|
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
|
|
Because her aunt Sarita (Yvonne Rawn) had just suffered a sroke,
Maricela (Brenda Romero) visits her in her small-town-home in the Mexican
desert with her best friends Samantha (Tori White) and Heather (Natalie
J.Horton). The first night there, Maricela is almost raped but saved by
handsome Luis Diego (Justin Quinn), whom she takes an instant liking to
(and vice versa). What she doesn't know of course is that Luis Diego is
the cause of her aunt's stroke, as 35 years ago he was her lover, but then he
was turned into a vampire and buried alive ... until very recently. Though
being a vampire, Luis tries to lead a normal life (as normal as one can
who can't even face the sun), for Maricela's sake, but when he's out on a
date with her, he quickly realizes how impossible that is - on one hand
because he cannot keep himself from sucking other people's blood every now
and again, on the other because he still wants to avenge himself on those
who have buried him alive all these years ago - especially father
Hernandez (Flint Esquerra). Eventually, too, Luis' love for Maricela grows
into hatred ... In the meantime, Maricela's childhood friend Cris (Naím
Thomas) has found out the truth about Luis, and he convinces Maricela and
her two friends to track down and destroy Luis and his minions in the
ghosttown he has put up camp. The plan goes horribly wrong though when
Luis not only escapes but also kidnaps Maricela. To avenge himself on
the girl (and the world) who has wronged him, Luis wants to drink
Maricela's blood and turn her into a vampire right before Sarita's very
eyes - but Sarita has already died from the condition she was in. Luis is
so enraged by that that he lets his guard slip long enough for Maricela to
pull down the curtains and let the sunlight into the room, killing the
vampire for good ... In the end, of course, Maricela gets the guy, Cris,
and they live happily ever after ... but then again, what about Father
Hernandez, whom Luis has turned into a bloodsucker? Ok, there
is plenty wrong with this film: The plot is not exactly original, Justin
Quinn as the vampiric lead fails to bring any kind of charisma to his role
and the vampire fangs he sports every now and again look ridiculous, and
there are plenty of cardboard characters the film could have done without. That
said, Desert of Blood has quite a few saving graces: The Mexican
settings make for a nice change and are put to good use, Tori White as a
shallow urbanite makes a good comic relief, and the showdown in the
ghosttown is rather hilarious (and intentionally so). Despite all that, Desert
of Blood is far from perfect, it's just a bit above your
run-of-the-mill vampire film of which there have been way too many over
the years.
|