Week 3 (July 5 – 11) – Maverick Entertainment Group

One of the most overlooked and consistent low-budget film companies of the 21st century, they’ve been full steam ahead in the streaming era while other indies have cratered. From the Maverick Entertainment Group website:

Founded in 1997, Maverick continues to be a leading distributor and producer of niche independent and Black Cinema content. Having released more than 1,300 films over the past 26 years, Maverick currently distributes the world’s largest library of feature-length Black Cinema.

If you think you’ve seen every iteration of vampire lore, Aleta: Vampire Mistress—originally known as Empress Vampire—is ready to destroy your brain. The story kicks off at an upscale Halloween party where two bit-part robbers make the mistake of trying to hold up a crowd that includes the Empress Aleta (Ange Maya), who makes short work of them with effortless, superhuman violence.

Word reaches the halls of power in Washington, D.C., where the Secretary of Defense decides the government should probably recruit this ancient bloodsucker as a special operative. Enter FBI Agent Dan Higgins (Beau Nelson), who ends up teaming up with a pair of unlikely allies: Ivor Helsing (Garrett Brawith) and a mystic named Ariana (Laura Cotenescu).

As it turns out, Aleta isn’t just a vampire. She’s the Empress Yang, cursed for 1,000 years and the progenitor of all vampire-kind. Her history is a wild ride of betrayed royal marriages, blood-sucking rabbits, and a multi-generational grudge match against the Helsing bloodline. The film’s mythology is, to put it mildly, unique. Forget Dracula or sparkling heartthrobs; Aleta’s origin story involves two Chinese scientists opening a portal to another dimension, leading to energy worms merging with her to create the ultimate vampire.

She’s not your standard neck-biter, either. She’s got a groinal feed that turns a simple romantic drive into a lethal car crash. Aleta is also not above some Fulci-style violence. Just ask Joerg Von Helsing (Zachary Ryan Block), whose eye she literally plucked out and jammed into a stake hole so he could watch her destroy his family lineage for eternity. 

Then there are the musical numbers.

Yes, musical numbers, including an interpretive dance seduction sequence complete with nudity, and a Bollywood before the final battle, set the stage for the set song that the entire cast sings.

My favorite part? Igor saves a girl from a vampire and tells her that if she wants to live, she has to lose her virginity. She immediately calls her boyfriend and tells her its time to get serious.

This is a vampire movie filled with nearly as many boobs as a Russ Meyer movie, tons of bad CGI, gratuitous use of wall coverings, really good cinematography and the question “How was Dawna Lee Heising not in this movie?“

You can watch this on Tubi.