"Desert of Blood" is a really problematic, if decent at times entry.**SPOILERS**Discovered in the Mexican desert, Luis Diego, (Justin Quinn) buried for several decades, awakes as a vampire and joins with Carlos, (Mike Dusi) a small-time criminal, to set out on a quest for vengeance. When he begins, Maricela, (Brenda Romero) and her friends Heather, (Natalie J. Horton) and Samantha, (Tori White) decide to come down to help out her family, and upon both groups meeting up with each other, decide to become friends over his stories about a past friendship with the family. As they stay to help out and more and more bodies around the town turn up missing, they start to question who he really is, and as soon as local Cris, (Naim Thomas) helps them to realize he is a vampire and that his quest is still going on, they all race to stop it from being completed.The Good News: There was a couple of things here that worked. One of the best points is that the few vampire encounters on display are somewhat enjoyable. There's not a whole lot of them, but they are really good and some of the only times when the film has any sort of momentum going forward. The encounter in the garage is really nice, where the reversal of whether the expected attack was going to occur then or not was really well-done and made for an exciting time, and the bar encounter is really fun and enjoyable. Also really nice is the first scenes out and about roaming the countryside, which manages to feature some pretty nice kills and a lot of vampiric action taking place to a great time overall. There's also the fight with the renegade vampire in the brothel, which is short but really good. The big part, though, is the finale where it's all brought out, and with all the different elements brought in, from the vampire's tactics to their defenses and combined with a great setting that plays a part of everything mixes together into an exciting, full-on interesting and exciting encounter that certainly ends the film on a bright note. The last good part to this one is that the few times it's actually gory on-screen it's all worthwhile. There's a couple bloody bits to the neck with splatter shooting out onto the surroundings, burnt skin through exposure to crosses or sunlight, a cross impaled in the chest and an impaling with a pool cue through the chest, even though none of them are truly spectacular. Along with an atmospheric opening, these here are the film's best parts.The Bad News: There was some really big problems with this one. One of the film's biggest problems is that there's really just a lot of scenes that go on-and-on for no reason, making this one awfully dull. There's a couple different reasons for that, none more important than the romance angle. There's been a ton of them in the genre before, so it's no surprise it features one as well, but this one is just so hastily built together and haphazardly organized that it doesn't feel in the slightest bit logical or realistic, and just not believable. Having been saved from a potential rape, the only thing that's learned during the whole romance is each other's name, and yet that's enough for a deep commitment and difficulty in believing and accepting the vampiric tendencies of him later comes as a complete surprise, which doesn't make sense since nothing is given as to why that would be so. It's incredibly distracting and takes the viewer right out of it. There's also the fact that, besides featuring a clichéd angle lamely, there's a ton of time devoted to the family and the friendship between everyone, which is just over-developed to the point of it taking up a ton of screen-time. These elements here just make the film last to long that it doesn't have much of an opportunity to get many vampire scenes in, even though he's there but not in action. That may just be as well, since this is one of the most physically underwhelming vampires in the genre. There's nothing about him that gives off any kind of intimidating presence, there's barely anything that really screams as though he's going to be doing anything that will be difficult to overcome or prove dangerous to those going up against him, and beyond the mere fact that he's a vampire, really doesn't do much of anything to really make him intimidating. The last flaw to this one is the fact that there's a lot of off-screen kills that really tone down the amount of gore potentially could've been used. There's about an even amount of physically on-screen and off-screen, which is pretty bad and should've been favored more to one-side. These here are the film's flaws.The Final Verdict: While not one of the worst entries in the genre, it doesn't have a whole lot to really recommend about it either. Really only worthwhile for the most hardcore vampire-film completist, while those who are looking for more rewarding fare or not a fan of the genre should heed caution.Rated R: Graphic Language, Graphic Violence, Nudity and a clothed Sex Scene

There are some nice vampire gore scenes and definitely some major T&A on display in this direct-to-video production. Annika Svedman gave us a great show before she became a vampiress, but I sure wanted to see what Tori White had to offer.There is even a lick-the-salt, drink-the-blood, and eat-the-lemon scene that was cute. Who needs tequila? It may be an B-indie, but there are lots of gorgeous characters, both male and female. The story is really interesting - a young vampire (Justin Quinn) buried for 35 years, and awoken by a treasure hunter, falls for the niece (Brenda Romero) of his former love (Yvonne Rawn).If Don Henry has anymore ideas like this, I will look forward to seeing them.

I would give his film an 8.5 out of 10, it is not an Oscar caliber movie but i do not know how many horror films are. I enjoyed watching it. I laughed at some funny parts and enjoyed the different outlook on the undead. The movie never came out and said that they were vampires and it also deals with a complicated question, Can a vampire be good even though he needs blood to survive?I found that my friends and I were discussing this question long after the film was over. Which all this the film was still suspenseful and scary. I would not recommend watching this movie at night when you are alone.

Totally unconvincing, pathetic acting - daytime soap opera standard or worse. Did they hire actors or just invite a few people off the street? "Diego" delivered his immortal lines (pun intended) with all the passion of a Macfood drone - you want fries with that blood? You don't expect a great plot in these things but the basic idea actually wasn't too bad. A competent director and cast could have done a lot with the "buried for 35 years and now he's back" scenario. Changes in culture, the idea that he isn't totally evil - or doesn't want to be. It could have been better than average instead of a world-class stinker. At least they followed the horror movie convention that any woman who whips her top off is dead meat - or undead as the case may be. Thank heavens it was $1 Tuesday at the Video-Ezy but what I really want is to get that ninety-something minutes of my life back.