Very Scary Productions - "The Temptress" Page - about the independent movie "The Temptress"

An extended production history of The Temptress: note - contains spoilers

The Temptress was my fifth independent movie production and the first one I produced using the (then) relatively new Mini DV (digital video) format. It was originally written as a sequel of sorts to my 1999 short film

3 To Murder. I say sequel of sorts because the script basically took several of the main characters from that film and put them into a larger (full-length) story, while at the same time partially continuing from where the first movie left off. Like many other writers have done I attempted to make this sequel one that could be enjoyed on its own terms both by those who had seen the first movie and also those who hadn’t. In other words it was a stand-alone story with strong ties to its predecessor. The original title on the script for The Temptress was 3 To Murder: Part Two.

Before delving into the story and production of The Temptress I believe it would make sense to first take a closer look at 3 To Murder, which is included as an extra on the The Temptress Special Edition DVD.

The running time on 3 To Murder is approximately 40 minutes, and the short film tells the story of Karen, Rachael and Tina - three young women living in a house on the outskirts of a small town in Upstate New York. (Like many of my other movie productions I set the story in Upstate New York because that’s where I, and Very Scary Productions, reside). The three women each have distinct personalities. Dark-haired Rachael (Eileen McCashion) is the obvious leader of the group and could be described as sharp, practical and serious, while

still exuding an air of mystery. Blonde-haired Tina (Jennifer Lescovich) is outgoing and flirtatious, and has a definite wild streak about her. She wears a bikini while sitting in her backyard and is basically a fun party girl. And finally Karen (Jennifer Birn), who is shorter than her two housemates and has long and wavy dark hark, can best be described as being childlike and cute. In fact she sometimes talks in a rambunctious manner and often carries a teddy bear around with her. Rachael complains at one point that Karen needs to grow up. The women make an interesting group to say the least.

The rather mysterious ladies have the strange habit of sitting out in their backyard late into the evening, and as a result attract the unwanted attention of a gang of criminals who are ransacking houses in the area (hence the title 3 To Murder). They also attract the attention of a young man named Ronnie living nearby (Timothy Jay Hatch), who becomes fascinated by his sexy new neighbors. Ronnie is the one truly good and kindhearted character in the movie, and his only major weakness, if it can be called that, is being inexperienced with the opposite sex (he’s never had a girlfriend). The movie starts out innocently enough with Ronnie being awakened early one morning by the alarm clock set by his rather odd and quirky mother Mrs. Munson (Ellen Williams). She is by far the most comedic character in the movie, in that she takes great pleasure in keeping her son on the straight and narrow by doing such things as waking him up much earlier than he needs to be up, throwing out his girly magazines, and attempting to keep him away from “young hooligans” (as she puts it) like his new friend David. We then meet David (James Carolus), the rather suave and sophisticated leader of the aforementioned criminal gang - a guy who always looks like he has every situation in hand and is cool, calm and collective. After this Ronnie and David have a talk and it is revealed the two have become friends of sort, due in part to a chance meeting in the neighborhood, although Ronnie is unaware of the unlawful activities David is a part of. The next scene highlights the gangs’ exploits and was modeled after the type of shock scenario reminiscent of notorious 70’s and 80’s exploitation movies like I Spit on Your Grave and Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left (sans the nudity in those controversial, violent films). Other members of David’s gang seen here are the psychotic and ruthless Cruze (played by yours truly), and the tough, mostly silent JoJo (Jason Palmer), two characters who have little in the way of redeeming qualities. The gang finishes off a hapless victim (played by Mary Kay Hilko from Shadow Tracker: Vampire Hunter) in this scene, and throughout the rest of the movie running time Ronnie and David scheme to set up a date with the three ladies. They spend quite a lot of time spying on them in the bushes outside the ladies’ yard, with Ronnie being hopeful about finally landing a girlfriend and David and his cohorts expecting a bigger score (so to speak). (In fact, a play on words David uses is saying that the he and the gang will all “get some”, meaning sex and/or stolen items from the ladies’ house). However the conclusion of 3 To Murder presents a twist of events as the ladies reveal a surprise or two of their own and several characters get their comeuppance in a decidedly violent and gruesome manner. I won’t spell out precisely what happens, but let’s just say the movie turns from essentially a crime drama into a horror film ala From Dusk Til Dawn (which probably is spelling it out for those who have seen that Quentin Tarantino flick).

3 To Murder was my third in a series of short films produced along with fellow Upstate New York filmmaker and actor Timothy Jay Hatch. I met Tim in the mid 1990’s after he put out an ad looking for people to work with him on an independent film he was producing along with friend Jason Palmer called The Companions. Although

Tim was basically searching for actors at the time, I had experience shooting video and wound up doing much

of the camera work on that production, along with appearing in the movie. The Companions was a classic medieval-type story about a young hero who rescues a beautiful queen from the clutches of an evil knight. It involved a lot of action, fight scenes and sword fights and was basically a low-budget, shot-on-video movie that was quite a bit of fun to make. Most of the movie was shot outdoors around Tim’s house in a rural Upstate New York area with a lot of land and open spaces surrounding it. Tim starred in the film as did Jason Palmer, and the remainder of the cast was made up of other local actors from Upstate New York. The Companions was one of my early production experiences around the time I graduated from college, and after this movie Tim, Jason Palmer and I continued to collaborate. Tim helped me produce my first directorial short film, a horror-comedy called Night Therapy about a therapist who talks to three patients concerning their experiences with a disembodied head. (Night Therapy is listed on my Acting Credits page).

And while we were producing 3 To Murder, Tim and I were also concurrently producing another short film of mine called The Green-Eyed Monster (also listed on the Acting Credits page), a movie about a girl who is home alone one Halloween night and is contacted by a mysterious, possibly supernatural voice over a dead channel on the radio. Additionally, Tim and Jason Palmer also both starred in my first feature Terror of the Master, a vampire movie I produced in the summer of 1996. So I was very fortunate to have had a lot going on during the mid to late 1990’s, thanks in no small part to the fact that I knew enthusiastic, hardworking, talented people who owned video equipment and were interested in movie production.

After completing the three aforementioned short films I decided it was time to try my hand at another feature. Around the year 2000 I purchased my first video camera – the 3-chip Sony DCR-TRV900, a “prosumer” model

I had invested a lot of time in researching. That is to say I compared camera reviews and information and, after looking at several different digital cameras, chose the TRV-900 over similar competing models. This camera was introduced in 1999 and was appealing for several reasons, the most obvious of which being it was said to deliver very good picture quality for an affordable price. The advent of consumer digital video was just beginning at this time, and I knew from what I had read about digital video cameras in general that they produced very clear, crisp images in comparison to older consumer (analog) formats such as VHS, 8mm and HI8 video.

The reason for this being that digital video is a lossless format, and unlike those older formats the image and sound quality do not suffer when the video is transferred from one tape to another, or in the case of DV from the

camera to the computer and possibly back to the camera once again. Digital cameras also provide more lines of horizontal resolution than their analog predecessors, thereby producing a sharper picture. I also knew from

my research into DV that most cameras in my price range were one-chip models, whereas affordable 3-chip cameras were more of a rarity at that time. While all digital cameras introduced in those years greatly exceeded the picture quality performance of analog video, 3-chip models were said to get a slightly sharper, more detailed and colorful picture than the more prevalent one-chip models. And the Sony DCR-TRV900 got some of the best overall ratings in this category when price was also factored into the equation. It was also a very professional-looking, but still compact, camera. So I was fortunate to be able to purchase this features-filled model at the time I set out to produce my second full-length horror movie The Temptress.

As mentioned earlier, The Temptress was a follow-up of sorts to 3 To Murder. I believe one of my motivations for doing a sequel was the fact that I felt the main characters from the first film deserved to go on a bigger adventure. Also, the filming of 3 To Murder had gone very smoothly, and I had really enjoyed working with the people involved on that production. Actor James Carolus had helped Tim Hatch and I out at various times on many of the previous movies, and for this movie he stepped up to be a producer and was on set for a majority

of the filming (as well as taking on the supporting role of David - one of the characters back from the first film). James was especially helpful with the makeup effects on The Temptress, which was great because it allowed me to focus mainly on camera work and directing. Tim still stayed on board as co-producer and also returned

as Ronnie Munson, another supporting character. This worked out well because it kept Tim involved while giving him a bit of a break after being a very hands-on producer on three short films in a row. Both James and Tim were also instrumental in providing key locations for the new film, which will be discussed in further detail below.

I really felt the three women - Karen, Rachael and Tina - from the first film were the heart and soul of the story. They had been pretty well established in terms of character and now it was time for them to face a bigger challenge than a criminal gang. This to me meant a supernatural nemesis, one perhaps stronger than them.

This is where the idea came into play for the suburban ladies to face the vampire Angelique, the character who the title The Temptress refers to. I chose actress Amy Naple for the role of Angelique because I had liked her work in Upstate New York-based filmmaker Joe Bagnardi’s independent horror movie Shadow Tracker: Vampire Hunter. (Amy had also appeared in an opening-scene “scream queen” part in my first feature Terror of the Master, and in a small role in the short film The Green-Eyed Monster). In Shadow Tracker: Vampire Hunter I thought Amy was well-cast as the very innocent, sweet and initially naive Lisa, a girl who falls under the spell of a suave and sophisticated vampire. I think the casting was appropriate because the role of Lisa took advantage of her natural good looks and soft-spoken personality. I also thought it would be incredibly interesting to cast her totally against type as the harsh, cold, often seductive Angelique. This meant a bit of an overhaul on her appearance for The Temptress, and in fact she was given a dark, Goth-like look throughout much of the movie. I also pictured a battle between her and Rachael, the leader of the three women in 3 To Murder. This would be especially interesting because Rachael was a character who had some similarities to Angelique. As mentioned earlier, Rachael was sharp, practical and serious, and the prospect of a war of words and physical battle between the two dark-haired beauties painted a striking picture indeed. However, as it turned out, such was not to be the case.

It’s worth noting that like James Carolus, Jason Palmer and Timothy Jay Hatch, actresses Jennifer Birn and Eileen McCashion had both been involved in my previous films. Eileen in fact had appeared in all of my past movies, and Jennifer all except The Green-Eyed Monster. And when we needed someone to fill the role of Tina in 3 To Murder, Eileen suggested her friend Jennifer Lescovich and the rest was history. Upstate New York’s Capital Region is a relatively small place in terms of the acting community, and as such many people know and work with one another. Prior to working with me, James Carolus, Jennifer Birn and Eileen McCashion had all appeared on a Public Access sketch comedy show called Malinda’s Penthouse, which had run for several years on Schenectady, New York-based SACC-TV. The show was produced by actor-director Michael Korotitsch, who went on to produce the independent horror-comedy film TV Terror (which I appeared in), as

well as appearing in the small role of Dwight in The Temptress. Sometimes it certainly is a small world indeed.

After the script was ready I was initially able to get the main actors from 3 To Murder to commit to appear in the sequel. And as mentioned Amy Naple had accepted the role of Angelique, the head of a group of dark vampires who would challenge the suburban ladies from 3 To Murder. James Carolus and I then went about casting the other main parts, which consisted of three of Angelique’s cohorts. The first role was Rose, Angelique’s companion and right-hand man, so to speak. This part went to actress Mary Kay Hilko, who had also starred in (and been a producer on) Shadow Tracker: Vampire Hunter, and required her to be sort of a bodyguard for Angelique. Rose had a very dark, Goth-like look which we were able to accomplish partially because of Mary Kay’s light skin, as well as through a combination of makeup and wardrobe. Rose wore a lot of black colors, chains and a biker cap to accent her tough character, as well as sporting a nose ring. She presented a perfect compliment for Angelique.

The next part we needed to fill was a vampire named Orchid, another member of Angelique’s group. Orchid

was written as sexy and provocative, strong and resourceful. She was also one of the most outspoken members of the dark vamps, and presented a possible rival to Angelique for leadership of the group. For this role we chose actress Heather Blossom Brown, who was studying theater in college at the time. Heather was actually one of the last ones to audition, and I knew right away after she started reading that she would be perfect for the role. She was right on the money in her delivery of Orchid’s sexy demeanor and distinct attitude. Heather also had the right look for Orchid as well. Her Greek features, long dark flowing hair and slim build suited the role

nicely. It’s also interesting to note that in the initial script Angelique’s whole group was written as dark and Goth-like; however as it turned out Orchid wound up being something of a variation on that mold. Partially because of Orchid’s character traits, and partially because of Heather’s looks, she wound up having more of a rock chick look, as opposed to a Goth appearance. In fact, we actually altered her makeup to a degree after some early filming by adding more white - making her face much paler. However despite this change, and despite her mostly black and red wardrobe (Goth-like colors), she still always retained that rock chick appearance. This was fine though, and I believe it actually provided an interesting dynamic to the dark vamp group as a whole.

The final member of the dark vamp quartet was Gwenyth. She was a vampire who was aligned squarely with Orchid in her pursuit for power within the group, and was kind of a counterpoint to Rose in her relation to group leader Angelique. We gave Gwenyth perhaps the strangest look of all the vampires, with her wardrobe and makeup being kind of a mishmash of styles. Overall she had a very dark look with black makeup, chains, a skull ring and black mesh on her crop top shirt. (In fact one character humorously describes her as “ghoulish” in the movie). Gwenyth is also distinctive from the other vampire women in the movie in that she reveals she is bisexual, and in fact wants Angelique for her lover. This lesbian aspect was added to give another twist to the plot; not only would there be a battle for power within the dark vamps group, but there would also be a sexual aspect as well. However as I mention in the commentary for the film, this vampire lesbian plot element wound up being downplayed somewhat with just a couple of brief conversations referring to it. That being said, a scene in which Orchid and Gwenyth confront Angelique about who’s going to lead the group turned out to be one of the better moments in the film when Gwenyth makes a heartfelt plea to Angelique after being thrown to the ground

by her (along with Orchid).

For the role of Gwenyth we chose actress Karen Wallingford, who was another college student interested in theater. When I first set out to cast the role I was a bit less sure of exactly what I was looking for in Gwenyth as compared to some of the other characters, who I could picture pretty clearly in my mind. I did know that as far

as looks go I definitely wanted all of Angelique’s vampire clan to be dark-haired, for the aforementioned Goth-like look. Karen had long blonde wavy hair, so that meant if we cast her we were going to be shopping for a long black wig. After hearing her audition I began to picture Karen in the role and cast her as a result. Karen gives

an interesting, often times playful portrayal of a character that is torn between supporting Orchid in her quest for power within their vampire clan and her feelings for her former lover Angelique. She also has a very fun scene where she dispatches a womanizer (played by Todd Birmingham) intent on taking naked photos of her.

I was very happy with the casting of the new vampires for The Temptress. All the actresses brought unique qualities and talents to their roles and complemented the existing cast extremely well. This was especially important to the film because the dark vamps were such an integral element in the movie, and had to really

stand out in their parts. Often times in horror and action films it’s the bad guys or bad girls who steal the movie, simply because the heroes are often portrayed as relatively normal or down to earth in comparison. Therefore the villains capture a lot of the cinematic spotlight. An example of this would be in the Tim Burton Batman films where Batman/Bruce Wayne looks relatively normal as compared to the more outrageous, over-the-top villains he faces. In 3 To Murder the women were portrayed as fairly normal just in the fact that they lived relatively quiet lives in their suburban environment. This is why I wanted Angelique’s vampire group to be somewhat extreme and darkly colorful in their appearance and demeanor, which I believe we achieved. And it was also great to have a large cast of attractive women populating my film, which is something that can only be a plus to any independent vampire movie!

As mentioned above, I initially had commitments from all the returning principal cast members in 3 To Murder for the new movie. However after filming around lead actress Eileen McCashion for a few months, I found out

she wouldn’t be able to act in The Temptress after all. So since we had already begun the production James Carolus and I decided to just keep going and do rewrites as we went along. I felt that writing the character of Rachael out of the movie all together would mean writing a completely new script, because the current script depended too much on her. Also it would probably have meant ignoring 3 To Murder entirely and having to totally re-establish her housemates Karen and Tina, which I didn’t want to have to do. So I altered the basic plot only slightly and wrote a scene where Orchid and Gweneth kidnap Rachael in order to use her as a bargaining chip against Angelique, who wants to get Rachael to rejoin their group. This stayed in line with the expanded back-story I had developed for The Temptress, where it was revealed that Rachael had once been a member of Angelique’s vampire group, but had broken ties with them and come to live with Tina and Karen in the suburbs. As a result Angelique comes looking for Rachael in the film. In the kidnap scene we wrote it so that Orchid and Gweneth are dragging Rachael face down across the grass after having had an intense fight in

order to subdue her. We got another actress with a similar physical build as Rachael (a friend of actress

Heather Blossom Brown) and had her wear a black wig, the same one worn previously by Eileen McCashion in 3 To Murder. So this scene effectively took Rachael physically out of the story early on in the film, although her disappearance was discussed and became an integral part of the plot. Also, we were able to use a brief clip

of Eileen McCashion towards the very end of the film when she is found by her housemates (her rescue being conveyed in a voice-over by Ronnie). This brief clip was taken from footage we filmed of Eileen for an early movie trailer for The Temptress (which is called the Conceptual Trailer on the The Temptress Special

Edition DVD). That trailer was actually the very first thing I produced using my Sony TRV-900 digital camera.

The story in The Temptress begins with two lengthy flashback scenes. At the beginning of the movie we

see Eric and his girlfriend Tina taking a long drive out into the woods for a romantic getaway. They load their camping gear into the car and the main credits roll as the scenery passes by out their car windows. Once there an onscreen graphic indicates the scene is taking place “many years ago” and the couple talks about their relationship and also about how a lot of people have disappeared in the very woods they are in. Tina tells the story of a young couple who came out there about ten years ago and of a mysterious woman who appeared and lured the young man deep into the woods before his girlfriend could intervene. The twist on this particular yarn is that the girlfriend was the one who wound up disappearing and never being seen or heard from again. Eric is very unimpressed with the story and they both wind up laughing it off, however the tale sets the stage for the emergence of the beautiful and alluring Angelique (the “mysterious woman”), and cinematic life imitates legend as she appears and lures Eric away from Tina during the middle of the night. This flashback scene as a whole, made up of three main segments, also serves to re-introduce the character of Tina while expanding her history for those who saw 3 To Murder. Tina talks about being something of a wild child, in contrast to her more laid-back boyfriend, and also mentions her friend Rachael here. The first flashback scene ends with Tina’s vampire conversion and induction into Angelique’s group of deadly femme fatales. It’s also a notable scene because Angelique’s appearance here is distinctly different from how she appears throughout the rest of the movie.

Here she is attired in a beautiful, long-flowing white dress and is wearing her hair down. She appears as what might be described as a ghostly vision of loveliness, truly alluring to a guy like Eric. She is also ghostly in the

fact that she somehow always manages to stay well ahead of Eric despite not appearing to travel any faster

than him. (This is perhaps something of a reverse of the tactic often used in slasher films where the killer always manages to be right behind the fleeing victim no matter how fast the victim runs). In fact in a few shots of her walking through the woods I used a ghosting visual (camera) effect that simulates a ghostly glow, so she actually has an aura around her as she walks. Her travels through the forest were also complimented by quite a bit

of haunting piano music, leading up to her rendezvous with Eric at a secluded hideout deep in the woods.

Here Angelique first acts as beautiful seductress but eventually morphs into her vicious vampire self, her true intentions being revealed, and we transition to more dramatic, pulse-pounding music as she wrestles with the shocked guy. We also see Rose for the first time towards the end of this scene, and it’s clear her and Angelique are close companions as they induct Tina into their vampire group. This induction sequence, interspersed by shots of Eric frantically running back to where he and Tina were camped out, has some sexual undertones as well; Rose gently strokes Tina’s hair and prepares to deliver the vampire bite while Angelique holds a glowing lantern and looks on in smiling approval. Rose then slowly embraces a seductively mesmerized Tina and they

fall to the grass with Rose sinking her teeth into the blonde’s neck. The scene fades away as if it was all just a dream when Eric finally makes it back to the clearing. Flashback sequence number one ends with Eric loudly screaming out Tina’s name; he realizes she is nowhere to be found and probably gone forever from his life.

And so goes the legend…

We filmed the majority of these flashback scenes in a wooded area in Menands, New York. The opening conversation sequence was shot in a clearing near the entrance to the woods, and then we progressively

moved into more densely wooded areas for the sequences where Angelique lures Eric away. I filmed most of

the shots of Eric running through the woods using handheld camera shots and/or using the camera mounted

on a monopod. Because of this relatively simple and mobile one-camera setup, I decided to use day-for-night shooting and film the entire sequence during the afternoon. It was very efficient and made this part of the production much easier, as we were able to move along quickly with Eric and take several shots of him running through different areas of the woods using an assortment of varied camera angles. Later on, in post-production editing, the scenes were darkened further to help sell the illusion that it was more towards the evening, as opposed to being in the middle of the day. And in these scenes Eric also caries a lantern to make it further convincing. We also made this part of the flashback somewhat extended in length in order to present the idea that Angelique has lead Eric a good distance away from where he originally was, and to make it seem like the old shack they wind up at is very secluded. And by the time Eric tangles with Angelique in the shack (her hideout), and then eventually returns to where he started from, it appears that it is well into the next morning.

(I think this progression from early evening to the next morning, coupled with the events that take place involving Angelique’s appearances and disappearances give this whole sequence something of a dreamlike quality, which works well for the movie). It’s also notable that the shack scene was shot in a totally different location

from the rest of the shots in this sequence. The shack was actually a structure that was in the backyard of

my co-producer Tim Hatch’s place in Grafton, NY. It was a location that Tim had used extensively on his aforementioned film The Companions. It was also in the background on some scenes in my short films

The Green-Eyed Monster and 3 To Murder (see above).

The second flashback sequence takes place an unspecified amount of time after Tina has been converted into a vampire, and basically tells the story of how Karen also became one. The scene starts with a car pulling to an abrupt stop one afternoon on a rural road where we see Karen arguing with her boyfriend Randy before being unceremoniously kicked out of his car. (Randy is played by yours truly and kept off camera, keeping the focus on Karen). Karen then starts walking slowly down the long road as the car hastily speeds away, and soon the scene changes to night as she continues her journey home. Upon rounding the corner of what looks to be a cabin Karen is suddenly attacked by an armed, masked man intent on robbing her. This sudden, unexpected shock is soon followed by another one however, as the mugger himself is attacked by an unseen assailant and quickly bloodied up with severe cuts to the face while Karen looks on in fear and horror. The beleaguered mugger is then set upon by a bloodthirsty Tina, now a full-fledged creature of the night (like she described in

the story in flashback sequence #1) ready for a good meal. As she struggles with the mugger and attempts to feast on him he gets off a shot which inadvertently hits Karen. After Tina finishes with the thug and satisfactorily feeds her hunger, she is about to leave the scene but stops upon hearing Karen’s pleading voice not to be left for dead (from the gunshot wound). In a tender and heartfelt moment Tina embraces Karen, gently touching her cheek, before biting her on the neck, thereby simultaneously saving her life… and sealing her fate forever.

And thus tells the story of how the two ladies met and came to be together.

As I mention in the commentary track for the movie, the mugger scene is among my favorites. We filmed the majority of it in an overnight shoot outside a lakeside cabin owned by actress Jennifer Birn’s family in Upstate New York. We were set up inside the cabin and were able to work on makeup and costumes there, which was very convenient. We also filmed a few of the interior shots for other scenes in the movie there as well. The filming of the mugger scene went smoothly, and I was very happy with how everything turned out. The costumes and makeup came out especially well, as did the nighttime lighting. The mugger was played by my production partner James Carolus, who also essayed the role of David (see above), and was humorously credited as

“B.J. Weasel” for this role. Originally we had offered the part to another actor, but when that person was unable to do it we decided James could once again benefit us with his thespian talents. There was initially some concern about him being recognizable, and therefore creating confusion with his character of David, however we decided the ski mask would hide his face well enough. James was also dressed quite differently and changed his voice for this scene, rattling off his lines in something of a gruff tone, which contrasted with

David’s smooth-as-silk delivery. Jennifer Lescovich, who was slightly off-camera, swiped her long fingernails across his ski mask from different angles for the beginning of their confrontation. We then progressively cut bigger and bigger rips in the front of the mask and added more stage blood to it, thereby making it look like Tina was shredding the mask and slicing his face with each swipe. For the majority of the fight scene we used a series of medium and close-up angles of Tina and the mugger wrestling on the ground with streams of light pouring down over them, in order to resemble moonlight coming from above. The other angle used here had them framed on the right in a long shot with Karen in the darkened background on the left side of the frame. Mid-way into the struggle we see the mugger pull the trigger of his gun as he continues to fight off a very bloodthirsty Tina; Karen then grabs her stomach and slumps to the ground after being inadvertently shot.

A prop gun was used here and a post-production visual effect was later inserted along with a sound effect to pull off the gunshot illusion. Some pulse-pounding, dramatic music also further complimented this part of the scene as well.

After Tina has dispatched and feasted on the mugger she rises into the frame in an up-angle shot with blood trickling down her face and the wind blowing freely through her hair and relishes in her now-satisfied bloodlust. Dressed in a black leather jacket and black skirt she looks like quite the formidable, sexy vampire vixen.

We added a motion effect to these shots which I think greatly enhanced the impact of what James Carolus jokingly calls Tina’s “blood orgasm” on the DVD commentary. Tina then begins to slowly walk away, but as mentioned is called back by a pleading Karen, who fears dying if left there. In this sequence I think Jennifer

Birn is especially good as she first cries and then submits to Tina’s vampire bite. In fact, in one review of

the movie the writer said that her crying was more believable than some Hollywood actresses he’d seen.

From this shot the final flashback footage fades out and we head to the present day.

The next scene fades in on the house of vampire babes Rachael, Tina and Karen, the three ladies first introduced in the short film prequel