Central Park Drifter (1987)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Written and Directed by Gerard Ciccoritti
Starring Silvio Oliviero, Helen Papas, and Cliff Stoker

Released by: Shriek Show/Media Blasters
Rating: R
Region: 1
Anamorphic: No; and it is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio

My Advice: Skip it.

Mysterious cab driver Stephen Tsepes (Oliviero) has a knack for finding women who are desperate and suicidal, even dying. He uses his vampiric powers to convert them into children of the night, often controlling them, perhaps unintentionally, through their deep desire for him and need for his touch. It is not long before he discovers Michelle (Papas), whose fierce independence and beauty beguile him. When one of Stephen’s “children” starts to go rogue and slaughter innocent bystanders in order to get his attention, he realizes that something has to be done.

The plot of this one (which changed its name from Graveyard Shift--I guess because of the film based on the Stephen King short story) is standard late night slasher fare. The quasi-romance with Michelle and Stephen never quite gels as well as it might, mostly because the film is constantly trying to switch between the romance and the mad women following Stephen around. Additionally, it is never quite clear why Stephen changes all these women, especially the emotionally unstable ones, and then is surprised with some of them are obsessive. The film tries a bit too hard to make Stephen a heartthrob, basically leaving viewers to wonder why these women are all insane stalkers, even the female cop we meet, who should know better if anyone should. Presumably, the vampirism has something to do with it--perhaps a call of the blood--but it’s never entirely clear. Michelle’s husband is basically a bastard non-entity for most of the film, until he is needed to add blood to the climax. He seemed to care nothing for his wife, so why race after her at the end? We don’t see any kind of conversion on his part. Even fans of gratuitous nudity and sexuality will be bored for the most part. At ninety minutes, it could have stood to have been a bit longer, and thereby, hopefully, deeper and more interesting.

The video quality is a bit questionable on this release. The film is set mostly at night, natch, so the screen is often murky, and the colors are at times washed out and seem to kind of smear into the surroundings. If it were prettier to look at, I’d think it could have been done on purpose, but as it is, it just looks old and dull. The sound is all right, but not flawless.

There are no features on this disc, which is probably just as well. It's not even presented in widescreen, but I can't get too upset about it--at least not on this flick.

Rapid scene changes and a rousing climax try to save this film from being schlock, but doesn’t quite make it. If you like vampire movies regardless of plot, acting skill, or film quality, then you should rent this one as a kind of urban take on the vampire mythos, that all too often has a cloying Victoriana look to it. Otherwise, give it a miss and rent David Bowie in The Hunger instead.