Directed by Michael Almereyda
93 minutes
In English with English subtitles 

The elusive Romanian Elina Löwensohn is a favorite actress of indie filmmakers here in the west (Hal Hartley, Bertrand Mandico). In this tale she plays Nadja, a melancholic vampire who's bloodthirsty family is on the verge of becoming extinct. One night Nadja is out prowling the streets and meets a young lonely bisexual girl named Lucy, who falls for her. The rest of the story spirals out from there. The original Dracula film made in 1931 starring Bella Lugosi has been remade many times, but the 1936 sequel Dracula's Daughter has hardly been touched. So here director Michael Almereyda revamps this tale to Manhattan in the 1990s. It was produced by David Lynch, and he even throws his two cents in by popping up in a cameo as a morgue attendant.

This certainly isn't the kind of movie that typical horror fans look for… It's not flashy or full of grizzly scenes or trying to shock the hell out of you. It  is more offbeat, wacky, laid back, and moody. Beyond the vampire tropes it also works as a bohemian underground film capturing the mindset of New York City in the 90s. For example, when our characters smoke loads of cigarettes and drift off into quasi-philosophical discussions about the state of the world, it becomes a pretty accurate description of the alternative scene in New York City at the time. 

It has a streak of deadpan noir humor, which is absurdist and surreal. It certainly doesn't take the vampire genre very seriously, instead playfully having fun with the vampire mythology... but on the other hand it also has an ethereal transcendental edge. Another aspect that made a splash at the time is that the special effects were dirt cheap, using a Fisher-Price Pixelvision camera made for children, giving it an otherworldly vibe. 

For me, it cannot really be understood without taking into account the  Manhattan counterculture in the 90s, including the mentality and style of the alternative music scene. The film is infused with shoegaze and trip hop sounds by bands like My Bloody Valentine and Portishead. In fact I would say the ethereal style and attitude of this flick is very 'shoe gaze' in general. The incidental  music is by Derek Jarman regular Simon Fisher Turner who uses ambient wild-track recordings of New York City into the mix.

Made on a small budget, with a few big name actors who were willing to do it for free just out of passion, including Peter Fonda who gives a hilarious performance as aging hippie vampire killer Dr. Van Helsing. 

This flick is dreamlike and uneven, and polarizes audiences like crazy since it doesn't follow the normal rules, but since for many it is a deeply loved cult film and it is rarely ever screened these days we are gonna throw it on the screen for a night...