Under the Radar DVD of the Week: "I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle"


Posted February 15, 2010 by Dennis King Comment on this article Leave a comment

This week, the oddest DVD to appear on release lists is:

“I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle”

This 1990 low-budget British horror spoof sounds like an unlikely mash-up of conventions from pulpy horror movies and “Popular Mechanics” magazine.

It’s set in Birmingham, England, and features a bloke named Noddy (Neil Morrissey) who buys a beat-up old motorcycle – a classic 750cc Norton Commando – to restore. But, it turns out, the bike has a bloody history, having once belonged to an occultist who was murdered by members of a motorcycle gang.

So the bike is possessed by a vengeful spirit and has a taste for blood. Every time it’s revved up, it tears off on a murderous, tire-squealing rampage that leaves gory road-kill and mutilated Hell’s Angels in its wake.

It’s goofy stuff, indeed, and the movie given an extra measure of British loopiness by the fact that Morrissey is the guy who provides the voice for the kiddy cartoon favorite “Bob the Builder.” Also, inhabiting the role of an eccentric priest who attempts to exorcise the bike’s evil spirit is actor Anthony Daniels, probably best remembered as the fuss-budget voice of “Star Wars” robot C-3PO.

“I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle” is due out Tuesday on DVD from the distributor Redemption USA. Suggested list price is $19.95.

– Dennis King





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MOVIE CRITIC
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King spent 31 years as an ink-stained wretch working for newspapers in Seminole, Ada, Oklahoma City and Tulsa. He holds a B.A. degree in English...

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