The Lair – The Complete First Season (Genius/Here!)
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: C- Episodes: C-
Homosexuality
has always been part of vampirism mythos in some way. This is whether it is about sexual oppression
or the idea that as the living dead, sexuality becomes laden with strange new
issues and complications. However, there
has been little done explicitly to deal with the idea of have outright gay
vampires and you would think that someone would do an intriguing film or TV
show about it. The Lair – The Complete First Season proclaims to be a gay vampire
show, but is it overdrawn at the blood bank?
The title
location is owned by vampires (looking like a lite version of the techno club
in Blade) where (surprise!) the gay
vampires looking for victims are running the joint. A journalist has even discovered the truth
and tells (sort of) the whole thing in flashback waiting for them to come and
get him. Whether that means sex and/or
violence remains to be seen as though dead bodies turn up with teeth marks on
their neck, though would they not come back form the dead? Maybe?
The
problem with this show is that it is just another silly gay soap opera with
anything supernatural being very incidental.
B-movie maker Fred Olen Ray created this, further makes it a mystery why
there is very limited mystery here. The
acting is silly, most of the scenes are excuses for guys to get naked and have
sex of some kind and it goes on and on, pandering to a gay audience that it is
condescending to.
Considering
this is from the makers of the even sillier Dante’s Cove, that is no surprise.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is shot in High Definition and has
hazing issues, detail issues and often has a phony look. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is better, with
aggressive surrounds at times and has bass-rich dance music for the title club
in particular. Stills, bloopers,
original promo trailer and a behind the scenes featurette are the extras.
- Nicholas Sheffo
