Addicted to Murder
and
Addicted to Murder 3: Bloodlust

The film begins with a young man called Joel finding a shapely vampire called Rachael in the midst of lunch. By the time Joel has grown into manhood, Rachael has evidently never left him alone - shaping him for a life of murder by encouraging him to practice all sorts of nastiness on her immortal body (in one especially over-the-top scene Joel takes a chainsaw to her!). By the time Rachael disappears from Joel's life, the poor chap really is 'addicted to murder' - to the point of picking up travellers and killing them. Unsurprisingly, Joel's personal life is a mess - although he still manages to keep his 'addiction' secret.
Upon meeting a vampire called Angie, Joel thinks that he might finally have some sort of loyal and understanding companion, but Angie has ulterior motives - she turns Joel into a vampire in the hope of crafting the ultimate hunter. Unfortunately for her, such plans are in vain and Joel instead turns himself into a slayer of vampires in the film's unexpected and downbeat coda.

In amongst the film, the director cuts to interviews with psychology 'experts' and Joel's friends and family - this allows Addicted to Murder to take on a very sinister and unnerving atmosphere as we are unsure of where the narrative is going to take us. Through these interviews Lindenmuth makes it perfectly clear to us that Joel is on a loose end. However, the director is careful not to let this 'loose end' explode too early, instead keeping us in tension as we await the inevitable scenes where we can finally see what Joel is capable of. Indeed, the use of these sudden, intrusive interviews is a wise move, adding further insight to the lead character and informing us of just how dangerous he actually is (Joel is played remarkably subdued - he seems, at least initially, to be nothing more than a quiet young man).

In Addicted to Murder, Kevin Lindenmuth takes some genuine dares - and he does it with confidence. At times, the movie does get a bit too ludicrous (as aforementioned, the scene where Joel takes a chainsaw to Rachael - at her own request - is incredibly maniacal and excessive), but at other times it hits the grim and grimy mark that the director is obviously aiming for. The film is certainly disturbing, and it is definitely a rough ride to the finish - boosted by a capable cast and the director's tightly scripted mayhem.

I can see why Addicted to Murder has such a cult following among fans of alternative genre cinema - its story is inventive to say the least, the starlets are undeniably glamorous and it never fails to keep you interested. As I've maintained, it is also quite a disturbing title (although there is some comedy - Joel watching Vampires and Other Stereotypes with his date comes to mind) so it's not a movie to be getting the popcorn out for! All said, this is a justified viewing experience for anyone after a serial killer flick with teeth. If, to quote one of the lines from the film, you wish to see for yourself 'America's favourite pastime - peering into the abyss', then this is not a bad place to start (be warned though: you'll want to see the sequels too). Roll on the proposed big budget remake!

Addicted to Murder 3: Bloodlust (1999)

If Addicted to Murder 3: Bloodlust proves one thing it is that Kevin Lindenmuth has come on leaps and bounds as a director, because his 'New York segment' in this film actually plays and looks better than anything in the past two movies. Yes, for this film Kevin has actually only directed half of the movie - giving new director Tom Vollmann the chance to oversee the film's later 'Chicago segment' which takes us into a maximum-security prison. Judging from the end result, it's possible to conclude that two heads are sometimes better than one...

Indeed, for such a low budget entry - Addicted to Murder 3 sometimes manages to make you forget that you are watching a shot on video movie, with moments of visual daring and superior acting from all involved. One warning however - don't watch this unless you've seen the previous two films, and don't expect much in the way of blood and gore, which Kevin seems resigned to avoid (quite thankfully) as he concentrates more on the characters and events which bring this series alive. This is what I like most about these movies - Kevin never aims for the cheap way out and creates an on screen bloodbath, instead he is resigned to actually making an audience care about what transpires on screen instead of sitting awaiting the next scene of gross out excess.

Addicted to Murder 3 is a strange one however. Unlike most sequels, this one is determined to phase out most of the old characters (sure, Mick McCleery is back as the machete wielding vampire hunter Joel, but his screen time amounts to little more than an extended cameo this time around) in favour of new personalities and plot twists. Also back are Part 2 stalwarts, Tricia (Sarah K. Lippman), whose story dominates the first half of the film, and Karen (Cloud Michaels). Tricia remains the most interesting of the characters (see my review of the second film for more details) and it's a bit of a pity that she disappears from the film relatively early on.

This third entry into the vampire series really begins to take shape when we are taken into a maximum-security prison and introduced to a recently convicted murderer (the impossibly friendly Nick Kostopoulos). Kostopoulos is given the task of sharing a cell with a bulky vampire called Santana (Frank Lopez), who is actually using the prison as his erstwhile lair. Despite saving Kostopoulos from being raped, Santana finds his secret told to the prison's reverend and it isn't long before both Kostopoulos and his pretty blonde daughter are on Santana's hit list.

The scenes in the maximum-security prison resemble a low, low budget Prisoner: Cellblock H, and they are really a lot of fun to watch - so kudos to new director Tom Vollmann. Furthermore, the new characters and scenarios also add a lot of potential to the series, and it's clear that Kevin wishes his Addicted to Murder series to move on. I hope he integrates a lot of the elements from these three films into his planned bigger budget remake of the first film.

Addicted to Murder 3 is the most accomplished of the series, and the timeline of the series is becoming more and more interesting. Personally speaking, I actually felt that the second Addicted to Murder was the best of the three - mainly because of the humour and the consistent plot twists. Still, this third part is at least on a par with the first and I would be very surprised if series devotees ended up disappointed by it. Moreover, in Santana the Addicted to Murder films now have a suitable match for Joel and a battle between the two of them would no doubt be the highlight of a fourth entry. It will be interesting to see if Kevin does this, but considering the potential of this scenario I'd say he'd be nuts not to!