After completely loving Troma's other late 90s vampire flicks, like Sucker: The Vampire and Sergio Lapel's Drawing Blood and wanting to see more from the talent of Tromeo & Juliet, I thought Rockabilly Vampire would be right up my alley. The 1996 film directed by Lee Bennett Sobel was originally titled Burnin' Love, then when Troma picked it up, the title was changed to Rockabilly Vampire, then to Rockabilly Vampire: Burnin' Love. I'm really not too sure what the offically appropriate title is, but regardless of that, let's go on into the film's aspects.
Margaret Lancaster stars as an obsessive Elvis fan named Iris who is so convinced that the king is still alive that she's written a book about it. Unfortunately, she's yet to sell the book, so she's stuck working at a New York City thrift shop. After an unsuccessful date with a Beatle loving Brit wannabe, she finds herself compelled with a man named Eddie Vincent(Paul Stevenson), because he seems like he's right out of the 50s. Slowly Iris begins to discover that Eddie really is out of the 50s, due to his brother becoming a vampire and biting him, right before he got the chance to compete in an Elvis look-a-like contest. Next thing you know, Eddie's brother(Steven Blackeheart) and his friends come looking for them and Iris must protect the rockabilly vampire she's fallen in love with.
On the DVD commentary, Lee Bennett Sobel cites John Waters as an influence and it shows. The bad audio, grainy 16mm film stock, and peculiar acting styles do echo the work of the Prince of Puke, but the film's tone isn't as filthy as the early Waters features. This allows Rockabilly Vampire: Burnin' Love to be both extremely campy and entertaining at the same time. While Troma does have some better vampire films to offer, Rockabilly Vampire: Burnin' Love is definately worth checking for a good bit of fun.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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