Sleepy-eyed nice guy Lee Ritter and his vapid, but pretty wife, Susan accept the invitation of mysterious vixen Diane LeFanu to visit her in her secluded desert estate. Tensions arise when the couple, unaware at first that Diane is in reality a centuries-old vampire, realize that they are both objects of the pale temptress' seductions.Like vampires, the movie sucks. Plain and simple. It rambles, is poorly directed and has no purpose. The script is non existent and the costuming laffable.One of the few Roger Corman bombs.BTW the vampires come out in the bright desert sun! Ugh

Nicely done vampire tale, an early effort for Roger Corman's New World Pictures, breaks from convention in some ways and gives it a refreshingly different environment in which to play out: the California desert.Super sexy Celeste Yarnall is the enigmatic Diane, a desert dweller who invites young couple Lee (Michael Blodgett, "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls") and Susan (Sherry Miles, 'Hee Haw') to her isolated mansion.Co-writer / director Stephanie Rothman, the woman behind such other drive-in gems as "The Working Girls" and "Terminal Island", incorporates elements such as eroticism, voyeurism, and mysticism into this often artfully done, dreamlike horror film with palpable desert atmosphere, excellent music, and impressive sun baked cinematography by Daniel Lacambre. The dream sequences are especially enjoyable, even more so when we learn Lee and Susan are having almost the same dreams in unison. Susan often comes off as too whiny and insecure, although one couldn't blame her too much for the latter when they see just how powerfully attracted Lee is to Diane. In fact, both Lee and Susan end up rather intrigued by their cagey and alluring hostess, just not at the same time.The isolated setting ensures that escape is, while definitely not impossible, certain to be a daunting task. The sequences in the cemetery, as well as those aforementioned dream sequences, are the best in the movie. Restrained use of violence helps to make the bloodier parts that much punchier when they do occur, and in general the use of colour is quite striking. Blodgett and Miles are okay as the couple, but this is definitely Yarnall's show, and she makes the most of her role; both she and Miles show off an appreciable amount of skin. Supporting players Gene Shane, as Carl, and Jerry Daniels, as Juan, are decent as well, with familiar character players Sandy Ward, as Amos the service station attendant, and Robert Tessier - playing a biker, naturally - making appearances as well."The Velvet Vampire" is a good little movie for discerning vampire movie lovers to check out, as it continues to remain an overlooked item.Seven out of 10.

This movie is an interesting, rare take on vampirism from a female perspective. In most movies of this genre, the women are merely adjuncts to the male lead. I (accidentally) saw this as a kid, at a drive-in double-feature in the 70's, and have ALWAYS remembered specific scenes. I hadn't seen it since until recently, in 2008. Of course, nothing is as good as you remember. My younger friend who watched the DVD with me wasn't impressed with it. I guess this'll be forgotten like so many other films - regardless of the hard work that went in to producing them. The Cheezy Films DVD has a couple of good trailers for bad films - exactly what Tarentino was paying homage to in Grindhouse.

*SPOILER ALERT* *SPOILER ALERT*I bought this one from Blockbuster for three bucks. So this groovy couple head out into the desert to hang out with a hot vampire woman. She's the kind of vampire who walks around in broad daylight. And lives in the scorching desert. Yeeeaahh. It's that kind of vampire flick. So the couple takes dune buggy tours and has far out relationship issues while vampire lady decides who to seduce first.This is a typically 70's, cheap-o, female vampire flick. The good news is that both women in this movie get topless. The best news is that the lead vampire lady, (Celeste Yarnall), is a hot bloodsucker. She has some very glossy sex with the guy. The bad news is that this movie is lame. There is nothing scary or interesting about this movie. The only thing worth seeing is Yarnall in all her vampire glory. You'll also get a cheap laugh watching her drive around in her yellow dune buggy. Speaking of cheap, they must have filmed this sucker in a week. They found a house in the desert and decided it would be perfect for a vampire movie. How they came to that conclusion is unknown.Unless you're dying to see Celeste Yarnall naked, I would say skip this one.