City of the Vampires

Director - Ron Bonk (House Shark, She Kills)

Starring - Matthew Jason Walsh (Zombie Cop, Curse of the Puppet Master), Anne-Marie O'Keefe, Noel Bonk

Release Date - 1993

Genre - Horror

Tagline - "As Sam Helling walks through the city of death.  He shall fear no evil"

Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I've slowly been playing catch up since a lot of companies are not releasing that many genre specific films due to the pandemic.  The last few days I've set my sights on SRS Cinema.  I had took advantage of their pandemic sale on several occasions which resulted in several blus I had never seen.  On top of that I received a sizable haul from MVD to review which featured several of SRS Cinema's retro line on DVD.  After checking out the blus I decided to take a dive into the DVDs and starting with SRS founder Ron Bonk's early S.O.V. vampire flick City of the Vampires.  

     The film follows Sam Helling (Walsh) who lost his girlfriend sometime ago during an accident.  His city is declining as people go missing or found dead.  He suspects something else is going on and one night he is drawn out into the heart of the city where he discovers that vampires are taking over and his girlfriend, who he thought was dead, is now one of the living dead.  

      I've seen and reviewed several of Bonk's newer horror flicks like She Kills and House Shark.  He is definitely a filmmaker that makes the kind of flicks that I'm always on the hunt for.  However, I had never seen his earlier films until I received these DVD releases.  It's crazy to see how much he has grown as a filmmaker.  City of the Vampires is a messy no-budget flick but I really enjoyed it.  The acting in this one is surprisingly solid.  The cast does have a few awkward moments and their mannerisms are a little over-dramatic at times but they do a solid job for the most part.  The characters are very cheesy and over the top but I enjoyed them in this setting.  The story for this one is listed on imdb as a vampire spin on Night of the Living Dead.  Honestly, I don't see that but it did remind me a lot of a no-budget spin on Children of the Night from 1991.  It follows a town overrun by vampires while people try to survive.  Similar stories and I enjoy them both the same.  It does drag on a bit as the film was coming to an end as if they didn't know when to exactly call it quits but aside from that it was pretty solid.  Finally, the film has some blood and a few gun wounds with one in particular that stands out especially when you consider the experience and skill the crew had at this time.  They are not that memorable but the one kill in particular is very impressive.  Overall, City of the Vampires is a rough around the edges S.O.V. horror flick that is fun and entertaining.  It may not be the most original or best acted horror flick I've seen today but it was worth my time.  Check it out.