| Sergio Lapel's Drawing Blood (1999) Directed by Sergio Lapel If you were to take a pinch of Roger Corman�s A Bucket of Blood, add a dash of H.G. Lewis� Color Me Blood Red, throw in healthy lashings of vampirism, along with just a hint of late night erotic thriller, you�d end up with something very much like Sergio Lapel�s Drawing Blood. �That�s all well and good� I hear you say. �But just who is Sergio Lapel when he�s at home?�. Sorry to say, I don�t know either ( but I�m sure the answer lies somewhere on the director�s commentary track that�s just one of a host of special features on the local Stomp Region 4 DVD release that I�ve yet to fully peruse). I know what else you�re thinking. Usually putting one�s name ahead of the title is a Hollywood mover and shaker type thing to do. Stanley Kubrik�s Eyes Wide Shut... Tim Burton�s Corpse Bride... you get the picture. This Sergio Lapel must be a real auteur to be part of the film title vanity club. Troma's answer to Woody Allen. Well, not exactly; Sergio Lapel�s Drawing Blood is the one and only film on his resume. So was Troma being ironic with their marketing of this film? Or did El Presidente Lloyd Kaufman plan ahead believing that he had a talented filmmaker on his hands who would someday be a bona fide member of the film title vanity club? Hard to say. But Sergio Lapel�s Drawing Blood is actually a good deal better than you�d expect. Diana is a vampire vixen with an artistic streak second only to her sadistic streak. She�s more confused by the thin line between art and sadism than Sardu of Bloodsucking Freaks fame. Diana�s into still-life portraits. Which basically consists of having her kindhearted assistant Edmond lure desperate hookers back to her studio. Once there, she slashes their throats, drinks their blood like a syrupy shiraz, then proceeds to paint a portrait of their still corpse using only their coagulating blood. Pretty original eh? Well at least it is if you�ve never seen Color Me Blood Red. Throw in more bums and hookers than you�ll find on Hollywood Blvd, a head-case vampire wannabe, some obligatory full frontal nudity,and a horny old coot who does the odd Jimmy Durrante impression, and you have a pretty entertaining pick-up from Troma with surprisingly reasonable production values. So Sergio Lapel may not be a member of the film title vanity club quite yet. Nevertheless, Drawing Blood is a pretty watchable little exploitation movie, and well worth a look. Sure, it has as many low spots as high ones. And at times feels like Lapel is just trying too hard to sleaze things up. This may not be a Martin, or a Near Dark by any means, but as vampire movies go it�s better than most. Entertainment : 3 out of 4 Watchability : 2.5 out of 4 Overall : 2.75 out of 4 Reviewed by Blake |