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Dark Craving

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Originally known as Heartstopper (a title meant to capitalize on the success of Hellraiser), Dark Craving was directed and written by John A. Russo, who also is (not so well) known for directing low-budget horrors like The Majorettes, Scream Queen Swimsuit Sensations, and Midnight 2: Sex, Death and Videotape. You'll probably be more impressed with Russo's screenwriting credits, which include the original Night of the Living Dead and Return of the Living Dead. As expected of a former George A. Romero cohort, Mr. Russo filmed this movie entirely in the city of Pittsburgh.

Apparently, Russo pitched an idea to Romero for a followup to Night of the Living Dead, about a group of Revolutionary War-era survivors who inbreed and produce a colony of demented killers. He was later talked out of the idea, and ended up writing a book called "The Awakening" about a 1770's physician executed for vampirism, which is the basis for Dark Craving.

Kevin Kindlin turns in a good performance as the main character, who is suspected of being a vampire due to his unorthodox experiments with phlebotomy, i.e. drinking the bottled blood (and pus!) of his patients. He is hanged, after which the townspeople pound a stake through his heart (nice bloody scene) and bury him under the sign of the cross. Hundreds of years later (1988), his burial ground is being uprooted by a bulldozer. Since the stake and coffin have rotted away, the manacles have rusted, and his garlic necklace is decomposed, the good doctor is now free to roam Pittsburgh as a vampire.

His first encounter with modern-day humans involves a girl playing in a sandbox (who looks way too old to be doing this, by the way). She cuts herself on a shard of glass, and the vampire follows suit by drinking her blood. His saliva shows up in her autopsy tests as being poisonous, which causes the police (led by Tom Savini!) to search for a vampire killer. Later, he wanders a university campus and watches a military group performing in Revolutionary War-era uniform. Our vampiric friend (who at first has a pony-tailed mullet) then saves a girl from a scuffle with a multi-racial gang, chases one gang member and throws him through a car windshield. Since he still has his leatherbound doctor's kit, he slashes the tough's wrist with a scalpel-like tool and drinks hungrily from the wound.

Besides being the co-star, Tom Savini is also credited with the FX for the film. Gorehounds need to realize, though, that with the exception of a couple exceptionally gruesome moments near the beginning involving autopsies, and the stake through the heart scene, we're not talking buckets of gore here. It's basically restricted to a few good wrist-slashings until the final scene, which delivers well and even throws in a little stop-motion animation. The DVD cover features some of the goriest scenes, however, so overall it's a little misleading. Diehards will be pleased, though, especially getting to see Savini have such a prominent role in the film.

One of the things that sets Dark Craving apart from many other vampire movies is the humanistic approach, rather than portraying the doctor as a monster. He falls in love with a girl played by Moon Zappa, Frank's daughter who was best known for her mallspeak on his song "Valley Girl." He confesses to a priest who is sympathetic to his plight, and refuses to drink the blood of the innocent, restricting his thirsty desires to the criminal world. Other interesting twists on the vampire legend explored here include the concept of the salivary "poison," and the way that vampires are created. It seems that the doctor was human before he started his blood experiments, but the fact that he was buried as a vampire combined with the superstitions of those who executed him seemed to help cause the change. Also there's a historical/political element to the movie: since the doctor was a British-sympathizing Tory, he blames the ills of the 20th century on the results of the Revolutionary War, and maintains that the States should never have evolved past the original 13 colonies.

The only real drawback to horror fans here, besides the fact that it's perhaps not quite as gory as expected, would be the pace of the film. Russo is a better writer than he is a director, and it shows with scenes that feature two characters talking, many filmed with one static shot. In other words, if you're not really into the story at that given moment, it can be a little dull and leave you waiting for a scene with more action. Don't expect the camerawork and editing to blow you away, either, but if you're used to watching low-budget horror it's not bad. Dark Craving/Heartstopper was made for about $800,000, so given these limitations Russo did a good job. I guess if you're really annoyed by 80's music, especially a particularly sappy love theme, you might want to stay away too. I happened to like the screaming 80's metal performed during a couple of the action scenes, especially the girl being chased in the park while the singer shrieks "The killer is in the park!, etc." This part reminded me of other 80's horror movies such as Demons that also used heavy metal. I'd say if you're a big horror/gore fan like me you'll probably be happy with this movie. But if you're just a casual viewer or someone who prefers big-budget, computer special effects-driven horror like Underworld or Van Helsing, definitely rent before purchasing.

I love Tom S. More for his special make-up effects than acting. This movie is one to have for collectors of horror-but over all I expected it to be much better.

Heartstopper (John Russo, 1991)

About twenty years after the release of Night of the Living Dead, many of the other folks involved with the original production decided to get into the amateur movie-making business themselves. I'm not talking about Romero, whose career had continued on apace, or those who continued working with him (Tom Savini, Martin Amplas, et al.) John Russo, who'd written the original NotLD script with Romero (based on his own story), had had another couple of his novels turned into movies, but like everyone in Hollywood, what he wanted to do was direct. (So did Bill Hinzmann, who played the very first zombie you see in 1968. And the less said about that, the better.) He'd done a silly softcore flick in '76 and movie-ized one of his own horror novels in '82, then dropped out of the filmmaking business for a while to concentrate on writing novels. (I've read the entire lot of them; I collected them as a teen. They're cheesy, but I love them dearly.) He got back into the directorial biz in '91, and while he continues to focus on silly softcore and work adapted from or extending on his novels, every once in a while he drops an original script, written directly for the screen, and films that. The first movie he did in this manner was Heartstopper (also released as Dark Craving, the title under which I saw it). I've seen the majority of Russo's movies, and I've gotta say, this is the best of the lot I've seen. Which is not to say it's timeless cinema, but you're likely to have a better time with this one than Midnight or Santa Claws.

Plot: Back during Revolutionary War times, a forward-looking scientist, Benjamin Latham (Kevin Kindlin, who appeared in both of Bill Hinzmann's directorial efforts), is condemned as a vampire for doing experiments with blood and buried at a crossroads with a stake through his heart. Fast-forward two hundred years, and the crossroads is now part of Point State Park. A bulldozer knocks the stake out of Latham's moldering bones. He finds himself awake in a completely new world, brought back to life as the very thing he was accused of being. He gets the police on his tail while still trying to figure out what he is, and a gang of motorcycle hoods on his tale after he figures it out and decides to use his powers for good. Along the way, he also picks up a hot-babe sidekick, Leonora (Nightmares' Moon Zappa), and a priest who befriends him after hearing his confession, Father Ed (William Duncan in his only feature appearance). Things get nasty when the biker gang, looking for revenge, tries to beat Latham's whereabouts out of Father Ed. There's also a subplot with a descendant of Latham's (Surf Nazis Must Die's John Hall) who may be a little too obsessed with his ancestor.

It's predictable, yes, and quite cheesy, but it's not a bad way to kill an hour and a half. If you've seen a few of the movies that came out of this sort-of-incestuous collective, you'll know the acting here is slightly more accomplished than in, say, FleshEater or Maniac (an unjustly praised 1980 film starring Tom Savini). I lived in Pittsburgh eleven years, so I probably got more out of the scenery than most people will, but Pittsburghers will love playing "spot the streetcorner." (I moved away back in 1990, but go back on a regular basis... and one scene was shot on a street where I had never been until my last trip there, in March 2010. Go figure.) In other words, don't go in expecting much and you'll be rewarded. **