Out for Blood

Plot synopsis:
Policeman Hank Holten (Kevin Dillon) is being interviewed in his hospital room by Dr
Blake (Jim Ortlieb) to determine his ability to stand trial for killing his wife Susan
Hastings, a writer of vampire fiction. This is the story as Hank tells it
to the doctor.About a year ago, Susan (Vanessa Angel) called quits to their marriage and moved out.
Hank had a hard time getting used to the idea that Susan was on her own
and dating other men, such as actor Jake Vincent (Alex McArthur), and would frequently
follow her around--just to be sure that she was safe, he rationalized. One
day, as Hank stood behind a tree and watched Susan jogging past, a robber
put a gun to Hank's head and demanded money. Hank responded by beating the
bejeesus out of the guy. Afterwards, he concocted a story about the guy
resisting arrest, but CaptainJohn Billings (Lance Henriksen) didn't buy it. Billings warned Hank
to stop drinking and to stop stalking his wife or he'd be placed on
suspension.Hank agreed to the captain's terms, so Billings assigned him to a
case involving the disappearance of Layla Simmons, a college girl who went
missing after going to a rave in Hollywood. Hank began hanging around rave
bars looking for her. One night, she turned up. When Hank tried to speak
with Layla (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe), she invited him to join her, her "brother" Alex (Kenneth Colom), and Alex's
girlfriend. They drove to an abandoned hospital where Hank was led into a
vampire den. When Layla tried to drink Hank's blood, he pushed her off,
fired three shots into her chest, and wounded a bunch of other vampires.
Suddenly the Master appeared, proclaimed Hank for himself, and began
drinking from Hank's neck. They were interrupted, however, when a shaft of
light from the rising sun fell across his face. The next thing Hank knew
he was waking up in an empty room with bite marks on his neck. There was
no sign that anyone had been there, and the watchman swore up and down
that he'd seen no one else on the premises.When Hank explained to Captain Billings what took place, he was not
believed. In fact, Hank was relieved of duty until he got his act
together, so Hank decided to take matters into his own hands. This
included asking for help from Susan, but Susan replied by filing a
harrassment charge against him. Meanwhile, Hank was turning. His eyes were
becoming sensitive to light, his eyeteeth had began growing, he was
thirsty all the time, and his strength was increasing. He began living in
his car, the windows shielded with tinfoil. It wasn't until Susan noticed
that he cast no reflection in a mirror that she dropped the complaint and
agreed to help him.First, she made Hank drink wolfsbane tea. Then she pressed a cross
against the wound in his neck. This was to slow the turning. Next, she
showed him her vampire hunting kit--complete with holy water, garlic,
stakes, hammer, and sword--and explained to him the process of vampire
slaying. As they were planning out their fourth move -- finding where the
vampires sleep and killing the Master (Sam Kanater) -- Layla and Alex stormed the motel
room where they were staying. When the vampires threatened to kill Susan,
she asked only to be allowed to interview them. Hank doused Layla with
holy water and pinned Alex under a sword. Meanwhile, Jake Vincent, who was
P.O.ed that Susan was staying at a motel with her ex, chose this moment to
confront her. Unfortunately, Vincent ended up losing his
head over it. When Layla noticed that the sun was rising, she and Alex
split for the day, leaving Susan and Hank unharmed.Susan figured that the vampires were nesting somewhere in the abandoned hospital, so she and Hank went to snoop. Susan also figured that the two
guys guarding the hospital entrance were wraiths who, in exchange for
guarding the vampires' nest, got to feed on their leftovers. She tested
out her hypothesis by asking them for car help while flashing a crucifix.
The wraiths didn't like it one bit, so now Hank and Susan knew that they
would have to out the wraiths before they could get into the hospital. The
problem is that wraiths are very strong and their blood is like acid.
According to Susan, their only weakness is a fear of heights, so Susan and
Hank climbed the fire escape to the hospital roof. They took out one
wraith by noosing and hanging him. When the second wraith came up to the
roof, Hank pushed him off. On his way down, the wraith fell through a
disguised trap door into the sub-basement.That must be where the vampires sleep, surmised Susan. But it was
almost sunset and Hank didn't want to endanger Susan, so he handcuffed her
to a railing, gave her a cellphone, and told her to call Captain Billings
if he wasn't back by sundown. Then he went looking for the vampires. After
searching a few empty rooms, Hank found the coffins and staked all the
vampires. Just as the sun went down, he came upon two more coffins, one
belonging to Alex and the other to Layla, who were just waking up. After
complimenting Alex on his shirt, Hank destroyed him with a crossbow. Layla
leapt at Hank, and Hank shoved a stake through her heart. But where was
the Master?"Right behind you," said Layla, with her dying unbreath. Hank turned
to see both the Master and Susan standing there. Susan's neck revealed
that she had been bitten. Now Hank faced a dilemma. If he killed the
Master, all the Master's childer (except for Hank) would die. Giving up
his life for Susan, Hank tossed her the crossbow with orders to kill the
Master, but the Master ordered Susan to kill Hank instead. As Susan
prepared to fire on Hank, Hank leapt at the crossbow, forcing Susan to
turn it back on the Master, the result being that both he and Susan pulled
the trigger together, "curing" them both. As the Master exploded, the
hospital also began to explode, and Hank and Susan ran for the door...until
Susan turned around and went back in.Two days later, when Hank tried to explain what happened, Captain
Billings denied seeing Susan, dropping her complaint, or releasing Hank
into her custody. In fact, he had no memory of seeing Hank since he
assigned him the case of Layla Simmons. Susan's body was not found in the
rubble, but the desk clerk at the motel did remember checking them in and
later finding two bodies in their room. Billings figured that Hank went
berserk, killed Vincent, then killed Susan. Hank maintained that it was
the vampires and that Susan, probably wanting to become a vampire all
along, went back to save the Master and get him to bite her again.
Figuring that Hank intended to plead insanity, Billings placed him under
psychiatric care.After listening to Hank's story, Dr Blake concludes that was Hank's
inability to accept Susan ending their relationship and starting up a new
one with Jake Vincent, compounded with Hank's alcohol abuse and lack of
sleep, that caused him to suffer a breakdown, which manifested itself in
these destructive and antisocial behaviors.Epiloque: Hank is awakened by Susan laying next to him on his cell cot. As Hank
suspected, Susan has become a vampire. She extols the virtues of being a
vampire and tells him that the Master's powers are fantastic (he caused
Billings' memory loss) and that she's come back to kill Hank because she
knows he will never stop looking for her once he's released. As Susan
prepares to put the bite on Hank, he stakes her with a chair leg. Blake and
Billings are both watching through closed circuit TV but, of course, a
vampire cannot be photographed, so all they can do is assume that Hank is
acting out his fantasies. Billings goes in to talk with Hank and to ask
him once again where he's hidden Susan's body. Hank points to the floor,
but Susan has vanished. Billings notices an earring on the floor and bends
down to look under the bed. Billings is about to find Susan. [Original synopsis
by bj_kuehl]

Tags: flashback

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