Want to know where Quentin Tarantino got his idea for the script for Robert Rodriguez's From Dusk Till Dawn? Well, replace that film's bank robbers with a group of hormonal teens, swop gorgeous Salma Hayek for scary disco-diva Grace Jones, and turn Mexican biker-bar The Titty Twister into a skid-row strip club, and what you've got is Vamp, an under-rated teen horror from the 80s that was undoubtedly the inspiration for Rodriguez's horror hit.

Vamp follows three frat boys, Keith, AJ, and Duncan (Chris Makepeace, Robert Rusler and Gedde Watanabe),as they venture to the wrong side of town in the hope of hiring a stripper for a college party. After a run in with a nasty street gang, led by albino thug Snow (Billy Drago),the lads pay a visit to The After Dark Club, a sleazy joint that, unbeknownst to them, is home to a nest of vampires that feed on the lonely patrons.

When AJ is fed to Katrina (Jones),the queen of the bloodsuckers, Keith and Duncan attempt to flee the city, along with cute waitress Amaretto (Dedee Pfeiffer),but find their escape hampered not only by countless members of the undead, but also by Snow and his fellow gang members.

Featuring a witty script, excellent art direction, great make-up effects from Greg Cannom, and lively, fun performances from all involved, Vamp proves to be one of the better 'cheesy' horrors of the 80s, and is my third favourite teen vampire film of the decade (after The Lost Boys and Fright Night). The film makes stunning use of garish, coloured lighting (perhaps inspired by Dario Argento's Suspiria, which uses similar strong colours),giving the whole affair a freakish and rather unsettling look; this disturbing atmosphere is further compounded by a feeling of complete helplessness that is reminiscent of Scorsese's similarly surreal After Hours.

Admittedly, Vamp does occasionally veer a little too close to dumb teen comedy territory, and one or two scenes are rather convoluted or silly (what kind of vampire keeps metal drums full of flammable liquid in their crypt? And that Formica quip.... weak!),but on the whole, this is a refreshingly offbeat and stylish effort that deserves more recognition.

7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

Mild-mannered college student Keith (affable Chris Makepeace),his more brash smooth-talking best buddy A.J. (the equally engaging Robert Rusler) and hopelessly geeky wannabe hip nerd Duncan (a hilariously dweeby Gedde Watanabe) venture into a dark, remote and dangerous Los Angeles neighborhood in search of a stripper for an upcoming fraternity party. The trio discover the seedy and sinister nocturnal establishment the After Dark Club, where our protagonists find out much to their dismay that the diabolically enticing and exotic main attraction Katrina (a mute, but stunningly effective and alluring portrayal of pure animalistic evil and raw sensuality by Grace Jones) and the rest of the club's staff are all vampires who are eager to take a lethal bite out of the boys.

Writer/director Richard Wenk offers a winningly quirky and clever blend of offbeat black humor and straightforward gruesome horror, ably creating and sustaining a properly seamy and spooky oddball nighttime atmosphere, keeping the pace snappy and steady throughout, and staging the shock scenes with a considerable amount of grisly aplomb (the moment where Katrina calmly tears a bumbling minion's heart out and her fatal seduction of A.J. are especially startling sequences). Popping up in nifty supporting parts are Dedee Pfeiffer as an endearingly ditsy waitress, Sandy Baron as the sleazy club emcee, the ever-reptilian Billy Drago as a creepy albino street gang leader, and Hy Pyke (the unforgettably nutzoid bus driver in "Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural") as a vampire hotel clerk. Elliot Davis' stylishly garish cinematography, Jonathan Elias' funky score, and Greg Cannom's excellent make-up f/x further enhance the deliciously macabre merriment of this extremely cool and enjoyable fright flick.

Two fraternity pledges go to a sleazy bar looking for strippers to entertain their college friends. They have problems with transportation, Biker gangs, and worst of all, the staff of the bar, all of whom seem to be vampires, with Grace Jones playing the head vampire.

Richard Wenk had written and directed "Dracula Bites the Big Apple" (1979),a rather funny short film which is self-explanatory: a goofy Dracula goes to disco-era New York. Because of this, Wenk was offered the film "Vamp", if it could be called a film. At the time, it was simply a title and a poster, with Wenk told to develop something involving vampire hookers.

Producer Donald P. Borchers, though not a big name, had already been involved in a handful of cult and horror projects. "Beastmaster" (1982),"Children of the Corn" (1984) and Ken Russell's "Crimes of Passion" (1985),just to name a few. He was an ideal force to have behind this film.

Concerning Billy Drago as Snow... I definitely needed more Drago in this film, so that is my biggest complaint. Where was Drago? Not in this film very much, that is all I know. Which is a shame, considering all the trouble they went through to bleach his hair, eyebrows, and everything else to create the illusion that he was an albino.

Although a cult film, this is not a great film or a forgotten classic or anything like that. It just simply is not. What makes it memorable today is probably one of two things (or both): the incredible cast, or the fact that it predated "From Dusk Till Dawn" as a film with a strip club and vampires... but to say this film inspired the other is probably not accurate. Probably...

Arrow Video (as always) has provided a fully loaded Blu-ray. We have a brand new 44-minute documentary featuring interviews with director Richard Wenk, stars Robert Rusler, Dedee Pfeiffer, Gedde Watanabe, Billy Drago and more. Rusler, as usual, is quite funny (in real life he is a joy to be around). The disc also has behind-the-scenes rehearsals, a blooper reel, and even "Dracula Bites the Big Apple" (1979),Richard Wenk's short film.