''Vampire Hookers'' is a 1978

sexploitation A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition of non-explicit s ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by Cirio H. Santiago and written by Howard R. Cohen. An international co-production of the Philippines and the United States, the film stars John Carradine as a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

named Richmond Reed, who recruits three female vampires who pose as prostitutes in order to lure victims to their lair. The other members of the cast include Bruce Fairbairn, Trey Wilson, Karen Stride, Lenka Novak, and Katie Dolan. ''Vampire Hookers'' is also known by a number of other titles, including ''Cemetery Girls'', ''Night of the Bloodsuckers'', ''Sensuous Vampires'', and ''Twice Bitten''. The film has received mixed reviews from critics.

Cast

* John Carradine as Richmond Reed *

Bruce Fairbairn Bruce Earl Fairbairn (December 30, 1949 – May 17, 1999) was a Canadian record producer. He was active as a producer from 1976 to 1999, and is considered one of the best of his era. His most successful productions are ''Slippery When Wet'' an ...

as Tom Buckley * Trey Wilson as Terry Wayne * Karen Stride as Cherish * Lenka Novak as Suzy * Katie Dolan as Marcy * Lex Winter as CPO Taylor *

Leo Martinez Leo Martinez (born March 7, 1950) is a Filipino actor, comedian and director. Martinez was the Director General of the Film Academy of the Philippines before Vivian Velez' appointment. Personal life He is married to Gina Valenciano (sister of Gar ...

as Julio *

Vic Diaz Victor Sunico Diaz'', popularly known as Vic Diaz, (July 29, 1932 – September 15, 2006) was a Filipino character actor who mostly portrayed villains. He was also the father of Teddy Diaz, the founding guitarist of the Filipino Rock band The D ...

as Pavo

Production

''Vampire Hookers'' was filmed in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

, Philippines in

16 mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, edu ...

Critical reception

Paula Mejia of ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' included ''Vampire Hookers'' on a list of ten "excellent cheesy horror movies", and wrote that "the one-liners are atrocious, as is the movie's cringeworthy theme song". In his book ''Vampire Films of the 1970s: Dracula to Blacula and Every Fang Between'', writer Gary A. Smith also noted the film's use of one-liners, writing that they "seem positively brilliant when compared with the

fart humor Flatulence humor, or Rude humour (more commonly known as fart humor) refers to any type of joke, practical joke device, or other off-color humor related to flatulence. History Although it is likely that flatulence humor has long been considere ...

which abounds." Smith wrote that the film "defines the term '

grindhouse cinema An exploitation film is a film that tries to succeed financially by exploiting current trends, niche genres, or lurid content. Exploitation films are generally low-quality " B movies", though some set trends, attract critical attention, become ...

, and goes on to call it "poorly photographed in 16mm complete with the harsh lighting, post-synched dialogue and generally wretched performances so prevalent in '70s exploitation movies."

Home media

In September 2013, ''Vampire Hookers'' was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

Vinegar Syndrome Cellulose acetate film, or safety film, is used in photography as a base material for photographic emulsions. It was introduced in the early 20th century by film manufacturers and intended as a safe film base replacement for unstable and highly ...

as a

double feature The double feature is a motion picture industry phenomenon in which theatres would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which one feature film and various short subject reels would be shown. Opera use Opera ho ...

with the 1978 film ''

Death Force ''Death Force'' (also known as ''Vengeance Is Mine'') is a 1978 martial arts exploitation film directed by Cirio H. Santiago and written by Howard R. Cohen. The film is an international co-production of the Philippines and the United States, an ...

'', which was also directed by Santiago. In August 2018, Vinegar Syndrome released the film on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

as part of their ''5 Films 5 Years Volume #4'' set, a release which also contains four other films.

Squanch Games Squanch Games (formerly known as Squanchtendo) is an American video game development studio based in Burbank, California. The company was founded by Justin Roiland in August 2016. The studio is most known for developing '' Accounting'' (2016), ...

licensed the film to be used in their 2022 video game '' High On Life'', in which the player can view the film in its entirety.

References

External links

* * {{Rotten Tomatoes, id=the_vampire_hookers, title=Vampire Hookers 1970s exploitation films 1978 horror films 1978 films American exploitation films American sexploitation films Films about Filipino Americans Films about prostitution in the Philippines Films shot in Manila Philippine erotic horror films American vampire films 1970s English-language films Films directed by Cirio H. Santiago 1970s American films