''Rockula'' is a 1990 American

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serv ...

directed by

Luca Bercovici Luca Bercovici (born February 22, 1957) is an American filmmaker, writer, producer and actor. In 1979, as part of Bercovici's earliest involvements in filmmaking, he spent six months in Japan as a dialogue director for the miniseries, ''Shōg ...

and written by Bercovici,

Jefery Levy Jefery Levy (born May 21, 1958) is an American film and television director, producer, and writer, based in Beverly Hills, California. Career In 1985, while a graduate student at UCLA, Levy wrote and produced the low-budget hit '' Ghoulies'', a ...

, and Chris Ver Weil. The story centers on a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

under a curse; the tagline for the film is: "He's a vampire that hasn't scored in 400 years—tonight's the night!".

Dean Cameron Dean Cameron (born Dean Eikleberry; December 25, 1962) is an American television and film actor and musician. He is known for his role as Francis "Chainsaw" Gremp in the 1987 Mark Harmon comedy ''Summer School (1987 film), Summer School''. He ...

stars as the vampire Ralph LaVie,

Toni Basil Antonia Christina Basilotta (born September 22, 1943), better known by her stage name Toni Basil, is an American singer, choreographer, dancer, actress, and director. Her cover of the song " Mickey" topped the charts in the US, Canada and Austral ...

plays Phoebe LaVie, Ralph's mother, and

Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...

is the villain Stanley.

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

plays a supporting role as Axman, the guitarist in Ralph's band, which is incidentally named Rockula. The director of photography was John Schwartzman, later the DP on ''

Seabiscuit Seabiscuit (May 23, 1933 – May 17, 1947) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money-winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-hors ...

'' and ''

Saving Mr. Banks ''Saving Mr. Banks'' is a 2013 biographical drama film directed by John Lee Hancock and written by Kelly Marcel and Sue Smith. Centered on the development of the 1964 film ''Mary Poppins'', the film stars Emma Thompson as book author P. L. Tr ...

''. In the film, Ralph is a vampire who was born in the late 16th century. In the 1680s, Ralph was involved in a romantic relationship with the mortal girl Mona. Mona was killed by a

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

, who happened to be her jealous ex-boyfriend. Mona is reincarnated every 22 years but keeps getting killed by pirates on the anniversary of her original death. Ralph has been romantically involved with each of Mona's incarnations but has been unable to prevent the series of deaths. In the early 1990s, Ralph courts a young singer, who happens to be Mona's latest incarnation. He seeks a way to end the curse, while starting his own musical career in an attempt to work alongside his love interest.

Plot

Ralph Lavie (

) is a friendly vampire. He is 400 years old and still lives with his mother Phoebe (

) who is also a vampire. Ralph is living under a curse. He met the girl of his dreams in 1682 (308 years ago), but Ralph lost her when she was killed by her jealous boyfriend, a pirate. Since that time, the girl, Mona, has been reincarnated every 22 years, only to fall in love with Ralph and die under exactly the same oddly specific circumstances (killed on Halloween by a rhinestone-peg-legged pirate wielding a giant hambone). Now in 1990, Ralph, weary of the whole thing, vows to stay locked in his room and not meet Mona again until after Halloween, much to the chagrin of his sentient and libidinous reflection (another side effect of the curse). Ralph meets up with friends at a local bar (including rock legend

) and once again recounts the story of his curse to them. Walking out into the streets he is hit by a car being driven by none other than Mona's latest incarnation, a local singer (Tawny Fere). Immediately warning her off him Ralph runs off, but a portentous dream reinvigorates him to try and save her life now that events have been set in motion. He goes looking for her and discovers a flyer with her band playing at a local club. When he goes to visit her, the two hit it off immediately much to the dismay of Mona's manager/ex-boyfriend, an eccentric mortuary owner named Stanley (

). After Ralph is unable to adequately say what he does for a living, he states that he's in a band. Realizing that he actually is a decent musician after hundreds of years of piano and guitar lessons, he and his friends start the band Rockula, playing up his vampirism as the band's gimmick. Rockula's first gig is a success, and the band quickly becomes a hit. Ralph and Mona start dating and even start collaborating musically, writing songs and filming a video together. Stanley sees this as a threat and seeks the council of a local Psychic, Madame Ben-Wa who reveals that Ralph is a vampire. He begins a plot to kill Ralph and cryogenically freeze Mona using equipment from his mortuary, so he'll have her forever. Ralph and Mona have dinner with Phoebe and her latest beau, which proves awkward as Phoebe makes no secret of her unnaturally long life, referring to things such as George Washington's bedroom prowess and speaking to Mona as if she's known her for years. The evening culminates in an impromptu musical number by Phoebe. On the drive home, rather than have Mona think he and his mother are crazy, he reveals that he is a vampire and tells her the details of the curse. Mona is skeptical until Ralph half-transforms into a bat in front of her. Disturbed by this, Mona drives off and leaves town. Halloween comes and Rockula is scheduled to perform. Stanley appears, dressed as a pirate, with a hambone, having been directed to do so by Madame Ben-Wa. Mona, having admitted that she loves Ralph returns and meets him on stage, only to be kidnapped and carted away by Stanley, who prepares to place her in the cryogenic freezing chamber. Ralph's reflection tells him where to find Mona and he comes to the rescue. Stanley and Ralph duel with Stanley wielding the hambone and Ralph wielding the rhinestone peg-leg. Madame Ben-Wa is then revealed to be Phoebe, who has orchestrated the curse for years, scared that Ralph will leave the nest. Phoebe apologizes, realizing that she needs to let Ralph grow up, but is knocked out by Stanley. Ralph then again half-transforms into a bat, scaring Stanley into falling into his own freezing chamber. Having saved Mona's life the curse is broken, and the two leave the club together happily. Just before the end credits Ralph's reflection has had enough of being trapped in the mirror and smashes his way out of it, making his way to our world dressed as

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

in a rhinestone jumpsuit, and subsequently performs a final number as Rockula with all the band members.

Production

Principal filming for ''Rockula'' was actually completed in 1988. At the time, both

New World The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...

and Cannon Pictures were filing for bankruptcy. Consequently, several of the films that the two companies made which were ready for release got shelved. The films made by New World eventually found decent distribution and their film ''

Warlock A warlock is a male practitioner of witchcraft. Etymology and terminology The most commonly accepted etymology derives '' warlock'' from the Old English '' wǣrloga'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver". The term came to apply special ...

'' actually wound up being a huge hit on home video. Cannon's ''Rockula'' however, only played a few theatres before being dumped on video in August 1990, where it remained largely ignored.

Cast

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0100506 1990 films 1990 comedy horror films Films set in 1990 American comedy horror films American vampire films Golan-Globus films Vampire comedy films 1990 comedy films Films directed by Luca Bercovici 1990s English-language films 1990s American films Films about curses Films about reincarnation Pirate films Films about singers Fiction about human–vampire romance English-language comedy horror films Musical horror films English-language musical films 1990 musical films

Plot

Production

Cast

See also

References

External links