Dance of the Damned, Vampire vs. Exotic Dancer

Again we look at a Starr Andreeff film.  Last month we examined Syngenor in which the beautiful Andreeff was pursued by a gargoyle-like creature.  Before that, in 2014, we looked at The Terror Within where a nubile Ms. Andreeff was raped by a mutant gargoyle thing and assumed room temperature after the monster's spawn took form in her womb...so sad.  Today, a more conventional tormentor for Starr Andreeff...the vampire.  Just as cute, and just as vulnerable as in the above mentioned films, Ms. Andreeff will be entangled in a battle with deadly consequences once again. Today we take a peek at "Dance of the Damned" (an exotic dance, I may add) from 1989.

Jodi (Andreeff), a stripper...sorry...exotic dancer is at the end of her ropes.  With her life a mess, and apparently losing everything she values, she is suicidal.  With lots of pills and a pistol close by, she might just do it this evening.  Enter the vampire (Cyril O'Reilly).  Centuries old, and quite handsome, our monster has a heart.  He preys only on those who have already given up on life.  Sensing Jodi's desire to die, he approaches her.  At first, the vampire doesn't tell her his plans.  He brings her back to his ritzy home and fills her in.  Her fear and desire not to die surprises him as he believed he was doing her a favor.

Uh oh, the two develop an attraction for each other.  He still plans to drain her of blood before dawn.  As she fills the vampire in on her adult life story, she remembers her child which she lost custody of.  Facing death, she finds a will and reason to live.  This is unfortunate as he needs to eat this night, or he will die. However un-human he is, the vampire seems to have a compassion.  He helps her reconnect with the lovely parts of her life, and she shows him the beauty of sunlight in very imaginative ways.  The two need each other.  He needs her blood to stay alive.  She needs, or needed him, to show her she has reason to live.  Bad news, only one can emerge from this psychological dance.

Will our suave vampire feed tonight?  Will the suicidal Jodi's new found desire to live trump the monster's appetite?  Is "Dance of the Damned" a metaphor for the plight of the exotic dancer community in an increasingly conservative society?  (Especially in light of California's Proposition 60).  As usual, Ms. Andreeff is sultry, slightly naive, and tough in her portrayal of a torn apart exotic dancer.  More erotic than gory, with a very loud ending, "Dance of the Damned" (directed by Katt Shea) is a slightly different romance/horror film available on YouTube.