Vampires of the Velvet Lounge 

(dir. Adam Sherman)

By: Dave Hughes

Vampires are no doubt a box office draw. From the original Dracula in the 1930’s, later on to Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)  and even most recently the Academy Award winning Sinners (2025), vampires bring a crowd to the theaters and create a certain buzz around them.  The latest addition to the litany of vampire movies is Vampires of the Velvet Lounge directed by Adam Sherman. Vampires of the Velvet Lounge is the very definition of a popcorn film in which the plot is not entirely captivating but it does enough to entertain its targeted audience. 

Dracula or Nosferatu are not at center stage in Vampires of the Velvet Lounge.  Instead, director Adam Sherman focuses solely on Elizabeth Bathory, who may not have the name recognition of other more famous vampires, but has just as dark of a backstory. Bathory’s story involves bathing in her victim’s blood to achieve eternal life.  Audiences are introduced to her story over the opening credits and immediately ripped into her current world.  Bathory, played by Mena Suvari (American Beauty, American Pie), has lived for centuries seeking out new blood and new victims using online dating as her bait. She is now based out of a grimy bar called the Velvet Lounge in the southern US where her followers trap victims in her intricate web. Suvari is captivating in her turn as Bathory as a blood thirsty predator. It's a modern twist on the story and some more modern choices may make audiences roll their eyes. 

Vampires of the Velvet Lounge appeals to its core audience of vampire lovers by casting actors that are familiar from other B movies. Starting with Stephen Dorff (Blade, The Gate) and Tyrese Gibson(Transformers, Furious 7), fans are sure to smile at the familiarity of some of these names. However, the actors are not given much to work with by way of screentime or quality of writing. The appearances of these notable names are clearly designed to woo  devotees in, but there is not much going on beneath the surface other than their physical presence on screen. Their casting is an attempt to buy audience investment without following through on any semblance of a story. 

Blade(1998) is the gold standard when it comes to intense battles of human vs vampire with a pulsating soundtrack. Vampires of the Velvet Lounge takes a page from the Blade and other franchises with their technically sound design. There is a lot to like here when it comes to gore in these scenes  and there are a variety of creative ways that characters meet their end. However, the weakness of the script becomes apparent when characters are killed and audiences are not moved or even impacted due to the shallow nature of the writing and a story that wanders in and out of its coherent nature. The sequences of fights create a memorable visual style even if the story falls flat. 

Target Score 5/10: There is something admirable about a film that fully embraces its goofy nature and quirks. With a little more effort by the creative team, Vampires of the Velvet Lounge could be much more captivating and memorable. Still, it is an enjoyable enough film that is fun to watch for those fans of the vampire genre that are looking for a late night  thrill.