Isaac Turner Movies

A female vampire is on the loose. She mostly preys upon those who try to exploit her in this low-budget horror movie dedicated to Fritz Leiber (the movie is based upon one of his short stories). The story begins in 1937 as the beautiful Louise, a popular fashion model who also owns the Tides hotel, commits suicide. She is despondent when she discovers her fiance and photographer has been lying and cheating. The film switches to the present. The hotel is abandoned and rapidly decaying. Louise returns and is obsessed with restoring it. She has also come back for revenge against all men who treat her as an object. She keeps up her vendetta until she meets a sensitive Cuban refugee, Carlos, who is also a photographer. They begin a strange relationship. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This slick and stylish episode is something of a variation of the classic film noir DOA, with overtones of Raymond Chandler. Travelling to Hollywood in the company of elderly writer Walter Murray (Mike Connors), with whom she is slated to collaborate on a movie script, Jessica (Angela Lansbury) makes a brief stop at a seedy motel-diner. Later that evening, Walter is found dead in his motel room, leaving behind a tape recording detailing the events leading up to his demise. In a series of stunningly photographed black-and-white flashbacks, Jessica learns that on the previous evening, Walter had been reunited with a woman (Elizabeth Ashley) whom he hadn't seen in 19 years--not since he killed her abusive husband! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide