Genre: Horror
Rating: NR (TV)
Synopsis:
When a new
development is started in San Francisco, the construction disturbs the
resting-place of vampire Anton Voytek (Richard Lynch). Rising from his
grave, Voytek begins feeding on homeless people while insinuating himself
into San Francisco's social scene through lawyer Nicole DeCamp (Jessica
Walter). Nicole introduces Voytek to John and Leslie Rawlins (Jason Miller
and Kathryn Harrold), two architects that Voytek hires to excavate the
cache of treasure he's collected over 8 centuries. During the dig, a cross
is found that retired detective Harry Kilcoyne (E. G. Marshall) gave to
an old friend who disappeared 40 years earlier. John and Leslie retrieve
the treasure but when they discover that most of it was stolen, they notify
the authorities and the treasure is confiscated. In retaliation, Voytek
seduces and kills Leslie. Despite a lack of evidence and an airtight alibi,
John is certain that Voytek murdered Leslie and sets out to prove it. Breaking
into Voytek's apartment, John discovers Voytek's coffin but he's locked
away in a mental institution when he insists that Voytek is a vampire.
Trapped and helpless, John is at the mercy of Voytek, who arrives to kill
him too, but Harry, who believes John’s claims about Voytek, rescues him.
Harry tells John how his best friend cornered Voytek back in 1939, forcing
Voytek to bury them both under tons of rubble. Together, Harry and John
develop a plan to trap Voytek by locating and destroying his coffins, leaving
him with no place to hide. Worried that Voytek will get to him through
his neighbor Andrea (Barrie Youngfellow) and her son Tommy (Adam Starr),
Harry convinces Andrea to send Tommy to visit his father but Andrea refuses
to leave. Going to the address that Voytek's coffins were delivered to,
Harry and John only find one coffin, with Leslie in it, and John is forced
to drive a stake through her heart. Unfortunately, while Harry and John
are busy with Leslie, Voytek captures Andrea. Fortunately, he doesn't have
time to kill her before sunrise, giving Harry and John a day to rescue
her. Getting a list of Voytek's real estate holdings from Nicole, Harry
and John begin tracking down and 'contaminating' Voytek's coffins with
holy water and crosses. Unfortunately, all the coffins are empty. As the
sun sets, they locate the last coffin in an old cemetery but it's too late
and Voytek is awake. Controlled by Voytek, Andrea begs Harry to leave them
alone but Harry is able to hurt Voytek with a vial of holy water, freeing
Andrea but allowing Voytek to disappear into the night.
Type of mind control: Vampiric stare
Mind control scenes:
There are
two mind control scenes in this movie. The first is when Voytek seduces
Leslie before killing her and the second is when Harry and John finally
track down Voytek and find Andrea in his thrall.
Subjective Rating:
3 out of 5
The first
mind control scene is very subtle, with Voytek using his sexual attraction
more than any obvious control to seduce Leslie. The second mind control
scene is much more apparent, with Voytek waking Andrea from a deep sleep
with just a wave of his hand and making her fawn all over him. Andrea is
so deeply under Voytek's spell that she pleads with Harry and John to leave
them alone so she and Voytek can be together forever. Unfortunately, the
scene is rather short and very late in the movie, leading to a relatively
anticlimactic ending.