Philly


            Some 800 years ago, Jean-Pierre [Rick Springfield] was vampirized by the cold-hearted
(literally AND figuratively) Lacroix. At first, Jean-Pierre embraced his
vampirism, drinking without remorse the blood of humans. Now in 1989,
Jean-Pierre (now calling himself Nick Knight and working nights as a
detective in the LAPD) wants to become mortal again. He has two options:
(1) follow forensic pathologist Dr Jack Brittington's [ Robert Harper] prescribed treatment
of eating human food and exposing his skin in a tanning booth, or 2) find
two vampire-faced, jade, Mayan goblets which, when blood is poured from
one into the other and then drunk, is supposed to do the trick. Nick has
been trying the first option with little progress. Maybe the second option
has more promise, since Nick is already in possession of one of the
goblets.Nick doesn't know that a jade goblet with the face of a vampire has
recently been unearthed from some Mayan ruins by L.A. County Historical
Museum archeologist and curator, Dr Alyce Hunter [Laura Johnson]. When the goblet, which
is reputed to have been used to drink blood in sacrificial rituals, is
stolen and a museum guard killed and drained of blood, Dr Brittington
notes the similarities and dissimilarities between this killing and three
other homicides, all of which involve the loss of blood. But this homicide
is different in that all the others were homeless people. Another
difference is that the homeless people were first strangled and then bled
through a slash in the neck, while the museum guard had two puncture
wounds over his jugular and showed no signs of struggle.LAPD is called in and, because this investigation demands 24-hour
attention, Nick is paired with his nemesis, Detective Donald Schanke John Kapelos]. Nick
can barely stand to be in the same room with Schanke, a know-it-all who
likes to antagonize Nick by chewing raw garlic and then breathing in his
face. Schanke thinks these homicides are cult-killings and that the last
one might be a copycatter. The newspapers are referring to the killer as a
"vampire." Nick thinks that there might be a real vampire involved, but
Captain Brunetti [Richard Fancy] doesn't like the vampire talk, so Nick is keeping his
suspicions to himself.Alyce has also seen the connection between the Mayan goblet and the
victims being drained of blood, so she does a little research. She invites
Nick to drop by later that evening to share in her findings. While reading
about the goblet in a history book, she finds an 1889 photo of a man who
looks just like Nick. Later, when Nick kisses Alyce, his fangs grow and he
almost bites her, so he runs. When Nick doesn't show up at the police
station, Dr Brittington drives over to Nick's apartment to find him
drinking a bottle of blood and brooding. He warns Nick that he's got to
stop drinking blood if he wants to turn mortal. Nick explains how lonely
it is living as a vampire and how, having allowed himself to have feelings
for Alyce, he almost killed her. When they get to talking about the
homicides, Nick confesses that he thinks the killer is his master,
Lacroix, who has long been trying to keep Nick from obtaining the other
goblet. Lacroix killed the Mayan Indians to keep them from digging up the
goblet, and Nick thinks the recent killings are Lacroix's way of calling
him out.That evening, Alyce follows Nick to a nightclub and shows him the
photo of himself. Of course, Nick denies that it is him. As they are
driving home, Lacroix's voice suddenly comes over the radio. Nick drives
to the radio station from which Lacroix is broadcasting. Before going
inside, he warns Alyce to wait in the car but, of course, she follows.
Lacroix [Michael Nader] leads Nick into a slaughterhouse, where he shows Nick the goblet
that he stole from the museum but denies killing the homeless people. Nick
and Lacroix begin to duke it out vampire-style until Lacroix notices Alyce
watching. He gives Nick the choice of saving Alyce or the goblet, then
tosses the goblet on the floor where it shatters.With daylight approaching, Nick and Lacroix must take cover. Nick
hides himself in the trunk of his cadillac. Unfortunately, it is illegally
parked, and his car is impounded with him in it. Meanwhile, Schanke has
noted that all of the homeless victims had blood type O negative, whereas
the museum guard was type AB. Schanke bails out Nick's car and, on a
hunch, drives over to the Blood Bank where he tries to speak with the head
doctor in order to obtain permission to look at his files. While Schanke
waits for the doctor to arrive, Nick climbs out of the car trunk and
sneaks into the doctor's office to peeks at the files. Schanke is right
about the homeless people being O negatives, and all of them donated blood
at the mobile blood unit that Jack Fenner [Jack Murdock] brings around each Thursday,
collecting their blood and paying them for their donations. This week,
however, Topper [Craig Richard Nelson] is found dead with his throat slit,
and Jeannie [Fran Ryan] is missing.Nick climbs back in the caddy trunk just before Schanke returns to
the car. As Schanke does a little joy-riding (much to Nick's chagrin), the
brakes suddenly go out. After a wild ride and much damage to the caddy,
Nick comes out of the trunk, admits that Schanke was right, and inspects
the brakes. They've been cut (Fenner did it). Meanwhile, Alyce has gone to
Nick's apartment, looking for him. While Alyce waits, Jeannie comes in.
Jeannie has been beaten but refuses to go to the hospital because Fenner
will be there. Alyce calls an ambulance anyway. When Nick calls his
apartment to check his phone messages, Alyce answers. She tells him about
Jeannie then asks him to hold while she lets in the ambulance driver. But
it isn't the ambulance at all. It's Fenner. Jeannie recognizes him, and he
and Alyce go a few rounds. Nick, hearing the fight on the phone, realizes
that Fenner is there. Even though Nick is feeling weak (because he's been
trying not to drink blood), he flies (literally) to Alyce's aid. Nick
easily knocks out Fenner but, in the melee, the apartment catches fire.
Nick tells Jeannie to get out and then goes to help Alyce.As luck would have it, Lacroix picks this moment to pay Nick a visit.
First, however, he sates his appetite with some of Fenner's blood. Then he
turns to Nick and Alyce. Nick is extremely weak, and Lacroix tells him to
drink Alyce's blood. Alyce agrees and offers herself to Nick, but Nick
refuses, so Lacroix drinks from Alyce, killing her in the process. In
anger, Nick grabs a pole and thrusts it through Lacroix's heart, impaling
him on the burning wall. As Lacroix melts in the flames, Nick saves his
goblet, which he later donates to the museum in Alyce's memory.Turns out that Fenner's mother died of hepatitis following a blood
transfusion of infected O-negative blood and Fenner, blaming himself, has
been killing all homeless donors with O-negative in order to keep them
from donating again. What Schanke, who has now become Nick's permanent
partner, can't understand is why Fenner himself was down a few pints when
he was autopsied. "Evaporation from the heat of the fire," Nick explains,
as he, Schanke, and Dr Brittington get into Nick's cadillac, which Schanke
has dutifully had restored.Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.
    

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