''Children of the Night'' is a 1991 American horror film directed by

Tony Randel Tony Randel (born May 29, 1956) is an American film director and screenwriter. Film career In 1985, Randel (credited as Anthony Randel) produced the New World Pictures rework of the Japanese ''The Return of Godzilla'' into the English film '' G ...

, and starring

Karen Black Karen Blanche Black (née Ziegler; July 1, 1939 – August 8, 2013) was an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She rose to prominence for her work in various studio and independent films in the 1970s, frequently portrayi ...

Peter DeLuise Peter John DeLuise (born November 6, 1966) is an American actor, television director, television producer, and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Officer Doug Penhall in the Fox TV series ''21 Jump Street'', and for directing and writing ...

, and

Ami Dolenz Ami Bluebell Dolenz (born January 8, 1969) is an American former actress. Early life Dolenz was born in Burbank, California, into a show business family. She is the daughter of Micky Dolenz of the 1960s group the Monkees, and British television ...

. Its plot follows a young woman and a local schoolteacher who attempt to rid their small community of

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

s that have been inadvertently unleashed.

Plot

Before going away to college, two childhood friends, Cindy Thompson and Lucy Barrett, decide to symbolically cleanse themselves of the "dirt" of their small town by swimming laps in a flooded, abandoned church crypt. Lucy drops her

crucifix A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...

, which drifts down onto the submerged remains of an ancient vampire, Czakyr. Czakyr awakes and kills Cindy. Mark Gardner (

), a school teacher from a nearby town, gets directed to Allburg by an old friend of his, Father Frank Aldin (Evan Mackenzie). Once there he tries to help Lucy, as she has now become the target of a town-turned-vampires, due to her "virgin blood". Lucy, Mark, and a drunken preacher make camp in an abandoned building outside of town and make plans to fight the vampire army. Utilizing the preacher's "cross mobile" they battle Allburg's entire vampire populace, ultimately taking on the evil Czakyr. Once Czakyr has been killed, the town's folk return to normal, with some complaining of "splinters in their chests".

Cast

Release and reception

''Children of the Night'' had its world premiere at the 1991

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

as part of their Midnight Madness program.

Jay Scott Jeffrey Scott Beaven (October 4, 1949 – July 30, 1993), known professionally by his pen name Jay Scott, was a Canadian film critic."Critic Jay Scott, 43 among world's best". ''Toronto Star'', July 31, 1993. Early life Scott was born in Lincol ...

(''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'') referred to the film as a standout of the program, referring to the film as "a truly disgusting vampire film - imagine Karen Black in latex makeup, moaning through her rubber fangs".

References

External links

* * * American supernatural horror films 1991 films Columbia Pictures films American vampire films 1991 horror films Films directed by Tony Randel American exploitation films Films scored by Daniel Licht American splatter films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films {{1990s-horror-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Release and reception

References

Further reading

External links