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  • Vampirella for those not aware was a comic book that for its t&a levels became rather cult.

    During the mid 90's there was an influx of superhero comic book adaptations and Vampirella was certainly an odd choice.

    It tells the story of Ella (Vampirella) from the planet Drakulon (Or something to that effect) who is out to avenge her fathers death against the evil Vlad (Yeah really).

    Soto is an awful actress, sided with The Who lead singer Roger Daltrey as the antagonist and a cameo appearance by the tall man himself Angus Scrimm. For those unfamiliar with Soto she played Kitana in the live action Mortal Kombat movies where she was equally dire.

    Vampires in space, vampires with black cloaks with red inner lining, vampires that insist on hissing and showing their teeth and for the love of all 3000 gods they couldn't even get the iconic Vampirella outfit right.

    Cringe inducing and I think 3 is being excessively flattering.

    The Good:

    Decent soundtrack

    The Bad:

    Cringe inducing fight scenes

    Talisa Soto is a poor actress

    The very definition of cheesy

    Things I Learnt From This Movie:

    Some comic book characters should be left on the pages

    Soto should have transitioned into modelling
  • This had all the elements of a cult classic but was ruined by the makers of this film. Film starts off with a rogue vampire named Vlad (Roger Daltrey) who is about to be sentenced by the high council but his cohorts bust him out and kill all the high elders. They jump on a ship and head to Earth. The stepdaughter of one of the elders seeks revenge and makes her way to Earth also. Vampirella is played by Talisa Soto and she runs around in a fairly skimpy red outfit and tracks down Vlad and the other vampires that were involved. She meets Adam Van Helsing (Richard Joseph Paul) who works for PURGE that is an outfit that combats vampires and at first he is not sure if Vampirella is working with Vlad to infiltrate their unit. This film just doesn't capture what the comic book had done successfully. First, the outfit that Soto wears in the film is not as skimpy or revealing as the one in the comics. So they have her wear more clothing! Secondly, there is very little blood shown which is surprising since more than 50% of the characters are vampires. The sets are cheap and they just don't have any scenarios that make the film stand out. Its so run of the mill! Their is only two quick scenes where two female vampires get topless so cult status is pretty much out the window. Here's a film made by the Roger Corman group and directed by Jim Wynorski so you would think that some sort of bloody and sexy exploitation film would have been made. But no! For you trivia nuts out there, a young man is named Forry Ackerman and of course he is named for the creator of the comic book and also "Famous Monsters of Filmland". The real Forrest J. Ackerman makes a cameo in a bar. Director John Landis plays an astronaut and actor Angus Scrimm (Phantasm) plays Vampirella's stepfather and high elder. Film had real potential for cult status but for some strange reason the makers decided to ignore that and go the extremely safe route. What a shame!
  • i used to have a lot of the old vampirella magazines years ago so i was really looking forward to seeing this movie version of the worlds hottest vampire.oh my god was i ever let down after watching this real bad b movie.i wasn't expecting Alaska but i wasn't expecting this.and to add insult to injury roger daltry playing vlad.hahahaha what a joke.the only good thing about this movie is the sexy and lovely talisa soto.this lady is so hot that you will be able to watch this movie just because of her.i know her costume is cheesy and is different from the one in the comics.but come on guys if she came to your house wearing that costume would you complain.i didn't think so.one more thing the 4 rating is only because of her.
  • Vampires from outer space that are honourable citizens and no longer kill to feed themselves! Vlad (Roger Daltrey) - a renegade vampire, kills Vampirella's father and flees to Earth and joins nasty vamps as we better know them. Vampirella pursues him in seek of revenge. Sounds trashy? Yes it does! However, while this film will never rank amongst one of the great classics, it does provide 80 minutes worth of mindless viewing that is not entirely unsatisfying. Talisa Soto (Vampirella), apart from being a stunning beauty, carries this film quite well often with a semblance of some good acting skills. Roger Daltrey is Roger Daltrey. Some of the support acting is scarily awful at times but, as B Movies go, this is not the worst I have seen by far.
  • When I was a child I religiously read FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND and,when my mom wasn't looking,VAMPIRELLA.I was curious about this movie when I heard of it,although I'd heard it sucked.When I saw it was to be on cable I eagerly watched it.I wasn't disappointed!It was fast-paced,sexy fun,just like the comic.A sequel?
  • I've been an avid Vampirella fan since she first appeared in comics, so when I saw the video, I wondered why I had never heard of it before or saw it on DVD. I finally knew why: the movie is a totally disappointing experience. The costume of the main character isn't nearly close to the original (as portrayed in the comic books), and Talisa Soto (no matter how truly beautiful she is) is not the most appropriate leading lady for this particular role. From the look of the comics, we can figure out that Vampirella is a mixture of Slavic and middle east ethnic features (not a bad thing for any girl, because it's truly exotic in nature), and Soto is a Latin beauty. Not quite a match in casting, at all. For those viewers who aren't familiar with the characters from the comics, the movie is boring and slow paced, with loose references to the comic and really cheap costumes (the experience is even worst for those who knew the characters before hand). Also the visual effects are quite poor, to say the least. However, Joel Goldsmith's score is excellent, and it's really about the only production value on the film. I'll give this movie a 5, just on the basis of the music track alone, and I wouldn't mind at all to have it on CD, because it's truly enjoyable.
  • gavcrimson24 September 2020
    Warning: Spoilers
    Of all the Hammer films whose endings they could have stolen from, I'm a little surprised they went for Scars of Dracula. Maybe that was the only Hammer film ending they felt they could improve upon (which in fairness, they did) on a mid-1990s Roger Corman budget.

    Elsewhere though that low budget does begin to show. Given that the opening scenes are meant to be set on a far away planet, that 'futuristic' escalator which Vampirella and Angus Scrimm have there little tête-à-tête on, sure looks like the entrance to Ballys in Las Vegas.

    Roger Daltrey is usually the weakest link in anything he appears in, but here he is the best thing Vampirella has going for it, acting wise, clearly having a whale of a time, gleefully hamming it up as the villain and leaving the rest of the cast looking 1990s bland in comparison. As for Talisa Soto as Vampirella, what were they thinking?

    Vampirella is what it is, a cheap 1990s mashup of Hammer, Lifeforce, Superman and the era's direct to video action movies, but even so its hard to not watch it and imagine what kind of movie could be made out of this concept with today's technology or what kind of movie could have been made back then with a Salkind type of budget. Common sense though suggests this is destined to be the one and only shot at making a Vampirella movie. Realistically would a major studio be interested in throwing a multi-million dollar budget at a niche franchise like Vampirella, plus there is the added stigma of Forry Ackerman having been posthumously #metoo-ed a few years ago, leaving the potential for a stink bomb of bad publicity there too.
  • This is light weight, low budget camp. It doesn't really hit, but it is clear that (at some point) the director went with the flow and intentionally made a "so bad it's good" movie. (Except it isn't really quite "good") Watch it for a laugh. If you are watching it to see large breasts bouncing around: Grow up and just rent some porn.

    If I understand th gist of all the grossly negative comments they mostly revolve around Vamiprella (Talisa Soto) not having large enough breasts and that her costume is not skimpy enough. Hmmm. One can guess that these guys don't ever get the chance to see an actual nude female in real life unless they pay for the privilege.

    Now my take on the costumes. The female costumes are quite skimpy and tight. The red rubber costume of Vampirella has a gold bat placed right over her naught bits and appears to be a a big arrow directing the viewer to her vagina. It is hysterically funny (pun intended). If her costume was any skimpier, this would be soft-core porn rather than camp.

    Unfortunately the men, although in many cases also encased in shiny sexy rubber, are not so tight, and the men are mostly pretty unattractive. (The Demos character is sexy though.) There are plenty of chances to make everyone look good, and rubber, like tight black leather, is a sexy (albeit silly) costuming material.

    Enjoy this with low expectations and you may enjoy it for how bad it is (and was intended to be). The acting is mostly pretty bad. Bad enough to make it part of the campiness and funny part of the movie.

    Except for Roger Daltry. One could go on for quite a long time trying to explain why he was so bad in this. He is over the top, but that is the whole idea, so that is not it. I think it is because he seems to not take it as a joke. There is no way to suspend reality at all while he is on the screen, and even with a silly piece like this, you need to do that a bit. How far has Mr. Daltry fallen since he was Tommy and part of the Who! He should never appear as an actor and just remember the days when the Who was fabulous and Tommy was hailed as the original "rock opera", and the band was considered to be the best of the best by many. He was never an actor he was a musician.

    Yeah, I have to agree about the fangs; they really were cheesy and looked like they came from Wal Mart. Some times they fit so badly they distorted the actor's faces and gave them a horse-like appearance. Can't decide if this was so bad it is funny. I guess I have to give it a nod to the funny side of things.

    Anyway it is silly. It is fun. It does not succeed as a good sci-fi, vampire, or as porn; but doesn't try.
  • Vampirella is based on the classic comic series featuring a half-naked vampire from the planet Drakulon fighting Drakolonians who went to Earth. Vampie's costume is a bit different in this movie and this has irritated some fans. It couldn't be help, according to news I've read, had Talisa Soto wore the classic costume her breasts would keep getting exposed because she has to be in fight scenes.

    Still, the movie suffers terribly from extreme B-movie cheesiness ("Vampire... Ella... Vampirella!") and not so interesting plot. I got sleepy by the last third of the movie! There's hardly any chemistry between Vampirella and Van Helsing. The climax of the movie would remind you of the other vampire movie, Blade. Vampie is falling to a sort of primal thinking mind as she has not taken blood in quite a while. To gain control of herself again, she needs a few drink from Van Helsing's. Vampirella came out first before Blade, but Blade is better because the hero's motivation is in focus (and not use cheesy dialogues as an excuse). Drakulon society is supposed to abhor revenge, but the consequences of doing so is not made clear and so the story just plods along. Drakulon society also abhors drinking people's blood preferring that they drink artificial blood (or a river of blood but we never get to see it), and so the idea that Vampie is breaking a norm doesn't even dawn on her. For most of the movie, there's nothing there that shows Vampirella as being different from other Drakulonians and so breaking the norm doesn't come naturally. The humor is lame. The movie isn't fun and also not funny.

    The verdict: 1 of 5 stars.
  • smatysia5 May 2005
    4/10
    Sucks
    OK, to get this part out of the way, I don't read comic books, and had never heard of the title character. So, unlike some of the previous geek commentators, I have no disappointment about the adaptation of the material. Now, I find it fairly hard to rate some aspects of movies, (e.g. acting) when the actors are portraying cartoon characters. I would normally say that Roger Daltrey was exceedingly bad in this, playing it way over the top, etc. but is that really true when he's playing a comic book figure? I'm not sure. Richard Joseph Paul (three first names?) as Van Helsing was bad any way you look at it. Talisa Soto seemed pretty good given the limitations of the material. Corinna Harney was good in a small part. There could have been a bit more T&A. It's a Roger Corman production, for crying out loud! I'd say missing this one would be a good choice.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    This is a very weak Vampire film, that's pretty dull, with corny performances and a misleading cover for the movie. All the characters are way too OTT, and the story is very uninteresting, plus there is hardly any nudity or any sort of guilty pleasure at all. I caught this on The space channel a while back, and decided to tape it, i came in expecting, a guilty pleasure, with lots of soft core stuff and plenty of nudity,however we get none of that!, plus while Talisa Soto is way hot,she did a pretty bad job of acting here. Roger Daltrey is terrible here as the villain (main vamp), and was way too OTT, and barely anything happens in the movie, plus the finale and the ending were both especially lame!. I actually fell asleep during part of this as i had to, rewind and start all over again, and there is not much blood or gore either, plus it's pretty badly made and written as well. They could have made a nice little B movie, here however what we get is a very weak Vampire film, that's pretty dull, with corny performances and a misleading cover for the film, Avoid. The Direction is terrible!. Jim Wynorski does a terrible job here, with shoddy camera work, and doing an especially good job at keeping the film boring throughout.The Acting is not very good. Talisa Soto is way hot, and was interesting to watch at times, but her overall performance was pretty bad, i never felt for her,and i thought her character was pretty lame, however she can kick ass with the best of them. Roger Daltrey is awful as the main villain (main vamp), he is Way too OTT, and laughably over acts, his character was also very dull, and he wasn't menacing at all. Richard Joseph Paul actually does a decent job here, he was rather likable, and did pretty good, and came out of this crap looking surprisingly decent, good job!. Rest of the cast are terrible. Overall avoid!. * out of 5
  • Anyone that watched this one to be moved to tears, excited, brought to laughter or looking for an Oscar darkhorse will be disappointed. But if you watched it for what it is, a movie about a comic book character, it does its job. Its camp and its supposed to be just that. I hope.
  • preppy-316 December 2002
    The movie begins on Drakulon. It's a planet of vampires who drink from rivers of blood (never shown--this is a cheap movie). Evil Vlad (Roger Daltrey!) kills all the leaders of the planet and escapes to Earth. One of those killed is the father of Ella (Talisa Soto) who follows Vlad for revenge. She becomes Vampirella on Earth and, with the help of Adam van Helsing (bland Richard Joseph Paul), tracks down Vlad and his followers.

    For a Roger Corman production this is pretty good. It's an adaptation of an adult comic book from the 70s and 80s. The movie pretty much follows the comic but Vampirella's costume has been modified--the original was too skimpy for an R rated film!

    The film isn't perfect--the dialogue is lousy, the story is needlessly convuluted and there's two truly horrible performances by Soto and Paul--but who watches this for the acting and plot? Daltrey REALLY chews the scenery as Vlad and hunky Brian Bloom gives a very good performance as Demous.

    Lots of action, violence and fun--never a dull moment. A true camp classic.

    And John Landis and Angus Scrimm have cameos!
  • You know you're in trouble when Roger Daltrey is the best actor in a film. You also know you're in trouble when the creators of the film make Vampirella's costume *more* concealing than it is in the comics. Here's a hint guys: we weren't watching for her acting talent.

    "Vampirella" could have been good. They came pretty close to the original story of the comics of the late 60s/early 70s, which by itself is impressive. Unfortunately, they made the mistake of hiring actors from the Erik Estrada School of Fine Acting. I haven't seen that much deadpan since the last Steven Wright show.

    My wife, a major Vampi fan, and a total vampire nut, fell asleep during this film. That, more than anything, should tell you how much of a waste of time this movie was. TRUST me.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    *SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*

    There is one big hurdle you must get over in order to enjoy this flick. You must come to grips with the harsh reality that Vampirella, (Talisa Soto), does not get naked. No space vampire breasts. Looking at Soto on the back cover dressed in a sexy red outfit and seeing the name Jim Wynorski as director, I felt it was reasonable to expect massive amounts of unnecessary T&A. My hopes were dashed as Vampirella was pure and the clothes stayed on. Dang.

    "Vampirella" is an unashamed B-movie. Space vampires, government hit squads, rock star vampires and lots of cheap effects. I was mildly entertained by it. It's certainly not a good movie. Oh Lord no. But for a low budget space vampire flick, it was fair. Just don't expect to be scared or see a naked Vampirella.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    Talisa Soto ("The Living Daylights") is a beautiful actress and in normal circumstances seeing her in a skimpy outfit would be quite enough. She's also a good actress, considering the level of this movie. But she's not Vampirella. As originally drawn in her comic book series Vampirella is built along the lines of Julie Strain.

    Given this was a product of the prodigious Jim Wynorski, one would also expect something saucier. Wynorski has never let acting ability bother him before (i.e., his casting of the remarkable Monique Gabrielle, one of the loveliest women to grace the screen in her prime, and possibly one of the worst actresses). Having admired Talisa Soto in "Daylights" I hoped for a fun evening of pure comic-book camp. I was disappointed. The movie is not really campy at all, and Talisa Soto, despite her looks and charm and relatively fine acting talents, could not fill Vampirella's . . . ahem . . . shoes.

    Wynorski is no David Lean but he's the tops at what he does, cheapjack ostensible thrillers that are really lame excuses for glimpses of soft-core flesh. Yeah, we all got supersaturated with Julie Strain but surely, with all the aspiring actresses going to Hollywood every year, Wynorski could have located a Julie Strain type, and this time one who can act a little?
  • Warning: Spoilers
    Vampirella starts on a distant planet called Drakulon 30 centuries ago where a race of Vampires live in harmony & feed on artificial blood, well most do because there's one named Vlad (Roger Daltery) who likes to drink blood straight from the source & for his crimes he is about to be sentenced when his gang, which consists of a whole three people, storm the court room & set him free by killing everyone. Vlad & his gang jump on the nearest spaceship & vacate the premises while the young & beautiful Ella (Talisa Soto) mourns the death of her Father (Angus Scrimm) who was murdered by Vlad, she swears vengeance & sets off in pursuit of them across the galaxy. Jump forward to 'Los Angeles, Present Day' where Vlad & his gang have been for the past 30 centuries infecting & feeding on us humans, however we have a special task force known as 'Purge' to fight the Vampire menace. Now Ella has been stuck on Mars for 30 centuries as her spaceship didn't make it to Earth but she manages to get a ride back here with a American spaceship to finally have her revenge...

    Produced & directed by the ever useless Jim Wynorski (is there no beginning to this mans talents?) I thought Vampirella was total complete & utter crap from start to finish that is a real chore to sit through. The script by Gary Gerani was based on the comic book character of the same name & I have to admit that I didn't even know there were Vampirella comic books let alone actually read one so I cannot compare how this filmed adaptation compares but I think it's a safe bet to assume that the comics are far superior to this piece of crap. As a film Vampirella fails on every level & as a comic book adaptation it's about as bad as they come, the film seems to take itself quite seriously, it's incredibly stupid & boring, the character's are awful as is the dialogue although the plot where the evil Vlad wants to block out the sun so they can take control of the Earth is actually quite a neat idea but this is underused & only mentioned during the last fifteen minutes by which time it's far too late. There are so many things I dislike about this film I'd be here all day listing them...

    Director Wynorski does his usual hack job, no offence Jim but I think your the worst genre director currently working. In case anyone's wondering the footage he steals this time is from Battle From Beyond the Stars (1980) & Galaxy of Terror (1981) & it looks awful. I love the way someone shoots a computer panel once on Earth & then a satellite in space suddenly vanishes in a red flash, this is incompetent film-making at it's most tedious. The outfit Vampirella wears is is rubbish, it looks like it's made from red plastic & she even has a bird symbol on her shorts. Frankly it's embarrassing to see her run around in this pathetically cheap outfit that's far from sexy. I know this is meant to be camp but the blend is all wrong & it just come across as stupid, cheap & just plain awful. There's no blood or gore & only a couple of instances of nudity.

    With a supposed budget of about $1,000,000 one has to ask the question where did all the money go? This is so cheap looking it's untrue, the special effects are terrible, the locations are rubbish, the production values are none existent & as a whole Vampirella is a just plain bad. I must admit that I'm a fan of Talisa Soto & think she's hot in films like Mortal Kombat (1995) & as a Bond girl in Licence to Kill (1989) but here even she can't save this mess even though she's the best thing about it. How on Earth they convinced Roger Daltery to appear in this crap is anyone's guess but he's awful in it anyway.

    Vampirella is one bad film, it doesn't work as camp or a serious attempt at bringing the comic book character to the big screen (even though it went straight-to-video). I just can't see what anyone would get out of it, I just can't. Awful, leave well alone & watch a decent comic book Vampire film like Blade (1998).
  • I have seen Vampirella several times on cable and if you can't understand why it's not a cult-classic, since it was done under the helm of Roger Corman and had a colorful cast and has become a forgotten piece of cinema. Here's why....

    First, Talisa Soto is miscast as the main character, Vampirella. She's a lean, mean model, when the role calls for a more thick, heavy, voluptuous woman like a Sofia Vergara. Not to mention, Soto has Asian features when the character is more tilted to Latin or Italian lineage .

    Second, There's no nudity. There is only a brief seen of breasts, other than that, there are no bare bums whatsoever. Vampirella never takes off that awful red suit. That type of red is just plain loud.

    Third, the execution of the film comes off slow and plagued. Nothing seems to flow. A Cult-comic character desires a Cult-classic film to honor it. But, this cinema version of Vampirella insults the comic version and does it more harm than good.

    If anyone decides to make another film on Vampirella, they should keep in mind that a full figure actress would be better as Vampirella. Put her in more skimpier attire and make damn sure she gets naked on a few occasions. Also, make sure the action flows and doesn't get stale. Just some friendly advice so history doesn't repeat itself.

    Vampirella should be classic. Instead, it's a dud so bad, it's not worth defending. 5/10 stars.
  • Warning: Spoilers
    I'm watching this movie now on YouTube. While most of the time the script is mediocre, some of the detains of space and science are ahead of their time. Their inclusion of what's currently referred to as the SSP (Secret Space Program) of humans exploring Mars (where Vampirella has been marooned) and MORE make me wonder who the writer was connected to, or who Forry Ackerman was connected to to come up with some of the details for the story-line. Interesting ... .
  • I have seen Vampirella several times on cable and if you can't understand why it's not a cult-classic, since it was done under the helm of Roger Corman and had a colorful cast and has become a forgotten piece of cinema. Here's why....

    First, Talisa Soto is miscast as the main character, Vampirella. She's a lean, mean model, when the role calls for a more thick, heavy, voluptuous woman like a Sofia Vergara. Not to mention, Soto has Asian features when the character is more tilted to Latin or Italian lineage .

    Second, There's no nudity. There is only a brief seen of breasts, other than that, there are no bare bums whatsoever. Vampirella never takes off that awful red suit. That type of red is just plain loud.

    Third, the execution of the film comes off slow and plagued. Nothing seems to flow. A Cult-comic character desires a Cult-classic film to honor it. But, this cinema version of Vampirella insults the comic version and does it more harm than good.

    If anyone decides to make another film on Vampirella, they should keep in mind that a full figure actress would be better as Vampirella. Put her in more skimpier attire and make damn sure she gets naked on a few occasions. Also, make sure the action flows and doesn't get stale. Just some friendly advice so history doesn't repeat itself.

    Vampirella should be a classic. Instead, it's a dud so bad, it's not worth defending. 4/10 stars.
  • i am a huge vampirella fan,since the early 70s.the warren years.they kept planning a vampirella movie but never made it,Barbara Leigh would've played her.OK now in 1996 they released vampirella on show time cable network.it was OK but not great,they changed her costume,the budget was too low.too much stock footage.and it was too short.at least the DVD is longer.not enough ,i liked talisa Soto as vampirella,roger daltry was too hammy as vlad,forrest j ackerman who created vampirella has a cameo.john landis the director of animal house and others plays an astronaut.lets hope they film another vampirella,with a bigger budget and better storyline.I'm thinking julie strain or cathrine bell to play vampirella,and this time have the drunken magician pendragon in it.its 10 years after who knows,someone may film one.3 out of 10.
  • This movie was the stinker of all times. No joke. The fangs were probably bought from the Wal-Mart down the road and were so obviously plastic. Maybe all the director had was a Wal-Mart credit card... Vlad Dracul had a cheesy red and black cape. Roger Daltry, how far you've fallen since Tommy. I feel bad for him in this stinker.

    The dialogue was painful, the acting pained. Special effects? HA! They don't even show the bats that the characters morph into except as black blobs. Probably done with pain or black nail polish on the film afterwards.

    I would have done better with a video camera and claymation dolls. Someone should never be allowed to make another movie after this one, its a true crime against humanity.
  • franco-2813 October 1999
    this film never really made it to the target audience, it is perceived to be a vampire flick by traditional standards yet that wasnt the concept. Talisa Desoto did a great job of acting out the original comic character, this is more of a sci fi flick, there are some great scenes in here involving the vampire's domain, Vampirella, is motivated by revenge for her father's murder, & sees it thru to the end. If you enjoyed the original comic, then watch this.
  • Sure, this looks like a cheaper version of Barbarella in the nineties with a vampiress slant. That's the glory of it. This is a great B movie in the tradition of cult classics.

    Yeah, the outfit was skimpy, it's supposed to be. The characters are somewhat stilted. Bloom's short vampire role shone in creepiness. Talisa Soto was great... this is one I'll enjoy several views of.
  • If you intend to watch this once, it's not a bad way to kill an hour and half but it's not one that requires repeated viewing. While it's better than you might expect...Roger Daltrey in particular gives the film a much needed boost of life and energy but he's the only truly capable performer in this film. There's some neat genre in-references for fans and some cool cameos but the rest is forgettable (the dialogue, the acting aside from Daltrey's Vlad) and disappointing (Soto just doesn't measure up to expectations I'm afraid and neither does the costume).
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