"The Vineyard" is noteworthy among low budget horror crud in that it marked a rare co- writing / co-directing credit for the excellent veteran character actor James Hong, whom most people will have seen in one thing or another (such as the villain Lo Pan in "Big Trouble in Little China"). Here the typically solid Hong does a delightful job of chewing on the scenery as nefarious wine maker Dr. Elson Po, who may be putting strange things into his recipe. A troupe of vapid young adults are invited to his island winery under the pretense that he'll audition them for a movie he's producing, but in reality they'll soon be victimized by black magic and Po's brutal, grim faced henchmen. Dr. Po has a weakness regarding the amulet that he wears, but will the dumb schmucks here figure that out in time? Hong and company seem to be aware that they're making silly horror cheese here, and they just have fun with their material (rather than going the route of making obvious self referential jokes). In fact, he's good enough to raise this a point in the rating. Also helping out is the presence of the charming, luscious Playboy Playmate Karen Witter as Jezebel, the young lady upon whom Po fixates. (Who can blame him?) The supporting cast plays it all quite straight, and they make up in entertainment value whatever they lack in ability. Michael Wong is hopelessly stiff, studious journalist Jeremy Young, who's fascinated by Po. There is a good little serving of female flesh, and the female cast members - Cheryl Madsen, Cheryl Lawson, Lissa Zappardino - are pleasing enough to look at throughout. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't have too many of what could be considered really good, highlight moments (aside from one ingenious bit of a character coughing up spiders), but it's hard to knock anything that throws zombies into the mix so they can be paid off during the climax, and pokes fun at any and all horror movie that's ever concluded with an open ending. Makeup effects are generally well done, and the setting allows for some gorgeous scenery. All things considered, this is agreeable stuff, not anything worth actively seeking out but still worth a look for die hard genre addicts. Six out of 10.
Review of The Vineyard
