- trailer (quicktime)

Damned if I just couldnt find many images from this 2005 straight to video vampire flick starring Todd Bridges - so Ill keep this review short but simple.  Willis stole a video camera and decided to make a vampire movie.  Todd Bridges, once again you are found guilty.  Guilty of taking a back seat in the worst acting enseble Ive seen all year.  Hell I could be funny and go on and on - but Todd - even from you, my friend, I expected just a wee bit better.  In all seriousness, Im not sure how he got involved with this project, but it looks like a bunch of buddies from the Oakland area got a hold of a camera, tried to pull off a vampire flick, and somehow Bridges got involved as a "name" to try and catch it some attention, perhaps.  Although it sounds like Im bashing it into the ground (which I kind of am), its also not as bad as most will make it out to be.

Its about a foursome of vampires who have been shifting around the US from town to town, claiming victims and moving on before they're discovered.  Now theyve come upon Oakland.  One night, a young man breaks down in the city and takes a baseball bat with him on a dangerous walk home.  Sure enough he witnesses an attack - but its vampires!  Hiding does no good and he accidentally kills one of them. 

Upon returning home, his friends/roommates don't quite believe him.  Enter suddenly, Todd Bridges - vampire hunter -  and his vampire hunting partner.  They've been trailing this gang for 7 months, and soon everyone bands together to try and take out the vampires.  In between cuts there are victims here and there.  They "feed" - and are always sure to raise their heads from their victims neck, so the camera can get a good shot.  Look at the camera and say "hiss!" - hisssssssss - white eyes, fangs, bloody neck wounds.  If they didnt raise their head and hiss at the camera, you'd never see. 

Final Analysis:  Gore hounds - everything there is to see is shown in the trailer.  All this being said, there was something likable about The Damned, I just can't put my finger on it.  No lies - it looks like it was filmed on a home video camera.  It "sounds" scripted.  The voices of all these tough city dudes are high pitched, monotone and squeaky, and every other line is "Shut the fuck up" or "That only works in the movies".  It lacks a lot.  But I dunno, Id compare it to crappy lighter.  I tried to start this film up about five times before something sparked.  When I finally got it started, I was barely held interested, but somehow I was carried through the 70 minutes.  It had a hidden quality that made it interesting, but damned if I can tell you what it is.   Im not really impressed by vampires and people who think they're vampires - so The Damned pretty much delivered what Id expect from a straight-to-video Todd Bridges vampire flick.