I, Desire
I, Desire
NR | 15 November 1982 (USA)
I, Desire Trailers

A coroner's assistant, who is also a law student, gets involved in a strange case involving his girlfriend's place of employment (a hospital), prostitutes, a defrocked priest, and vampires.

Reviews
Sharkflei

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

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Lollivan

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

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Lachlan Coulson

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

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Fleur

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

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christopher-underwood

Rather bloodless vampire movie from TV movie veteran, John Llewellyn Moxey and starring, David Naughton who co-starred in, American Werewolf in London, the year before. The idea is great in that in this updated version, the one in search of blood poses as a hooker to ensnare and in between these bouts supplements the supply with raids on hospital blood banks, as you would. All good, but here played so carefully that those special ingredients (sex and violence!) only get hinted at here. For some the wailing sax (such a sign of 80s films) is effective, for some of us lazy and tiresome, but the films just about engages and is helped enormously halfway through with a fantastic interjection by the priest figure. If only the whole film had been as vital, or indeed, dare I say, Mr Naughton's performance as effective.

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Brandt Sponseller

David Balsiger (David Naughton) works the night shift at the city morgue, watching over the "cold room". He's just moved in with his girlfriend, Cheryl Gillen (Marilyn Jones), a nurse. A corpse shows up with puncture wounds on its neck, drained of its blood. A priest comes in, apparently from the man's family, to give last rites, then disappears. Moments later, the man's rabbi shows up. David tells the police, and begins to become wrapped up in the case, which appears to be some kind of serial murderer who is at least mimicking vampirism.Despite a slight clunkiness in a couple spots and a too-understated climax, which caused me to subtract one point from this film's score, this is an incredibly underrated and too-little-known horror flick. It has some resemblances to Taxi Driver, including that film's wonderful grittiness, but as a vampire film.Perhaps with a different cast, Desire, The Vampire (aka I, Desire) would be a much lesser film, but Naughton, who is the focus here--we're following him 90-percent of the time, is fabulous. As he becomes more wrapped up in the strange events, so do we, and we empathetically experience the odd, alienating reaction that he begins to receive from others. Brad Dourif is extra-creepy in the film, and in many ways he's the biggest villain in a film that has many besides the obvious, titular one.This film deserves much more recognition. A 9 out of 10 from me.

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KDWms

This flick pretty well bridges the gap between a centuries-old concept and a modern environment. I regard this to be a difficult task in our contemporary era of pragmatism, so, this gets an above-average rating from me for its attempt. But I guess that SOME elements of the vampire belief just CAN'T be left in the past, and they, unfortunately, remind me that this IS a fantasy, evoking my idiosyncratic prejudice against that genre. The story is about a squeamish law-student/morgue worker and his nurse/girlfriend, who, in their positions, see some deaths which involve blood loss. As the guy's fascination intensifies, so does his alienation of his shack-up and the cops, who tire of his tries to convince them that his theory is worthy. I think, however, that you will agree that there is nothing unprofessional about this movie, and that you will, therefore, also conclude that this is an adequate investment.

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Bynovekka1

Superior made for television movie that bears a more than passing resemblence to the newer and triter "Def by Temptation". "I Desire" stars David Naughton fresh from his impressive performance in "American Werewolf in London", as David Balsiger, a Los Angeles morgue attendant who notices a series of bodies that cross his station appear to be victims of a vampire. He initially discounts this possibility but as more bodies come in he undertakes a personel investigation into the matter. Eventually his snooping leads him into a near fatal confrontation with a decidedly female fiend. Foolishly, he tells the authorities of his encounter and is promptly dismissed as a crank. His fellow morgue attendants get wind of the story and play some morbid but convincing hoaxes on him. Even his girlfriend doubts him, suggesting he seek professional help. Balsiger is just starting to doubt his sanity when a priest shows up and confirms his suspicions. The priest, who has tracked the killer from its last murder spree in New Orleans tells the young man what they are dealing with is more than a mere vampire. The beast is actually the demonic personification of lustful desire. Taking the form of a beautiful woman the creature poses as a prostitute and uses the art of seduction to corrupt the souls of men. Only a truly righteous man, the priest informs him, can hope to resist the demon's wiles and thus combat it. Armed with this knowledge Balsiger sets forth to battle the beast in an all or nothing showdown of good versus evil. Being a made for television film overt sexuality and gore are thankfully nonexistant. Instead the movie wisely concentrates on characterization and quality plot development.

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