Review: Lemora

1973 Blackfern Production

    Innocent Lila Lee (Cheryl Smith) goes on a journey to meet her gangster father when summoned to his side by the mysterious Lemora (Lesley Gilb). What does Lemora want from her and will Lila’s innocence be forever shattered?

    Bloofer lady really loves this film for the simple fact that it is so gosh darn strange and surrealistic. The full title of this film is Lemora: A Child’s Tale Of The Supernatural, which pretty much is what this whole film is about. It tells the tale of Lila finding out about a timeless vampire bent on showing her who she really is. The screenplay is very original and the film itself is very beautiful to watch and has a very spooky feel about it.

    Lemora is written by Richard Blackburn and Robert Fern and is a very original take on the vampire mythos.  Lemora isn’t just a vampire she is an all knowing presence, able to tell people who they really are. The character is able to peel back the layers of superficiality and show her victims what they really want and long for. It is basically a tale of innocence falling into the clutches of evil, but the evil that is shown to Lila by Lemora is much more honest than the arms of the lustfull Reverend (Richard Blackburn) from which she ran away from. This caring aspect of Lemora is also shown by the fact that she looks after a pack of vampire children and keeps the past owner of the house around as a faithful housekeeper. The dialogue is really well written and includes such choice phrases such as ‘Is fun evil?’ which is said by Lemora when the religiously demure Lila balks at dancing to some music. The only part that kind of confuses me is the origin of the creatures that lurk outside the safety of the house. I think that they are the victims of Lemora who didn’t take to the vampire transformation too well, but I am not for certain.

    This was directed by Richard Blackburn in a very stylish and European type way. What I mean by that is that the film has a very surrealistic feel to it that not many other American horror films have achieved. Most of the film takes place at night, and during these times he uses blue lighting in almost every scene. This gives the entire film a feel of other worldliness, like it takes place on another plane of existence from us. While on her journey to Lemora Lila runs into some strangely unmoral situations such as a prostitute sitting in a window. During these kind of scenes, when she is confronted by the immoral, there is red lighting which automatically lets you know that Lila’s innocence is in danger. The makeup that the character Lemora and the child vampires wear is pretty cool; they all have red cheeks and pale faces, which is a different take on what you would normally see in a vampire film. The creatures in the woods don’t have the best make-up , but considering that this film wasn’t made on a huge budget it’s adequate for what it is.

    Cheryl Smith pretty much carries this movie all by herself and she does an excellent job! She was 20 years old while playing the part of young and innocent Lila and that kind of shocks me because she looks like a young teenager in the film. The innocence that Lila carries around her is easily identifiable while Smith is playing her, and that is very important to note since the whole movie is pretty much based on that. Without that believability the whole film wouldn’t work. What is sad about Smith is that she died from complications having to due with hepatitis back in 2002. She appeared in some B cult films such as Caged Heat and Phantom Of The Paradise before falling victim to heroin.  I also really like Leslie Gilb’s performance as Lemora because she makes the character come across as menacing but understanding at the same time. You know that something is wrong and not quite right about Lemora but her soothing voice and temperament make you soon forget that. Gilb didn’t appear in a single thing after this which really surprises the hell out of me. Lastly Richard Blackburn himself plays the Reverend, who is creepy as hell and looks like a straight up child molester.

    Lemora is a really good vampire film and Bloofer Lady recommends that everybody give it at least a chance. Forgotten horror films need a lot of love and this surrealistic journey into the unknown deserves it!

Bloofer Lady

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