I, Desire
| I, Desire | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Horror |
| Written by | Bob Foster |
| Directed by | John Llewellyn Moxey |
| Starring | David Naughton Dorian Harewood Barbara Stock Marilyn Jones |
| Music by | Don Peake |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jim Green |
| Producer(s) | Audrey A. Blasdel |
| Cinematography | Robert L. Morrison |
| Editor(s) | Jack Peluso |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Green-Epstein Productions, Columbia Pictures Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | November 15, 1982 |
| External links | |
| [{{#property:P856}} Website] | |
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I, Desire is an American made-for-TV horror film, which premiered November 15, 1982 on the ABC television network. It stars Barbara Stock in the title role, Dorian Harewood and David Naughton.
Plot
David Balsiger (Naughton) is a night shift coroner's assistant in the Los Angeles County coroner's office, working his way through law school. One evening two of his co-workers, Daryl and Larry, bring in the body of Milton King, who has been drained of his blood. Suspiciously, two puncture wounds were found near his neck. A priest visits the morgue later, asking to see King's body. Moments later, Daryl and Larry tell David that another clergyman has shown up wanting to see King...this time a rabbi. David returns to the cooler but finds the priest has gone.
David shares his suspicions with Cheryl (Jones), his live-in girlfriend. The next morning, they watch a televised news account of King's death. The report states King's mutilated body was found in a cheap hotel room along Hollywood Boulevard and that an attractive, young, dark-haired woman, believed to be a prostitute, is a suspect in his murder. Cheryl suggests that David tell someone about his suspicions. Later that day, Cheryl, who works as a nurse at Memorial Hospital, learns that the hospital's blood bank was short two pints.
Concurrently, David is visited at the morgue by police detective Jerry Van Ness (Harewood), who is investigating King's murder. David agrees to accompany Van Ness, after dropping his car off at the hospital for Cheryl. While doing so, he happens upon an attractive dark-haired volunteer named Mona (Stock).
David accompanies Van Ness to the police station to see if he can match the priest's description against a police lineup and a book of suspects, but turns up nothing. David learns from Van Ness that Larry and Daryl's story of King's blood being drained is true, and that the wounds on King's neck were caused by teeth, and that a woman likely caused them. He gives David his business card and asks him to stay in touch.
David returns to the hospital and spots the mysterious priest at the entrance. The priest sees him and flees. David gives chase, but finds Cheryl instead. Meanwhile, two nurses, Pat and Marge, are attacked at the blood bank. They are rescued, but Pat has little recollection of the attack, including not being able to identify her attacker. Marge on the other hand, remains unconscious and is in critical condition. As Marge is taken away on a stretcher, Cheryl appears worried. Mona arrives on the scene and comfortingly assures Cheryl that Marge will be all right. Cheryl's fears intensify when David's obsession with the case grows.
Later that evening, Larry and Daryl bring in another victim, Bernard McDougal, also drained of his blood. He tries to discuss his suspicions with Dr. Herrera, his boss, but is rebuffed. David later heads to the hospital looking for Cheryl, but hears noises coming from Marge's room. David enters to find that her oxygen tube has been disconnected. He attempts to reconnect it, but is attacked by the same figure that attacked Marge and Pat earlier. He manages to catch a partial glimpse of his attacker's face...a woman's mouth with fanged teeth. A nurse hears the commotion and enters the room as the attacker jumps through the window. Marge dies due to her prolonged oxygen deprivation.
Van Ness argues with David about his account of the attack, not believing that David was attacked by a woman. Frustrated, David cruises Hollywood Boulevard and finds the priest there, but disheveled and in street clothes this time. Following a brief chase, the priest, who identifies himself as "Paul", agrees to talk with David.
Paul warns David of the repercussions of his knowledge, saying that he himself was treated for mental illness and then defrocked. He tells David that his attacker is a female vampire who calls herself 'Desire' and that he has tried to destroy her since first encountering her in New Orleans. Paul says that Desire's victims eventually become vampires themselves, and that they must be destroyed to stop their constant appetite for blood through murder. Otherwise, their souls will burn in Hell. Paul had tracked her previously in Tucson, Arizona and Fort Worth, Texas before her arrival in L.A. He further informs David that a vampire has no power over a righteous man, and that is the only hope he has in destroying her.
Armed with this knowledge, David returns to Hollywood Boulevard with the intent on finding a prostitute whom he believes can lead him to Desire, but is arrested by an undercover cop. After his release on bond, he has an argument with Cheryl over his obsession, which culminates with her moving out of his apartment. He returns to Van Ness and shares this information, but Van Ness rebuffs this information, suggesting that David seek professional help.
Despondent, David calls off work that evening and returns to Hollywood Boulevard. He hears a familiar voice call his name. He turns and sees that it's Mona from the hospital. She gets into his car and offers to buy him a drink, catching him off-guard. After not being able to find an open bar, she invites him to her apartment.
David asks why Mona was out on Hollywood Boulevard, and she explains that she dresses provocatively to attract men for the sheer sake of attention. She excuses herself briefly, returning momentarily, but more heavily made up and dressed in lingerie. Believing that Mona is Desire, he excuses himself to her bathroom upstairs. He snoops around and finds Paul's seemingly dead body in another room. He turns to find Mona there, finally revealing herself. He finds a cross that Paul had worn as part of his liturgical garb, and manages to ward her off long enough to escape downstairs and through the window onto her balcony. She lunges at the cornered David, only for him to move out of her path at the last moment. She dives over the balcony and impales herself on a tree below. He goes back into the apartment and happens upon Paul, now a vampire himself. As David attempts to flee, he knocks over a potted tree. He picks up a broken limb from it and drives it through Paul's chest, destroying him.
Van Ness and other police arrive. Van Ness discovers a secret room in the apartment containing a coffin with dirt on the inside of it. Though he believes David was telling the truth, he tells David to sign a prepared statement that fits the physical evidence found at the scene. David reluctantly agrees after Van Ness promises he will walk out as a free man, or otherwise be charged with two counts of murder. He walks out of the station to Cheryl awaiting him. Unknown to them, they are watched from a distance by a male cloaked figure, revealed to be Milton King. He smiles to reveal vampire fangs, thus proving Paul right and that he may not be through with David and Cheryl just yet.
Cast
David Naughton as David
Barbara Stock as Mona/Desire
Dorian Harewood as Detective Jerry Van Ness
Marilyn Jones as Cheryl
Brad Dourif as The Priest/Paul
Arthur Rosenberg as Milton King
Anne Bloom as Marge
Ann Blessing as Pat
Marc Silver as Larry
Timothy Stack as Daryl
References
- I, Desire at Rotten Tomatoes.com
- I, Desire at the Internet Movie Database
- Desire the Vampire at femalevillains.fandom.com
- I, Desire at Letterboxd.com
- I, Desire at Seven Doors of Cinema
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