central park drifter:graveyard shift

this is an atmospheric little vampire chiller about a blood drinking central park taxi driver who preys on terminally ill women to give them eternal life. i first saw this on cinemax many years ago and the shreik show dvd really delivers the sensuous ambience that bathes this little film. anybody else a fan of this?

[killit]

i like this and 2 alot. wasn't there a double dvd a while back?

[fceurich39]

i still have the original virgin vision vhs the music is my favorite thing about this film there also was a sequel called the understudy graveyard shift II but avoid that one

[dave13]

this is one of those vhs covers i remember so clearly from my childhood. the image of the vampire on the front always scared me:



after finally watching the full-frame shriek show dvd today, i'm happy to say, its not a bad little movie. not nearly as scary as my prepubescent imagination had hoped, but it has a lot of atmosphere, a lot of pretty naked ladies, and some modest originality. that, and the fact that it is so obviously shot in toronto.

a lot of reviews and opinions out there describe it as being boring and slow, but i didn't find that. its not a quickly told story, but its done well, and i was interested in the characters, so i was never bored.

i'm happy i finally got a chance to check it out after all these years. and for what its worth, i much prefer the Graveyard Shift title.

[eric_angelus]

I like this movie as well. I always thought it was really odd that the Shriek Show DVD under the Central park Drifter title uses the original (Cool) Graveyard Shift artwork but the DVD bearing the Graveyard Shift title uses cheesy/sleazy Seduction Cinema type artwork that makes the film look much more like a late night Cinemax movie than it actually is.

[frightmares]

I remember renting the Virgin VHS WAY back when & being a bit bored by it. Maybe I'll have to give it another chance. I did just find the sequel on VHS at a store that was going out of business...wish I found the first one as well...

[CPT HOOK]

Anyone looking for the Shriek Show disc should check FYE. They had this for $2.97, and they also had the Vampire Triple Feature with this, Fiance Of Dracula, and Two Orphan Vampires for $3.97.

[othervoice1]

I only see those prices for used copies and none are available- unless you meant in store only? Appears currently Amazon has better prices on them then FYE - unless I was looking at the wrong thing- if so please provide a link <:

[CPT HOOK]

Originally Posted by othervoice1

I only see those prices for used copies and none are available- unless you meant in store only? Appears currently Amazon has better prices on them then FYE - unless I was looking at the wrong thing- if so please provide a link <:

No link, I found them B&M. Most FYE stores have a bargain section with their clearance movies and they had a lot of Shriek Show stuff in there.

Also, they're brand new, not used.

[rhett]

Watched The Understudy (Graveyard Shift II) the other day after finding the VHS at a closing down video shop a few years ago. Good flick. Like the first one it really applies the vampire mythos to a modern setting quite well. This time it uses the vanity of actors and the "film is forever" mantra as its basis. Kind of low rent, but the jazzy music is nice and there are a few clever bits. I still don't quite get why the vampire is such a good billiards player (pool cue=stake?) though. I also don't get why they used the same actor as the main vampire but changed his name film to film. The idea is probably better than the execution, but this still stands above a lot of the other attempts at trying to modernize the vampire film. An underrated little saga these two movies are. Wonder if we'll ever see the second film on DVD?

[fceurich39]

Originally Posted by rhett

Watched The Understudy (Graveyard Shift II) the other day after finding the VHS at a closing down video shop a few years ago. Good flick. Like the first one it really applies the vampire mythos to a modern setting quite well. This time it uses the vanity of actors and the "film is forever" mantra as its basis. Kind of low rent, but the jazzy music is nice and there are a few clever bits. I still don't quite get why the vampire is such a good billiards player (pool cue=stake?) though. I also don't get why they used the same actor as the main vampire but changed his name film to film. The idea is probably better than the execution, but this still stands above a lot of the other attempts at trying to modernize the vampire film. An underrated little saga these two movies are. Wonder if we'll ever see the second film on DVD?

doubt it I still got the anchor bay ep mode double feature vhs set as well as the first film from shriek show