Embrace of the Vampire is a 1995 American erotic horror film directed by Anne Goursaud. Released direct-to-video, the film stars Alyssa Milano in one of her first adult roles following her transition from child stardom, alongside Martin Kemp as a seductive and tormented vampire. Blending gothic horror with erotic themes, the film explores themes of temptation, duality, and forbidden desire.
Plot[]
Charlotte Wells (Alyssa Milano) is a reserved and sheltered college student who begins to experience a series of vivid and erotic dreams involving a mysterious and alluring vampire (Martin Kemp). This vampire, once a mortal nobleman who was seduced and transformed by a group of nymph-like vampires, believes Charlotte to be the reincarnation of his long-lost lover—a princess he once failed to save.
As the vampire reaches the final hours of his immortality, he seeks to win Charlotte’s love in order to survive. To draw her closer, he gifts her an ankh pendant imbued with dark influence, which begins to alter her behavior and erode her inhibitions.
Charlotte’s newfound sensuality strains her relationship with her boyfriend, Chris (Harrison Pruett), and entangles her in a conflict between desire and morality. Her internal struggle intensifies as her dreams become indistinguishable from reality. In one pivotal sequence, Charlotte attends a party wearing provocative clothing borrowed from her friend Nicole (Rachel True), where she is drugged and briefly seduced by a student named Milo. The encounter is interrupted by Milo’s jealous girlfriend, Eliza (Jordan Ladd), who is violently killed by the vampire in a scene witnessed—yet strangely arousing—to Charlotte.
Ultimately, Charlotte must choose between the safe, tangible love of Chris and the eternal, dangerous passion offered by the vampire. In the climax set in a gothic tower, the vampire tries to consummate his bond with Charlotte, but she resists his seduction by invoking Chris’s name. Rejected, the vampire succumbs to his fate and vanishes, while Charlotte awakens beside Chris, reaffirming her choice of life and love over darkness and desire.
Cast[]
- Alyssa Milano as Charlotte Wells
- Martin Kemp as The Vampire
- Harrison Pruett as Chris
- Jordan Ladd as Eliza
- Rachel True as Nicole
- Charlotte Lewis as Sarah
- Jennifer Tilly as Marika
- Rebecca Ferratti as The Princess
- John Riedlinger as Milo
Production[]
Embrace of the Vampire marked a turning point in Alyssa Milano's career as she took on more adult roles following her success on television series like Who's the Boss? In a 1995 interview, Milano addressed her involvement in the film’s explicit content, stating:
“I'm not going to say that I was manipulated into doing things that I didn't want to do. I did it because it was a woman director and I felt protected. And I learned a lot as far as knowing where the camera is and what coverage they need so that it's not all explicit.”1
Director Anne Goursaud, who previously worked as an editor on several Francis Ford Coppola films, revealed in a 2005 interview that Embrace of the Vampire was produced on a modest budget of approximately $500,000 and shot over the course of thirteen days. Despite its limited release, the film became a commercial success through video sales, which Goursaud estimated to have brought in as much as $15 million.2
Legacy[]
While critically divisive, Embrace of the Vampire has since garnered a cult following due to its dreamlike atmosphere, gothic aesthetic, and its role in redefining Alyssa Milano's screen image. A remake of the film was released in 2013, starring Sharon Hinnendael in the lead role.