MCBASTARD'S MAUSOLEUM

VAMPIRE TIME TRAVELERS (1998)

Visual Vengeance Collector's Edition Blu-ray

Label: Visual Vengeance

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: Unrated

Duration: 65 Minutes 56 Seconds

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080i HD Fullscreen (1.33:1)

Director: Les Sekely

Cast: J.J. Rodgers, Lynne Baker, Micky Levy, Lori Morrissey

Les Sekely's Vampire Time Travelers (1998) is an absurdist college comedy romp about a group of very cute college girls, and while vampire's figure into it, it's less horror and more horror-spoof, played for laughs with plenty of camp-humor. The sorority sisters include J.J. Rodgers (Sue Anne Marie, 3rd Rock from the Sun), the nerdy tennis dynamo Heidi (Ali Elk) Jenna (Micky Levy, Human Prey), Michelle (Lori Morrisey, Confessions of a Call Girl), guitar shredder Zoe (Kat Facchino, Vampire Night), pledging for the Alpha Omega sorority, where they are treated poorly by bitchy sorority sisters Vaughn (Lynne Baker) and the boot-licking Jenna. As if being a pledge isn't hard enough the pledges find themselves the prey of vampire Lorilei (Jillian Weisz, Sorority House Vampires), who is bent on revenge after her Vampire Queen sister Natalia was slain my the sorority years earlier by J.J.'s sister Buffy.

Now the bloodsucking queen little sister has come to have her revenge on the descendants of the sorority sisters who killed the Queen, there's a couple of issues. For starters, Lorilei not a powerful enough vampire to bite a human who has slain a queen on the neck, so she has to resort to being a butt-biting vampire, the flick even throws in a delightfully oddball theme song "Bite Her on the Butt!". As she starts turning sorority pledges into bloodsuckers the girls number dwindle, and the JJ and the few remaining others are left to stop Lorelei and her vamp-minions before they things get too out of control.

This plays like a live-action cartoon, it's pretty zany stuff, it never borders on actuals fright of any kind and is content to just deliver wild non-sequiturs and cornball comedy as a fast clip. It runs just over and hour and I thought it flew by rather nicely. Other characters that show up include a childhood boogeyman that hangs out in one of pledges closets, a Lord of Darkness and few other quirky characters. There's also a time travel elements involved with this one that is a clever idea that is poorly executed. There's some fun stuff here, one of my favorite bits is the nerdy tennis player who attempts to defend herself from the bloodsuckers by serving them with wooden stake tipped tennis balls, and when the guitar shredder is turned one of the first people she goes after is a sleazy record producer who never returns his calls, played by the director.

If you like screwball humor, randomness and cheap spoofs there is fun to be had with this flick, but I feel like this shot-on-video slice of vampire goofiness will have a very niche audience, but for those who crave these underseen gems from the greasy underbelly of corny cult cinema, well it's gonna blow your mind.

Audio/Video: Vampire Time Travelers (1998) gets a region-free Blu-ray from Visual Vengeance, offering a new director-approved SD master from original tape elements, upscaled to 1080i fullscreen (1.33:1). How's it look, like a well-maintained VHD tape, it's smeary, colors bleed, details are soft, blacks are anemic, exactly what you imagined, but totally watchable, magnetic tape has proven to be a resilient format, and I am continually surprised how watchable these shot-on-video oddities look on Blu-ray. Audio comes by way of English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo with optional English subtitles. Like the video presentation it's not great, but it sounds authentic to the original source, those camcorders always picked up a lot of room sound, but it's part and parcel o the homespun SOV aesthetic, if it wasn't there it would be like a film print without film grain, it just wouldn't be right.

This release from VV is of course stacked with extras, for both Vampire Time Travelers and the bonus film I Know What You Did in English Class. For VTT we get an Audio Commentary with director Les Sekely, a 19-min Director Les Sekely Interview, a 14-min Actress JJ Rodgers Interview, 11-min Actress Angelia Scott Interview, and the 22-min Director of Photography Dennis Devine and Assistant Director Steve Jarvis Interview. Also included is the 2001 Short Film: Not So Grim Reaper which runs approx. 33-min, plus the 1-min

Vampire Time Travelers: Visual Vengeance Trailer (1:19)

The 2006 bonus film I Know What You Did In English Class (2006, 69:27) gets it's own Audio Commentary with director Les Sekely, a 16-min Director Les Sekely Interview, 23-min Cinematographer Russ Lindsay Interview, 16-min Director of Photography Dennis Devine and Production Assistant Steve Jarvis Interview, and a 5-min Actor Russell Towne Interview. Disc extras are tidied up with a 1-min I Know What You Did in English Class: Visual Vengeance Trailer, plus a selection of Visual Vengeance Trailers, for Fungicide, Reanimator University, and Saurians.

The single-disc Blu-ray arrives in a clear keepcase with a Reversible Wrap featuring artwork for both Vampire Time Travelers as well as the bonus film I Know What You Did in English Class. Inside you will find a ‘Stick Your Own’ VHS Sticker Set, and a Folded Mini-Poster featuring the a-side wrap artwork. The first-pressing also includes a Limited Edition O-Card Slipcover with artwork by Rick Melton, because who the fuck else is gonna do the artwork for a film who's tagline is "Bite Her In The Butt!"?

I don't love every SOV oddity that comes our way from Visual Vengeance, but I am continually wowed by their commitment to documenting these SOV flicks, always going the extra mile, which is why I have dubbed them the Criterion of Crud, they really go all out for the bonus junk and packaging extras, no matter how cheap or no-budget these scrappy flicks are they treat them with respect and love, and that's fucking amazing.

Special Features:

- New director-approved SD master from original tape elements.

- Audio Commentary with director Les Sekely

- Director Les Sekely Interview (19:15)

- Actress JJ Rodgers Interview (14:07)

- Actress Angelia Scott Interview (10:56)

- Director of Photography Dennis Devine and Assistant Director Steve Jarvis interview (21:30)

- Short Film: Not So Grim Reaper (32:26)

Vampire Time Travelers - Visual Vengeance Trailer (1:19)

- Bonus Movie: I Know What You Did In English Class (2006, 69:27)

- 'English Class' Commentary with director Les Sekely

- Director Les Sekely 'English Class' interview (16:13)