LUST FOR DRACULA: DIRECTOR'S CUT

Lust For Dracula

U.S.A. / 2004
Directed by Tony Marsiglia
Starring
Misty Mundae
Darian Caine
Julian Wells
Color / 88 Minutes / Not Rated
Format: DVD (R1 - NTSC)
E.I./Seduction Cinema

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10 = Highest Rating

Direct-to-video sex starlet Misty Mundae gets a chance to spread her acting wings in writer/director Tony Marsiglia's avant-garde follow-up to Dr. Jekyll & Mistress Hyde.
    I'll try not to flog a dead horse here, but (as covered in past reviews) I'm personally not very keen on surrealistic cinema. And Lust For Dracula happens to be very surreal. After watching it twice I still don't understand a great deal of what I saw. In the DVD's audio commentary Marsiglia states that the film's main theme is that people and situations are often not what we see and think them to be. The same could be said for this movie. The Dracula legend, as handed down by Bram Stoker and interpreted in countless films ever since, is turned almost completely on its head. I was left puzzled to be sure — downright baffled in fact — but at least not frustrated (...if you know what I mean).
    Mina Harker (Mundae) is one messed up chick. For one thing, she's insane. For another, she's constantly being plied with psychotropic drugs by her cold and inattentive husband, the director of a pharmaceutical company. Hubby Jonathan (Julian Wells) is actually a woman — only Mina doesn't realize this. If she did she'd probably understand why she's unable to get pregnant. To compensate she's created a fantasy child, a straw doll she keeps in a cradle upstairs. (Which begs the question... Is Mina crazy because she's taking the pills or taking the pills because she's crazy?) In the midst of this weird situation Dracula (Darian Caine) appears at the Harker home one night. Just Dracula — not 'Countess' Dracula, even though the vampire is a female. (And a stark naked one at that!) Rather than some bloodthirsty monster this Dracula is a kind soul, offering the confused and lonely Mina a sympathetic shoulder, even love. (Mundae and Caine share a genuinely erotic — even tender — lovemaking scene that's very nicely photographed, accompanied by spare yet evocative ambient music composed by Don Mike.) Mina's chance for happiness may be short-lived, however; her older sister Abigail (Shelly Jones) is aware of Dracula's unearthly nature and wants to destroy him — uh, I mean her. Abigail also seems to covet Mina's husband, whom she's fooled around with in the past. (Does Abigail realize Jonathan is really a woman? She's taking the same pills as her sister...) While all this is going on, a vampire named Sarah (Andrea Davis) is initiating a young novice (Casey Jones) in the ways of the Lesbian Undead. Abigail knows of them, or at least she sees (and has sex with) them in bizarre dreams. Are they servants of Dracula? Or some other dark mas— er, mistress?
    Trippy scenario aside, Lust For Dracula is, when all is said and done, a softcore lesbian sex film — one made by men. Over half the running time is consumed by Sapphic encounters. Most of the cast members go naked throughout. (Darian Caine, in fact, doesn't wear a stitch of clothes except in a single brief scene.) One's mileage will naturally vary depending on your attraction to certain types of women. Caine, Andrea Davis and Casey Jones sport tattoos and/or multiple piercings; Shelly Jones displays some pretty obvious breast implants. The barely legal-looking Casey has a distinct aura of 'trailer park jailbait' about her but, to be fair, this seems to be the nature of her character. None of the ladies I just mentioned are particularly adept at acting. This was the first film for the Joneses (real-life sisters) and it shows. Davis, it should be noted, has improved immensely since her performance in Dr. Jekyll & Mistress Hyde — she's very uninhibited in front of the camera, and with further acting experience could develop into a formidable player in the erotica/sexploitation genre. As for Julian Wells, the athletic blonde wears little makeup and dresses in men's clothing (when she isn't nude) for her gender-bending turn as Mina's "husband". She seems to relish playing this unusual character, getting into the role via physical mannerisms and terse line delivery. Wells is very good, particularly in the difficult scenes depicting Jonathan's abusive treatment of Mina.
    Then there's Misty Mundae. She may not be drop-dead model gorgeous but the realness she projects onscreen (and I'm not just referring to the absence of surgical enhancement) makes her just as sexy, if not more so, than the perfectly toned-and-coiffed plastic goddesses our culture's so enamored with right now. She's the type of gal one could imagine actually encountering in the real world — in a grocery store, an ATM queue or a coffee shop — and be instantly (and intensely) attracted to. As Lust For Dracula's Mina, she's given the difficult task of portraying a troubled young woman who's both endearingly vulnerable and stark raving mad. The apex of this fine balancing act comes as Mina 'reads' the story of "Little Bat-Bat" to her imaginary child. (The autobiographical tale obviously springs from her deranged, drug-addled mind.)
    Besides Misty's performance, the most laudatory aspect of Lust For Dracula is just how amazing the film looks considering the tight schedule and meager budget — it was shot in a mere five days for approximately $60,000. This isn't some "Hey, kids! Let's make a movie!"-style indie project where the participants (especially behind the camera) possess a lot more enthusiasm than actual talent. The film is quite stylish in its compositions and editing, making deft use of color and sound. That it was shot on film stock, not digital video, makes a world of difference. Marsiglia and DP Dang Lenawae (who worked together on Mistress Hyde) are capable of producing high quality visuals with little to work with and even less time for set-up and multiple takes.
    So while I knocked off a few ratings points for the perplexing narrative, I can nonetheless see how others might have a higher opinion. Anyone who enjoys the modern avant-garde 'horrotica' of Jess Franco — I'm referring to his work over the past 10 to 15 years — should find something to like here. (This film is a helluva lot better than Franco's Lust For Frankenstein, that's for sure!) And for fans of Misty Mundae, this is definitely Must-See DTV.

Seduction Cinema has issued two versions of Lust For Dracula: an R-rated edition (acceptable to retail chains like Best Buy) and the unedited "Director's Cut" reviewed here. The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) format with a solid Dolby 2.0 audio mix. There's a bit of grain noticeable at times but overall, given the low budget nature of the production, the movie looks and sounds absolutely first-rate.
Although the DVD doesn't come with a bonus soundtrack CD a la Dr. Jekyll & Mistress Hyde, it's almost as packed with extras. First up is a 6 minute behind-the-scenes featurette which shows the cast and crew at work, mostly at the rented house subbing for the Harker domicile, and during downtime between takes (with the ladies smoking and joking a lot). Also running some 6 minutes, a solo interview with Misty Mundae reveals that, while she didn't fully understand the script (I feel much better now!), she appreciated the opportunity to play a meatier character than usual and enjoyed working with Marsiglia again. The director himself is joined by producer Michael Raso for a full-length commentary track, which sticks mainly to the nuts and bolts of microbudget independent filmmaking; Raso freely admits that he, too, doesn't quite fathom Lust For Dracula's odd story and surreal structure. (Admirably, the two gents consciously avoid any sophomoric banter of the wink-wink-nudge-nudge variety... even in the midst of up close and personal beaver diddling scenes. Marsiglia also states that he can't bear to watch the edited, R-rated cuts of his films.) Not related to Lust For Dracula is a 14-minute experimental short entitled InSex, about a lonely guy enthralled by a seductress who's actually more insect than human.
Topping off the package are a whopping 25 trailers for Seduction Cinema DVDs. These include skin-filled promos for many of the company's best-selling titles (Misty is prominently featured, natch) as well as Coming Attractions for such future releases as Chantal, The Erotic Diary Of Misty Mundae and the Joseph Sarno flicks comprising the Girl Meets Girl Collection. 5/12/05

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