Bezenby Here I was complaining about how Michele Soavi's The Church was lacking in that good old Italian cheese that flavoured the late-era horror films they were producing, so here comes Lamberto Bava to plunge me into a huge tub of molten Fontina. Just get a load of those auditions at the start, that's pure eighties fromage right there.This one (a TV movie) is a kind of horror comedy which involves a lot of those staples required for an Italian horror film of the era. A creepy location, annoying youngsters running around, neon lighting, bad effects, and a low budget.This one's even dafter than usual as it involves four would-be entertainers (including the worst comedian in the world this side of Jimmy Carr, a singer, an actress, and dancer Yvonne Scio – and for those out there with the Kleenex ready for Yvonne, hold onto your mess until you see Rutger Hauer's Armageddon – she's way too young here). They've all passed an audition and are now being invited to a famous director's creepy house, with a view to starring in his new film.Things get strange right away when a boz-eyed hunchback lets them in, complete with a ludicrous, Nick Alexander dubbed voice. There's also a management type with Bela Lugosi's voice and a woman who seems to spend her time laughing at everything. That's nothing compared to the director himself, played by George Hilton (a man who is probably pinching himself to this day judging by the amount of nude scenes he had with Edwige Fenech), who promptly reveals that he's a vampire! George's proposal is this: His human side is bored of being immortal, and he wants to be killed. However, his vampire side doesn't want to die, and will spend the night trying to kill our four heroes. The night will either end with George dead or the four kids dead, and there's only one way to kill George, and it's not the traditional vampire slaying way… For a film that's set in one place and basically involves the youngsters running around, I wasn't bored for a second. George Hilton for instance is an old hand and kind of straddles the thin line between horror and comedy while prancing around in a cheap cape, while the kids actually come across as likable (the annoying comedian actually comes through as the hero in the end). There's a bit of gore (hearts being pulled out of chests etc), and some low rent Plasticine make up effects (like that show Trapdoor!). The ending makes no sense whatsoever and although the younger me wouldn't have liked that, it's now become a requirement for old, brain damaged me.Going back to The Church, I'd say that film was a bit taxing on me due to the amount of characters, actual plot etc. Dinner with A Vampire is the kind of film where your brain goes into a low gear and is all the better for it. Next up: Fulci's Aenigma. God help me! P.S – How come George didn't cast a reflection in life but did on film? How did that chick go from being a vampire to not being a vampire? Was that guy in the end meant to be George? What happened to the henchman guy after he becomes a zombie? Next up: Fulci's Sweet House of Horrors. God's Kelpie!

The_Void Dinner With a Vampire is a made for TV movie and it's directed by Lamberto Bava, so obviously you cant go into it expecting to see a film of the highest quality. While this is certainly not of the highest quality, for me the good ideas and interesting execution more than make up for that! I really can't say that I've seen every vampire film and read every bit of literature on the subject; and while I've seen similar ideas in other films, it really does have to be said that this is an original take on a subject that has been done to death - and you need at least credit the film with that. The film begins with a film crew that unwittingly unearths a one thousand year old vampire. Fast forward some years and the vampire is a successful horror film director who is holding auditions across the world for starring roles in his latest film. Four wannabe actors are chosen for the roles and make their way to his house - where they are informed that he is bored of his immortal life, and told that they have until dawn to kill him...or face a fate worse than death.The film is really more of a comedy than a horror film, and it has to be said that a lot of the comedy is misplaced - although it does have some amusing moments. The lead role is taken by George Hilton - an actor I'm more used to seeing playing suave leads in Giallo's. He's actually really good here - he's aged a bit since the seventies and really looks the part as the bored vampire. Naturally, the rest of the cast is barely worth a mention, but really this is Hilton's show anyway. Lamberto Bava is not as great a director as his father, but he does know how to build an atmosphere - and the setting here is really great; a lavish castle with a cobweb filled dungeon! It's well used too, which is a good job since the bulk of the film takes place in it. The best thing about Dinner With a Vampire for me is definitely the way it handles the vampire legend; parts of it are kept and other parts are lampooned, and overall Bava succeeds in creates a mythology all of his own. The story boils down to something of a predictable conclusion; although the way that the vampire is killed is really good and it's a lot of fun getting there. The film will not appeal to everyone, and indeed it doesn't exactly have a great reputation; but for me the style and execution more than outweighs the flaws, and I would recommend this film to any horror fan!

andell-2 This is one hell of a Great movie. All of the characters are nice in some way and the actors does a OK but most certainly not a excellent job. In a Scooby Doo like style the movie is more a comedy than a real horror movie, and for a change it works well. Some minor gore is also in here, including torn out hearts and gory skeletons but those scenes are not much worse than the ones in any Indiana Jones movie. What i like so much about it is that it have this Hammer feeling into it but yet it stays fairly fresh and never gets boring with some typical 80s feeling mixed into the blend. i definitively recommend this to all those who like cheezy Italian movies and horror comedies.

Coventry The basic plot-idea of this modest, made-for-TV horror comedy is fairly ingenious and involves a 4000-year-old vampire who's tired of his immortal life as a bloodsucker and wishes to eternally lay his soul to rest. Pretending to hold auditions for a new horror movie, he entices four young actors to his mansion but then challenges them to destroy him before the break of down. If they fail, he will kill them instead and then they too are doomed to live the boring life of vampires. Writer/director Lamberto Bava is infamous for his gross horror productions ("Demons", "A Blade in the Dark") but this merely is a harmless and light-headed quickie, meant for those who really want to see every Italian horror film ever made. There's almost no bloodshed or tension in the script and vampires look comical instead of scary. Still, I enjoyed watching "Dinner with a Vampire" because there's not one dull moment and it was great seeing George Hilton in a leading horror role again. Fans of Italian gialli-thrillers will definitely remember his face from classic titles such as "The Case of the Bloody Iris", "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh" and "My Dear Killer". The sequences in the mansion's crypt and cellars are mildly atmospheric and the music is quite cheerful. Don't watch this film in case you're allergic to awful dubbing, though…The English voices often are so dull they give you headaches.