| Embrace of the Vampire | |
| Director: | Anne Goursaud |
| Cinematography: | Suki Medencevic |
| Editing: | Terilyn A. Shropshire |
| Music: | Joseph Stanley Williams |
| Distributor: | New Line Cinema |
| Budget: | $500,000[1] |
| Runtime: | 92 minutes |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
Embrace of the Vampire is a 1995 American direct-to-video[2] erotic horror film directed by Anne Goursaud. It stars Alyssa Milano as Charlotte, a chaste girl who is haunted by a vampire played by Martin Kemp.
Charlotte is a "chaste" good girl who is having erotic dreams where she meets her dream lover — a dark, handsome vampire – who was himself bitten by nymph vampires long ago, and who sees Charlotte as the reincarnation of his long-lost lover, a princess. Charlotte's dreams interfere with her relationship with her more mundane real-life boyfriend, Chris. The Vampire gives Charlotte an ankh that alters her behavior when she wears it. Charlotte is drawn towards The Vampire's world but she is disturbed by her longings. Charlotte struggles between these opposing entities, coming to see that not only does she have to choose between her boyfriend and her mysterious night-time visitor, but also between light and dark, and good and evil.
Charlotte is influenced by The Vampire and starts behaving wantonly, going to a party wearing nothing but ankle boots and a short, low-cut dress from her friend Nicole's wardrobe. She has her drink spiked and after briefly kissing a student called Milo, they are interrupted by his girlfriend Eliza, the "campus slut." The Vampire intervenes, killing Eliza by banging her head against Charlotte's door, and then licking the blood from the door as Charlotte listens in a state of arousal from the other side.
Charlotte drifts in and out of her dream as The Vampire tells her to come to him. He believes there is nothing left for her here (on Earth) and he only has hours to exist unless he can get Charlotte to love him. After some dream scenes, Charlotte is in the tower with The Vampire. Chris is there too, but The Vampire pushes Chris away and is about to bite Charlotte when she utters Chris's name; he initially tells her not to think of Chris and instead think of himself and her as a couple. Then, after Charlotte calls out Chris's name again, The Vampire angrily warns her that she cannot take Chris's love to the eternal life he was offering her, and he disappears. The story concludes with Charlotte and Chris awakening in the morning, sharing a tender kiss, while The Vampire meets his demise in his desolate room.
Regarding her nude scenes in the film, Milano said in a 1995 interview, "I'm not going to say that I was manipulated into doing things that I didn't want to do. I did it because it was a woman director and I felt protected. And I learned a lot as far as knowing where the camera is and what coverage they need so that it's not all explicit."[3]
In an interview published in 2005, director Anne Goursaud said the film "was made for $500,000 in thirteen days". She estimates that thanks to video sales, "it has made maybe $15 million".[1]
In a retrospective positive review for Fangoria, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas wrote of the film, "Embrace of the Vampire is good, trashy, '90s fun, and with the broader compelling stories about Milano and Goursaud to go along with it, it makes for quite a ride."[4]