Bloodsucking Cinema (TV)

Every month, Starz Inside (hosted by venerated film critic Richard Roeper) presents an original special. This month, in honor of Horror.com’s favorite holiday, it’s bloodsucking vampires (hm… sounds a bit like a lead-in to a certain Tim Armstrong song). The special documentary focuses on undeads from the creepy (1922’s Nosferatu) to the sexy (2006’s BloodRayne), and everything in between.

The work of icons such as Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, and Wesley Snipes is examined by the likes of directors John Carpenter (Vampires), Len Wiseman (Underworld, Underworld: Evolution), John Landis (Innocent Blood) and Joel Schumacher (The Lost Boys), actors Kristanna Loken (BloodRayne), Stuart Townsend (Queen of the Damned), and critics Leonard Maltin and Harry Knowles (Ain't It Cool News). Each of them has something genuinely interesting and edifying to say. I was especially interested on the perspective of Townsend, since he played one of my own favorite vampire characters, Anne Rice’s “Lestat” in the 2001 film Queen of the Damned.

The commentators talk about everything from the fear of night creatures, to the sexual allure vampires hold for many viewers and they each have opinions on those intriguing facets of bloodsucking cinema. Interspersed between the talking are many film clips — which will surely have you thirsting to see more, and revisit old faves (featured: Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula, Interview with the Vampire, The Lost Boys, Blade, Van Helsing and Underworld).

The only thing really missing is a look at 30 Days of Night. (But, you can see that yourself: it’s in theaters now, and was #1 at the box office on opening weekend!)

Bloodsucking Cinema premieres October 26 at 8 p.m. (ET/PT) on Starz.

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson

Starz "Fear Fest" Schedule (all times are ET/PT):

    Friday, October 26

    -- 8 p.m. -- Bloodsucking Cinema

    -- 9 p.m. -- Underworld: Evolution

    -- 10:50 p.m. -- Dawn of the Dead

    Saturday, October 27

    -- 12:35 a.m. -- From Dusk Till Dawn

    -- 2:30 a.m. -- Blade

    -- 4:35 a.m. -- Bloodsucking Cinema

    -- 5:40 a.m. -- Scream

    -- 7:35 a.m. -- Silent Hill

    -- 9:45 a.m. -- Stay Alive

    -- 11:15 a.m. -- Blade

    -- 1:20 p.m. -- Bloodsucking Cinema

    -- 2:30 p.m. -- Pulse

    -- 4 p.m. -- When a Stranger Calls

    -- 5:30 p.m. -- The Covenant

    -- 7:10 p.m. -- Grudge 2

    Wednesday, October 31

    -- 7:10 p.m. -- Underworld: Evolution

    -- 9 p.m. -- Bloodsucking Cinema

    -- 10:05 p.m. -- The Grudge 2

"Fear Fest" runs throughout the entire month of October on Starz On Demand.