Bordello of Blood

The second film based on Tales from the Crypt, following Demon Knight.

Starring Dennis Miller, Angie Everhart, Erika Eleniak, Chris Sarandon and Corey Feldman, Bordello of Blood tells the story of Rafe Guttman (Miller), a snarky private eye who's called in by Catherine Verdoux (Eleniak) to find her rebellious brother Caleb (Feldman), who went missing after storming out of their house following an argument.

Rafe's investigation leads him to a whorehouse-slash-mortuary. Further investigation leads our wisecracking hero to discover that the brothel/mortuary is inhabited by vampires led by Lilith (Everhart). Turns out Lilith was resurrected by Catherine's boss, televangelist Reverend Jimmy 'J.C.' Current (Sarandon), so he could rid the world of sin, but Lilith's got her own agenda...and has turned Caleb into one of her own. Now it falls to Rafe and Catherine to save the world before Lilith and her sexy vamps overrun it.

Tropes used in Bordello of Blood include:

• Actor Allusion: Corey Feldman. Full stop.
  • And don't forget Chris Sarandon.
  • Dennis Miller plays Dennis Miller as a PI.
• ...And Show It to You: One of Lilith's favorite ways to kill her male victims, by ripping out their hearts (or at one point in the beginning of the movie, by shoving her tongue down someone's throat and pushing it out from their body. She's that strong) before eating them.
• Back From the Dead
• Badass Preacher: Reverend Current.
• Beat Still My Heart
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy
• Bi the Way: Strangest example ever: Catherine's bite marks from Lilith are on the inside of her thigh.
  • Fridge Brilliance: The largest femoral artery is located on that part of the leg. Besides, it's a good way to hide bite marks on your neck.
• Bound and Gagged: Catherine, after she's captured by Lilith.
• Brick Joke: Sunblock.
• Buxom Is Better: Subverted with Lilith

Rafe: I'm not going to tell you those aren't the Breasts of the Century, but I'm just not digging the owner, so why don't you put those away; you're just not my type.

• Car Fu
• Cassandra Truth: Rafe manages to find proof that Lilith is evil, but the pictures he takes show nothing since vampires can't be photographed. Doesn't help that an idiot of a police captain has bad blood with him.
• Casting Gag: William Sadler (Brayker from Demon Knight) has a cameo as a mummy in the Framing Device.
• Chekhov's Gun: Reverend Current's "Laserlight of the Lord."
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Rafe
• Deadpan Snarker: Rafe, full stop. Dennis Miller snarks like no other.
• Depraved Bisexual: Lilith
• The Determinator: Rafe.
• Damsel in Distress: Catherine, though she does manage to kill Lilith at the end.
• Downer Ending: Catherine is revealed to have been bitten and turned into a vampire. Though she doesn't reveal this fact till Lilith is destroyed and she and Rafe are alone before snacking on him. Still the moment comes off as more comedic then depressing. 'Side, it's Tales from the Crypt, what do ya expect?
  • It's definitely not a Downer Ending if you're Catherine, of course!
• The Dragon: Vincent
• Evil Redhead: Lilith
• Fan Service
• Faux Affably Evil: Lilith again.
• Gaslighting: Gets lampshaded by Rafe in one scene.
• Genre Savvy: Rafe.
• Gorn: Oh yeah
• Gory Deadly Overkill Title of Fatal Death
• Half the Man He Used To Be: One of Lilith's minion is hit with holy water in the torso. Both part survive for a bit (the legs can be seen stumbling off while the upper body of the woman manages to drag herself to Current before dying). Lilith also gets this via an axe. But Rafe doesn't cut deep enough and she simply attaches the cut part back to her body like putty.
• Head-Tiltingly Kinky: McCutcheon is one weird motherfucker, who even plays with the nipples of fat female corpses.
• Heel Face Turn: Reverend Current.
• I Have You Now, My Pretty
• Incredibly Lame Pun: Lilith just loves doing these after she kills her victims.
• Large Ham: Reverend Current.
  • Jenkins as well.

Jenkins: SEX?! I'll show you the BEST Gyodddamn pussy in the world!

• Lesbian Vampire
• Male Gaze

Caleb: (on a vampiress with three pierced nipples) I finally found a girl with a little something extra.

• Murder by Cremation: Subverted
• Not Quite Saved Enough
• Off with His Head: Lilith kills one of her minions by literally ripping his head off his body.

Lilith: I like a guy who gives you head -- and lets you keep it.

• One-Winged Angel: Lilith
  • Not so much one-winged as just devolving to her original form and, boy, is it not pretty.
• Only Sane Man: Rafe
• Orifice Invasion: Like you wouldn't believe.
• Our Vampires Are Different: Somewhat. The regular vampires have the usual weaknesses, but they can get by in the daytime thanks to sunblock. Though they're surprisingly weak (little holy water or sunlight and they explode like confetti). Only Lilith is strong enough to mostly withstand these since she's the head vampire and only splitting her heart can fully kill her.
• Picky Eater: Lilith who isn't fond of vegetarians.
• Prop Recycling: The Key from Demon Knight returns in this film. Oddly, they never say what exactly it is, but the effect it has on vampires and the way it explodes in a red flash when destroyed suggests it might actually be the same item. Which has some disturbing implications... in both directions.
  • However, they do mention in Demon Knight that there was more then one key (in-fact SEVEN of them), and its possible all keys look like that.
• Redemption Equals Death
• Sacrificial Lion: Poor Reverend Current.
• The Schlub Pub Seduction Deduction: Interesting subversion as the schlub is the protagonist, Rafe. Even more of a subversion, Rafe rejects the attempt.

Lilith: 2, 4, 6, 8, you can watch me masturbate!

• Sealed Evil in a Can: Lilith
• Shout-Out:

Rafe: I feel like I'm in a bad episode of Tales from the Crypt.

• Soundtrack Dissonance
• Storming the Castle: Rafe and Current going to town on the female vampires of the bordello.
• Transhuman Treachery Pretty much all the turned victims: Tammy, a (supposed) hooker looking for work has the unfortunate luck of being refered to Lilith. After a interview Lilith "hires" her (i.e becomes a meal for Lilith. Rafe, while investigating the house and not moments before passed the room where she was speaking to Lilith, hears Tammy scream and her body hitting the floor. Lilith is seen later picking her fangs from the feeding and calling to McCutcheon to come move and prep Tammy's body before she resurrects) and is next seen much more lustful then her friendly self seen during her interview, completely subservient to Lilith (she seems genuinely afraid when she has to explain herself when Rafe escapes her). Caleb, whose seen again late in the film, is spared from being outright killed as his buddy was and is turned into a vampire, happily helping Lilith and her henchmen kidnap his sister , then again he was shown at the beginning to be an asshole. Even telling Cathrine he wasn't keen at first on becoming an undead (probably referring to when he was still human before Lilith and the girl who picked him showcased their fangs) but now finds it "pretty damn cool". And of course Catherine herself at the end of the movie, though a clue to the audience is when she seem much more willing to Rafe's advances.
• Triple Nipple: "I always wanted a girl with a little extra."
• Twist Ending: It turns out that the religious, celibate and heterosexual Catherine was actually seduced and turned into one of the promiscuous, bisexual vampire prostitutes before she was ever "rescued", but played along so that Rafe would wipe out her competition and she could start a whole new evil vampire sex cult beginning with him.
• Utopia Justifies the Means: Subverted; it's just a cover to Lilith's operations.
• Vampire Monarch: Lilith obviously
• Vampires Are Sex Gods: It's a literal example of the trope. Lillith is the original vampire, and she was an ancient goddess of blood and sex, making her turned victims actual demi-gods of sex and blood.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Reverend Current
• Wham! Line:

Rafe: What is that perfume?
Catherine: It’s not perfume... It’s sunblock.