The 1995 film "Embrace of the Vampire" finds college freshman Charlotte Wells (Alyssa Milano) being stalked by a vampire (Martin Kemp) with three days to avoid eternal rest.

Embrace (whose title screen officially calls it The Nosferatu Diaries: Embrace of the Vampire) casts Milano as a good girl - she's a terrific Bad Girl in Fear(96?), the underrated thriller with Marky Mark and Reese Witherspoon. College freshman Charlotte Wells was raised by nuns and only allowed to visit her mother one weekend a month. That Catholic boarding school upbringing is reflected in the crucifix on her dorm wall, the cross she wears around her neck, and her reluctance to have sex with Chris (the late Harold Pruett), her mildly impatient boyfriend of fourteen months.

Before meeting Charlotte, we are introduced to an unnamed British-accented vampire (Martin Kemp, of Spandau Ballet, and the star of the underrated The Krays - superior to the Tom Hardy version) who explains via absurd narration that he is lonely, having lost the love of his life (to silicone-enhanced nymphs). Somehow, he's found her soul inside Charlotte and he has just three days to make her desire him or else he will fall into eternal sleep. Charlotte is turning 18 in three days, though the two events are not explicitly linked.

Not much of anything is made very clear in the screenplay attributed to three novice writers. Of them, only Rick Bitzelberger continued his career beyond a couple of movies. His résumé, which begins with producing credits on early '90s Penthouse videos and proceeds to include episodes of the Cinemax series "Erotic Confessions", gives you a good idea of what to expect from this film. It's softcore, late-night cable fodder with only the slightest semblance of a plot.

1990s college girls, Alyssa Milano, Rachel True (The Craft), and Jordan Ladd watch and comment upon the mating habits of their dormmate. Jennifer Tilly (Bound) appears briefly as Martika, a vampiress who tempts and delays Charlotte's boyfriend Chris (Harold Pruett).

Milano is game for the ride, which finds her posing topless for a promiscuous English hobby photographer in her dorm (the long-retired Charlotte Lewis, The Golden Child) and then being drugged with "X" by a catty rival (Jordan Ladd, later of Cabin Fever and Death Proof), prompting a vision of a random vampiric orgy. Such sequences are decidedly lacking titillation in the hands of first-time feature director Anne Goursaud, a longtime editor for Francis Ford Coppola who soon returned to that profession, but not for Coppola.

Still, they seem of greater importance to the film than whatever is going on with the creepy, dramatic vampire/stalker who snatches one of Charlotte's crosses, burns it into oblivion in his hand and replaces it with an ankh that sometimes glows. He also makes her look crazy during an art history lecture.

With modest production value and limited genre appeal, Embrace lends itself to "Mystery Science Theater 3000" treatment, only its content prevents it from translating to basic cable standards and practices.

VIDEO and AUDIO

The picture quality on Embrace of the Vampire's Blu-ray is better than expected for a low-budget, straight-to-video '90s movie. The 1.85:1 presentation does not compare to those of modern films, lacking the sharpness and definition. But the element stays clean and consistently fine. Likewise, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack is fairly solid. You can tell it's a little limited and, for some reason, much of the dialogue seems to have been looped in post-production. Nonetheless, the dialogue is mostly intelligible, crisp, and complemented by competently distributed score (which mostly sounds like the generic accompaniment to cheesy syndicated action fantasy television). English SDH and Spanish subtitles are kindly included.

BONUS FEATURES, PACKAGING, DESIGN:

The disc opens with trailers for the 2010 I Spit on Your Grave remake and Lovelace. That's right, counterintuitively, the platter avoids any mention of the remake concurrently released to DVD and Blu-ray combo pack.

And that's it in the way of bonus features. Not that Embrace '95 loses anything of note from New Line's DVD (which was still enough of a novelty to tout "Interactive Menus!" as a selling point), just the abbreviated R-rated cut and cast & crew biographies and filmographies.

Speaking of interactive menus, Embrace surprisingly gets a creative animated one on Blu-ray, which plays clips in a pool that shimmers with moonlight. I'm not sure what it has to do with the movie, but it took effort. Per Anchor Bay's standard authoring, though the disc supports bookmarks (a useful feature for those wanting to skip straight to the nude scenes), it sadly does not resume unfinished playback.

The eco-friendly keepcase is not joined by any slipcover or insert, but the disc at least features a label adapted from the recycled cover art.

I'm getting nostalgic for the 1990s and admiring of its cinema that I figured the original Embrace of the Vampire would hold some appeal simply as a product of its time. But, although this strikes me as one of the few feature films to center on '90s college life, it's pedestrian as a piece of storytelling. While not camp enough to enjoy ridiculing, it's near satisfaction to appreciate in whatever way intended. That the movie has endured at all, enough to hit Blu-ray before many a classic (including the hilarious The Vampire's Kiss) and with an impressive Amazon sales rank far better than the remake, seems purely a testament to its oft-cited nudity. It's that content that seems to inspire the rear cover's two amusing endorsements, from MrSkin (which dubs it "the #1 sexiest horror film of all time!") and the more respectable Entertainment Weekly (which claims it "packs a substantial erotic punch!" in a C- review).

I know this doesn't read like a four star review - it is thoroughly enjoyable on its own terms.

Now, if they'd just release Little Witches (ASIN# 6305090599) bluray - now there's a movie! Alas, it'll run you $475 for the DVD. Sexy and cheesy stuff.

I purchased this on Blu-ray as I am updating my old 1500+ DVD collection to Blu-ray and 4K. This is one of the last to be updated but I have to say I am severely disappointed.

This is hands-down the worst Blu-ray encode I have ever encountered. The picture quality is actually worse than my DVD copy and barely rivals the original VHS copy I once owned.

The colors are washed out, the lines are not sharp at all (bordering on blurry) and every scene is heavily pixelated for a Blu-ray. All of this, regardless of what device I have tried it on (15" laptop, 24" LCD desktop screen, 24" HD TV, 55" 4K TV, 72" 4K TV) or what picture adjustments I have tried on these devices.

Digging through the video's specs, I found that the bitrate for the video is actually slightly less than the bitrate of the DVD, yet the resolution has been ramped up to 1080p. The problem with this is that you can't take a picture and stretch it out like this and expect to have anywhere near the original quality without digitally remastering the source first.

The bitrate issue coupled with the data lost through the transcoding process and the sheer and utter lack of any remastering, explains why the picture quality is so degraded.

I would suggest saving the money and purchasing the cheaper DVD version of the film, as the picture quality is much better even on a 72 inch 4K TV.

Right off the (vampire) bat, I have to say that if you want to see lots of dudes wearing leather pants, with earrings and bare chests, smoking clove cigarettes, and loaded with plenty of styling mousse in their hair, then this is the film for you! In other words, this movie is DEFINITELY a product of its time, namely 1994.
Although I did enjoy this film, it must be said that it suffers from being badly dated. Millenials would undoubtedly find this movie to be a joke.... laughably old fashioned, and even quaint. For example, the so-called "racy and steamy orgy" is lame and tepid by today's standards. Just a bunch of people, with most of their clothes still on (!), lying on sofas and rubbing up against each other. If this scene were to be shot in exactly the same way today, it would only receive a PG-13 rating! In other words, this film suffers from being a quarter of a century old, and therefore timid and old fashioned. In fact, this movie reminds me a lot of the old "erotic thrillers" that Showtime and Cinemax used to show late at night, in the very late 80's and early 90's. Nostalgia mixed with a few sexy sparkles....
Nonetheless, I will say that i liked this movie, and found it to be good natured and entertaining. Maybe because I am an older viewer, I can still appreciate the style, manner, and flavor of the 90's. This film is a kind of artifact that brings back some feelings of nostalgia and youthful sparks.
And even though it is clearly a low budget effort, it does have plenty of style and directorial flair. And Alyssa Milano is undoubtedly lovely to look at; she is strikingly sexy and alluring. Be aware, though, that even though this is an "Unrated" version, there is still no full frontal nudity. None whatsoever. But we do get to see and appreciate the star's upper torso, which is arguably better than nothing. To sum up, if you expect this to be a scorchingly hot film just because it is unrated, you will be sorely disappointed. There is heavy kissing and fondling, and that's all. As well as the aforementioned bare breasts.
As for the plot, it suffers from numerous gaps and weaknesses. For example, what is this British vampire (Martin Kemp) doing at an American college? And why the hell does he have to "sleep forever" in just three days?? And why, exactly, will the seduction of Alyssa Milano's character prevent this "permanent" sleep? And what's up with the three steamy "nymphs" in the prologue of the movie? Are they simply three sexy vampires who just happen to be strolling through the woods? What the hell?
Oh well, despite it's plentiful flaws, this is a fun film. It's engaging, stylish, and quirkily enjoyable. But it is also pretty cheesy, especially in the way over-the-top performance of Martin Kemp. But if you want to kick back, drink some Bartles and James' wine coolers, smoke a clove cigarette, and watch some low-key erotic posturing, complete with plenty of hair mousse, then this definitely is the film for you.

Both the positive reviews & the negative reviews of the film are absolutely right! This movie is terrible. But the soft-core Alyssa Milano/Charlotte Lewis scenes are some of the best ever put into a mass-market film. This movie belongs right alongside other great soft-core classics of the 1990s like "Bound," "Cruel Intentions," "Wild Side," & "Wild Things." I'd also recommend you check out the opening sequence from Brian De Palma's 2002 thriller "Femme Fatale."

There was also a 2013 remake of "Embrace of the Vampire," which features its own version of the Charlotte/Sarah scenes. Paradoxically, the remake is much more sexually explicit than the original but also not as erotic. (The remake also apparently has a much broader definition of "virgin.")

ADDITIONAL: I recently upgraded from a DVD to a Blu-Ray copy. I'd say that was a waste of money. I was expecting to see a bit more detail in some of the darker scenes, especially the Sarah by Starlight scene. I really didn't. The Blu-Ray does help pick up more of the actresses' micro-expressions, which make the sex scenes that much steamier as you can see every little quiver of desire. But it's a fairly minor improvement and not worth the $18 if you already have the DVD. (Also, for what it's worth, the DVD has more chapter breaks, which I prefer over the longer chapters of the Blu-Ray version.)

Okay, here it is. I have to be absolutely honest about this. I didn't buy the movie for the story, which, by the way, is totally formulaic, and I didn't buy it for the vampire, whose acting leaves so much to be desired that, if that's why one buys it one will quickly sell it, give it away or melt it in a fire, and I didn't buy it for the forgettable lines either. I bought it strictly for the topless Milano scenes and I was not even minimally disappointed. The girl simply cannot help it. She's just hot. Good gosh a mickey momma. The look on her face at times and the way she moved at others absolutely curled my toes. So there you have it. If you want a movie for the sake a good movie, don't waste your money. If you're buying it for an erotic Milano, go count your pennies now.

Pretty much just a soft porn movie. If you want to see Alyssa Milano as well as other women naked, this is the movie for you.

"Embrace Of The Vampire" was Alyssa Milano's transition from child to adult acting and she does it with aplomb. She learned well from both Judith Light and Katherine Helmond, who played her mother and grandmother respectively in "Who's The Boss." She delivers a measured and mature performance as Charlotte, a coming of age teen who experiences adult situations while entering college. Having Martin Kemp as her co-star certainly helps as he contributes to the mature nature of this film. The rest of the cast, which includes Jennifer Tilly, plays the film quite admirably. The genre is not for everyone and is sexually explicit especially since the version I purchased is unrated. However, mature audiences will enjoy it and certifies Ms. Milano's graduation from child to adult feature film actor.

B rated movie but I bought it because it stars Alyssa Milano. The premise is the usual seductive vampire kitch and it does have a few notable actors like Martin Kemp and Jennifer Tilly but Tilly only has a minor role towards the end of the movie. Of course Alyssa is the star and does an acceptable job of acting with the mediocre material and directing she was given. As mentioned by other reviewers, the only reason for watching is to see Milano doing soft-porn. She does look great!