Dracula's Widow (1988)

**_Undead Vanessa arrives in a crate at a House of Wax in Hollywood_**

This was the debut movie helmed by Christopher Coppola, the older brother of Nicolas Cage and nephew of Francis Ford Coppola. It comes in the comic booky tradition of colorful vampire flicks like “Count Yorga, Vampire” and “The Night Stalker,” as well as the fourth episode of the ensuing Kolchak series, “The Vampire.” The depiction of the vampire bat isn’t much better than the bat in “Suspiria” that presumably enters a room to flush the toilet.

“Gargoyle: Wings of Darkness” (2004) was obviously influenced by it because it likewise throws in a satanic ritual with quasi-altar sacrifice and requisite scantily clad female. I liked how Vanessa shows the posers what real evil is, to say the least.

Speaking of females, the eponymous character is played by none other than Sylvia Kristel, known for the infamous French film “Emmanuelle” and its sequels, as well as the well-done “Mysteries,” based on Norwegian Knut Hamsun's hailed 1892 novel. Christopher’s first choices for the role were Isabella Rossellini and Joanna Pacula, yet Sylvia is effective enough; she was 34 during shooting. Meanwhile, Rachel Jones is on hand as the protagonist’s winsome girlfriend. Too bad her part wasn’t milked further. The fools.

Christopher’s older brother Marc Coppola has a small part as Brad. What’s interesting is that the aforementioned protagonist is played by Lenny von Dohlen and he looks a LOT like Nicolas Cage in the ’80s. I thought for sure they were related, but that’s not the case.

There’s a sequence where the camera pans over the Hollywood Walk of Fame and it shows Francis Ford Coppola’s star on the sidewalk, but it’s fake since (1) the movie was shot on the other side of the country (see below) and (2) Francis didn’t get his star until the beginning of spring, 2022.

It runs 1h 26m and was shot in the spring of 1987 in Wilmington on the southeast coast of North Carolina.

GRADE: B/B-