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A guest review by Margaret Thompson ©2010 (photos provided by Robert Long II)
Starring: Louanna Lee
Also Starring: George Stover, Leanna Chamish, and Victoria Lynn
Guest Starring: Count Gore De Vol (Dick Dyszel) and Will Haza
With: Alfred Guy, Robert Long II, Bob Clark, Erik Kristopher Myers, Shayna Doll, and Les Bradley
Written by Mark Squirek
Music by Bill Pratt
Produced by Lee Doll
Photographed, Edited, and Directed by Jeff Herberger
(Once again this is a project I worked closely on and do not feel it is fair for me to review it. Luckily Margaret Thompson of New York contacted me through the site. She wanted to do a guest review and I gave her this one – Robert)
Story: Louanna’s mom (Leanna Chamish) receives a letter from her college professor (and ex flame) Count Gore De Vol (Dick Dyszel – the sexiest vampire EVER). It is an invite for her and the family to come down to a taping of his local horror show. With Grampa (George Stover) and Vicky (Victoria Lynn) in tow, they head downtown to the studio. There they all get to meet Scott (Will Haza) the Count’s nephew. Romantic sparks fly between he and Louanna.
However their new found crush on each other gets interrupted when two “collection” goons (Alfred Guy and Bob Clark) come by the studio and beat the snot out of the Scott while his uncle is on air. It seems Scott is behind on some loan payments and they have come a callin’ to collect. Louanna senses trouble and offers help to her new beau.
Scott, Louanna and Vicki cook up a scheme where they trick local loan shark Wheremeyer (Robert Long II) to admitting that he is behind the extortion ring. Once they get this on tape, the young trio turn the evidence over to the police. The crook ends up behind bars, but not before telling his goons to kidnap Scott. The Count gets a message that either the testimony against Wheremeyer gets dropped, or no one will ever see Scott alive again.
This is the 2nd episode of the “Adventures of Louanna Lee.” Is this on TV somewhere? It looks like a kid’s mystery show. If it isn’t it should be, because it’s better than a lot of stuff Disney has on their channel. Now I haven’t seen the first one so I have to judge this one on its own merits. Anyway, it’s a lot of fun. I grew up in Washington DC so it was a blast to see Dick Dyszel as Count Gore again. He’s as handsome and funny as ever. It was also great to see him do a dramatic role in this too. I recognized veteran actor George Stover in this. He takes me back to the days of John Waters and Don Dohler films, and he’s awesome! Leanna Chamish is an East Coast scream queen, so to see her playing the normal part of “mom” was strange. She did get her scream queen thang going on in the last part of the show though. ;-)
The rest of the cast does a good job. There is a lot of chemistry between Louanna Lee and Victoria Lynn. Their scenes together demonstrate this and they come off like two friends fighting over the same guy. Will Haza and Alfred Guy are very easy on the eyes. Robert Long is perfect as the evil loan shark, with just the right mix of menace, irritation and humor. Bob Clark and Eric Myers round out the cast with some good comic relief moments. My only complaint is that this episode seemed steeped in human drama (Scott and Louanna, Mom and the Count). For a while I was wondering if this show was titled “Adventures of Louanna’s Mom.” There is no mystery here, and regrettably very little detective work is shown happening. On the other hand there are some fun performances, a back alley fist fight, and a Scooby Doo-like chase scene set to music.
FINAL ASSESSMENT: 8/10 stars. My husband, kids and I enjoyed it, and it was a fun flick for family night. I got a kick out of the fact that they shot at a real television studio and recreated Count Gore De Vol’s dungeon set. It is just as I remember it from TV. My daughter loved all the extras – especially the music videos. Louanna Lee has a lot more talent then just acting – she sings and dances too! There was a cool Creature Featurette starring Dick Dyszel, and my son giggled through the blooper reel. I have no problem recommending it!
Margaret Thompson – New York, NY
You can buy this episode HERE.