Dr Samuel Hirsch [James Kiberd] has spent years preparing for the chance that he
will one day capture a real vampire. The top floor of the V.A. Hospital in
Los Angeles is already laying in wait, complete with a sunproof
containment box, retractable sun roof, and observation deck. Simon Molinar [Jason Carter]
is a vampire, born to a poor family in the Pyrenees during the reign of
Hadrian. Detective Gwen Taylor [Denise Alessandria Hurd] is posing as a hooker in hopes of capturing
the creep who has been murdering L.A. prostitutes, leaving their corpses
battered and bloodless such that the media has dubbed him "Vlad". These
three lives are about to cross.It's a routine night for Gwen. Already her team has picked up one
john for soliciting, a blubbering nebbish with only $40.00 in his pocket.
Definitely not Vlad. Number 2 is tall and handsome and, when he kisses
Gwen, she is mysteriously drawn to him. When the team attempts to cuff
him, however, he does the impossible--rips the door off the hinges and
escapes. He is followed, shot eight times, and clubbed mercilessly. Yet,
when Dr Hirsch bends over him, the suspect instinctively reaches up and
strangles him. In his wounded state, the suspect is captured, enclosed in
a steel containment box, and taken directly to the VA experimental lab. If
not Vlad, he surely is a vampire.With Dr Hirsch's death, new Delphi project director, William Bassett [Jack Donner],
requests another physician to take Dr Hirsch's place. Dr Joseph "Joe"
McKay [Garett Maggart] takes the call and so becomes private physician to Simon Molinar,
vampire. Working only when the sun is directly overhead and transfusing
Simon with donated blood, Joe removes the bullets from Simon's back
(including one musketball from years previous) and performs a series of
routine examinations. [Simon has AB- blood, BP 60/30, temperature 96° F, he
has a heartbeat (which does not register on EKG), he casts a reflection,
his fangs emerge when a pocket behind his teeth fills with fluid ("like an
erection"), his pupils are reactive, he pees blood, garlic and crosses are
useless, his wounds heal overnight (if he's transfused with blood), he
breathes but his body absorbs no oxygen, and, although his blood is inert,
it appears to harbor an unidentified virus.]
After a few days of routine testing, Dr Bassett orders sunlight
exposure experiments, and Joe begins to question the humanity of the
testing regimen. Bassett explains that it is necessary to learn how much
exposure (if any) will harm the vampire so that, hopefully, they can let
him out of his containment box for longer periods. [It turns out that even
indirect sunlight burns Simon's skin.]When the government decides that humanity would be even further
served by learning about Simon's regenerative properties, they decide to
break his arm. Simon, who has been totally cooperative so far, helps them
along by breaking his own arm. In the fracas that follows, one of the
military guards, specially selected because of his strong religious
upbringing, seizes the moment to stab Simon repeatedly in the chest,
claiming that it is the responsibility of the righteous to destroy evil.
Joe manages to clear the blood from Simon's chest and keep him alive. In
yet another experiment in torture, Simon is not allowed a blood
transfusion so that they can see how long it takes him to heal on his own.
When Simon reminds Dr Bassett of the Uncertainty Principle (to fully
understand a thing, it must be studied in context), Bassett dreams up a
third experiment and hires a prostitute in order to study Simon after
drinking blood directly from a human.Meanwhile, Gwen is haunted by the memory of Simon's kiss and, driven
by the need to bring justice to the prostitute killer, attempts to gain
information about Simon by going through Joe. At first, Joe is not
forthcoming until he is informed that Simon is to be destroyed when the
experiments are completed. Joe then pairs up with Gwen and, together, they
pay a visit to Simon's apartment, an apartment just like any other
human's. Joe decides that he can no longer go on with the project.Then, blood chemist Ben Yarmall discovers that Joe's blood contains a
genetic marker compatible with the virus in Simon's blood. Under the guise
that Simon is going into convulsions after a transfusion, Bassett tricks
Joe into returning in order to treat his patient. Knowing that Joe is
compatible with the virus, Simon attempts to bite him, promising "We'll
have fun." Thereafter follows 10 minutes of pell-mell action as the gun is
passed back and forth between Gwen, Joe, Simon, Ben, Bassett, and several
guards, so that you don't know who is going to end up alive or dead. In
short, Bassett shoots a guard, Gwen takes the gun from Bassett, more
guards take the gun from Gwen, the guard gives the gun back to Bassett,
the guards open the door to Simon's chamber in order to free Joe, Simon
escapes, Ben shoots Bassett, Simon takes the gun from Ben, Joe grabs a
machine gun and orders Simon to stop, Simon runs, and Gwen grabs Bassett's
dropped gun and chases Simon to the roof. As Gwen points the gun at Simon,
he jumps from the roof.Epilogue: Simon enters a club and asks a woman sitting at the bar whether or
not the seat next to her is taken. [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl]
What can Dr McKay turn into?