. I did enjoy director Nick Millard’s other films but this one just looked like it was scraping the bottom of the barrel. The artwork was cool but the fact that I couldn’t find a trailer for the release only furthered my suspicion that this one was a turd.
**Spoiler Alert**The film follows vampire Max who decided to attend college in Vegas. His father wants him to explore the immoral women that Vegas is known for but his mother is concerned he will land a woman with AIDS. He finds several women to feed on but soon finds a woman that he falls in love with even though his mother does not approve. She visits him away at college which forces him to be extra cautious with her. To make matters worse he keeps seeing a man that look like him warning him to never fall in love with a human because they distract him from feeding. This makes him easy prey for vampire hunters. **Spoiler Alert**
I’ve reviewed several of Millard’s flicks so I know not to expect the most well polished flick. I was not expecting Millard to release a film that looked this bad considering he had made dozens of films by this point in his career. This was a rough one to sit through and I couldn’t imagine someone that had made Death Nurse could waste his time with something like this.
The acting in this one is rough. I’ve spent most of my reviewing career checking out no budget flicks and this is one of the worst acted ones yet. The cast makes no attempt at establishing a character. They just awkwardly say their lines and move on to the next scene. This may be a result of no direction as well.
The story for this one is interesting but approached in the wrong manner. We have a teenager going to Vegas to hunt women but falls in love. Could be funny except the teenager looks underage and can’t go into the fun spots like strip clubs and escort ranches. This really took what could be a sleazy story and turned it into something boring that moves at a snails pace. It is so slow that I actually fell asleep watching it. I can’t remember the last time that happened.
Finally, the film has the death scenes you would expect from a vampire flick. We get the neck bites with an abundance of blood with no look at the wound. The kills are easily forgettable but they do fit the story. Overall, Dracula in Vegas is a waste of time. The film has a story that could be something sleazy but went the safe route creating something that is a chore to finish. Skip this release.
