When people think of Las Vegas, “horror” usually isn’t the first thing that pops into mind. A lot of ‘G’ words like greed, gluttony, glitz, glamor and gangsters fit Sin City like a glove, but horror, not so much.
Vegas has had it share of real world horrors (and more than its share of the gun violence that plagues the U.S), but the bright, neon lights of a city that never sleeps would seem to be anathema to the supernatural denizens of the night that like to keep to the ink-black shadows.
Or so we thought until The Night Stalker, a super-powered vampire, preyed upon those other creatures of the night, inveterate gamblers, in 1972 Las Vegas. (The Night Stalker, written by Richard Matheson based on an unpublished novel by Vegas journalist Jeff Rice, was a smash hit, becoming the most watched TV movie of its time.)
Actually, The Night Stalker was not the first supernatural entity to plague Vegas on TV or movie screens. A couple of years before Barry Atwater’s vampire showed up in Sin City, a mummy and a were-jackal (!?) mixed it up under the neon lights. Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man this was not, being a grade Z monster mash-up starring Anthony Eisley and John Carradine, who were Z movie stand-bys at this point in their careers.
In The Mummy and the Curse of the Jackals (1969), Eisley plays Nevada-based archaeologist David Barrie, who retrieves two ancient Egyptian sarcophagi from a crashed plane in Lake Mead (?!), bringing them back to his ramshackle old house on the outskirts of Las Vegas to prepare them for an upcoming major archaeological conference in the big city (archaeologists like to let their hair down like everyone else).
One sarcophagus with a glass lid (uh-huh) contains the perfectly preserved body of the beautiful and alluring Princess Akana (Marliza Pons). The other contains the less than well-preserved remains of a plain old mummy (who was once a nobleman who wanted Akana for himself, and was buried alive to become her protector for all time -- hey mummy fans, sound familiar?).
Barrie is obsessed with Akana, fantasizing about reviving her and gaining worldwide fame by parading the Princess around at the conference. Little does he know that just by being in close proximity to Akana, the Curse of the Jackals takes effect, turning him into a ravening were-jackal by the light of the full moon.
It seems that the goddess Isis has plans for the revived Princess to bring the Old Time Religion, by force if necessary, to 20th century Sin City. In the meantime, the were-jackal and the mummy fight it out in the streets of Las Vegas to become the one, true love and protector of Akana.
Things I learned about Las Vegas from the film:
- Casino managers look askance at rampaging mummies attacking their lounge performers.
- Armed casino guards will not hesitate to fire shots in a crowded room in order to deter murderous mummies.
- By 1969, Vegas visitors were so jaded, mummies and were-jackals shambling down the Strip elicited only bemused smirks.
Things I learned about ancient Egypt and its mythology:
- You don’t have to be bitten by a were-jackal to become one -- mere proximity to a cursed princess is enough
- Were-jackals need lots of naps between murderous rampages.
- 4,000 years ago, Egyptians perfected air-tight plexiglass for sealing up and preserving their deceased nobility.
- Egyptian mummies were supplied with handy oven mitts in case they needed to handle hot food in the afterlife.
Where to find it: Streaming
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| Even in 1969, shambling mummies were a dime a dozen on the Vegas Strip. |
And then there’s Leprechaun 3 (1995), the third entry in the schlocky B horror franchise featuring the titular folk creature (Warwick Davis) who is significantly more ill-tempered and avaricious (not to mention homicidal) than his Lucky Charms cousin. In an inspired opening, a man who is somewhat worse for the wear -- sporting one eye, one leg and a missing hand -- unloads a “life-sized” statue of a leprechaun wearing a red medallion at a downtown Vegas pawn shop, warning the shop owner not to remove the medallion under any circumstances.
Of course the first thing the pawnbroker does is take the bejeweled piece off to inspect it, which, like removing a stake from a vampire’s skeleton, reanimates the vicious little bugger. And before you can say “faith and begorrah,” the little terror makes life a living hell for the pawnbroker, a naive college student stopping over in Las Vegas on his way to school, a second-rate lounge magician, the magician’s beautiful assistant, a sleazy casino manager, and the manager’s avaricious and ambitious female assistant.
Things I learned about Las Vegas from the film:
- Las Vegas is about the only place in the world where stage magicians are still tolerated.
- Casinos rig their gaming devices in order to cheat naive, under-age college students out of their tuition savings.
- All casino managers are sleazebags with bad hairpieces who have nothing better to do all day than grope the help.
Things I learned about leprechauns:
- Ruby medallions are to leprechauns like garlic is to vampires.
- The bite of a leprechaun can turn you into a were-leprechaun.
- Think twice about using a magic coin from a leprechaun’s stash to wish for an extreme makeover.
Where to find it: Streaming
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| In Vegas, a leprechaun and his stash of gold are soon parted. |
The biochemist uses newly-turned vampires as guinea-pigs to test the serum in the desert outside of Las Vegas. The state police are called in to investigate reports of screaming young women exploding in the sun, but they spend most of the film running around in circles. Leave it to naive bridegroom-to-be Jason (Edward Spivak) to eventually uncover the nefarious plot when his clueless buddies haul him off to a Sylvian-owned private club for a bachelor party blow-out. When the industrialist vampire kidnaps Jason’s sweet, innocent fiance Rachel (Sonya Joy Sims) for more serum experimentation, Jason summons up untapped reserves of courage to save her from a fate worse than death.
Things I learned about Las Vegas from the film:
- Hiking in the desert outside of the city runs the risk of running into mobsters or mad scientists disposing of bodies.
- For bachelor parties, it’s best to avoid vampire-owned private clubs.
- For a hungry vampire, a city that never sleeps is like a buffet that never closes.
Things I learned about vampires:
- After hundreds of years, vampires get bored and like to mix things up by finding other forms of bloodsucking, like politics.
- In Vegas, bodybuilders and exotic dancers are the familiars of choice for wealthy vampires.
- Vampires can conveniently grow wings at a moment’s notice and teleport to wherever they want.
Where to find it: Streaming 1 | Streaming 2
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| When the temperature dips below 80 degrees, Las Vegans (vampires included) bundle up before going out. |
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