Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood
Director: Gilbert Adler
Cast: Dennis Miller, Erika Eleniak, Angie Everhart
Shout! Factory/Scream Factory
October 20, 2015
Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons
After the moderate success of the Tales from the Crypt HBO series and the first feature film, Demon Knight, the powers that be wanted to see if they could cash in again with Bordello of Blood.
Sadly, the weird, fun, funny, scary, and bloody magic that made Demon Knight so good wouldn’t be captured again here. Bordello of Blood is almost universally loathed, but not just horror fans, but even the very people that made it. But more on that when I talk about the special features on this new Blu-ray from Scream Factory. And despite the far below average rating this movie has earned, good on the Factory of Screams for bringing it out on Blu-ray as a companion piece to the first movie, and for the very, very small cult of fans that do like it. If you are part of that cult, then you are all set to get this flick, but if you’re not a Bordello cultist, should you get it? Well keep reading and find out.
This time around the focus is on vampires and the mother of all bloodsuckers, Lilith, played by model turned actress Angie Everhart. She is brought back to life by some shady characters for their own nefarious plans, and soon Lilith is set up in the titular Bordello of Blood, which happens to be hiding inside a mortuary, because why the hell not? Anyway, Lilith and her she-vamps are eating any horny guy that comes to the whorehouse, and that includes Corey Feldman’s character who has a bible-thumping big sister, who in turn hires low rent, skivvy, and smartass PI Rafe Guttman played by the always snarky Dennis Miller. To round out the cast, Chris Sarandon plays a southern, swaggering, electric guitar playing televangelist. What follows is Dennis Miller being funny (well, some of the time) and investigating the missing brother while Lilith is sexy, Sarandon is sleazy, and pretty much all things are played for laughs that not always happen, and there’s never once any real horror in this horror movie. Oh there’s lot of blood, and that’s cool, but gore alone does not equal horror.
On to the extras and special features on this new Blu-ray from Scream Factory. There is an audio commentary with screenwriter A.L. Katz, and that’s all. A reason for that could be evident in the behind the scenes featurette that runs 36 minutes where everyone, and I mean everyone that bothers to show up for it (which isn’t a lot of folks) seems embarrassed and ashamed of the movie. Also, about what a gigantic douchebag Dennis Miller was. Considering his hard turn into politics, I can’t say that I’m surprised, but I digress. In addition to these two bits there is a typical PR video promo, a still gallery, and a theatrical trailer to be found here. All in all, not bad for this mostly forgotten and derided movie.
Bordello of Blood is a bit of a mess. It’s not well made, written, acted, or directed. There is some fun bits, lots of nudity, and some decent gory bits, so it’s not completely without merit, but can I recommend this movie? No, not really. But if you are a fan of this flick, then by all means pick up this Blu-ray as it looks great and does have some nice extras.
