Besos de sangre

I love vampire films, except for when the vamps in question are emotionally tormented lovesick romantics: I want my vampires to be thoroughly evil and vicious, ripping out throats and draining virgins of blood, not getting all sappy over a woman. To Die For is a tacky, '80s, straight-to-video effort that features a particularly drippy vampire in the form of Vlad Tepish (Brendan Hughes), who falls for L. A. real estate agent Kate Wooten (Sydney Walsh), whose job it is to find Vlad a suitably gothic property in which to hold lavish soirées (she finds him a really gaudy mock castle). Out to sabotage Vlad's romantic intentions is rival vampire Tom (Steve Bond), who holds a centuries-old grudge against Tepish; meanwhile, Kate's friend Celia (Amanda Wyss) develops an obsession for Vlad.

The bulk of this film consists of the aforementioned mawkish romance, and it is extremely tedious, with very little in the way of horror. MUFX man John Carl Buechler provides some rubbery vampire hands and impressive sets of fangs (when in full on vamp-mode, Vlad and Tom possess several rows of sharp gnashers), but he is only given the chance to really impress with his effects in the film's two vampire melt scenes: Celia becomes a gloopy mess after been partially decapitated and staked through the heart, and Vlad disintegrates in the final act, committing suicide by exposing himself to sunlight.

If Embrace of the Vampire (1995) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) are your idea of a good vampire films, then have at it, but To Die for is anything but in my opinion.