Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural
1930s. Lila Lee [Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith], the Singin' Angel of the Community Baptist Church of
Tylerville (North Carolina?), is a sweet and innocent 13-year old whose
gangster father Alvin [William Whitton] just shot his wife and her lover, ran down an old
lady in the street, and is now running from the law. Reverend Mueller [Richard Blackburn], who
has a hard time keeping his hands off his ward Lila, has made it clear to
the parish that the sins of her father should not be blamed on Lila, but
when Lila gets a letter from a woman named Lemora, instructing her to come
to her sick father and forgive him his sins against her, Lila makes her
way that very night to the Northpark bus station just in time to catch the
bus (driven by a very creepy bus driver) to Asteroth.Along the road to Asteroth, an isolated little town in the salt
marshes, the bus is pursued by several monstrous-looking ghouls, visible
from outside Lila's window. When the bus breaks down and the bus driver
tries to fix it, the ghouls close in. Lila releases the brake and coasts
down the hill until she crashes into a tree. The ghouls begin to approach
when suddenly they are attacked by vampires (aristocratic-looking with
white faces, long black coats, and top hats). Lila passes out. When she
awakens, she finds herself imprisoned in a stonehouse and tended to by a
weird old lady named Solange [Maxine Ballantyne]. [Lemora later explains that the bars weren't
to keep Lila IN but to keep other things OUT.] Lila manages to escape the
stonehouse and to hide in a crawl space under a porch, where she overhears
Lemora [Lesley Gilb] talking to her father. When a spider lands on her arm, Lila
screams. Lemora finds her, brings her into the house, and prepares a room
for her. Lemora explains that Lila can see her father after the ceremony
tomorrow, when she will become immune to his "disease."When Lila explores the old Victorian house and her bedroom in
particular, she sees some very strange things. For example, the mirrors
have no mirrors. There is a plate of raw meat set on Lila's bed as you
would a bowl of candy (Lila helps herself to several pieces). She looks
out the window when she hears screams and sees a young child being forced
into the stonehouse. When she takes out her mirror from her suitcase, she
notices that Lemora casts no reflection in it. Lemora introduces Lila to
her five freaky, "adopted" children, all of whom sit down for a repast of
goblets of something that looks like blood (Lila drinks hers).Suddenly, a crash is heard. Everyone runs to the room where the sound
came from, and Lila sees a bed that she assumes was her father's sickbed.
Lemora hurriedly makes the bed, hiding the restraining straps, and
explains that her father's disease occasionally makes him delirious and
that he must have broken loose. He'll be found, she assures Lila, then
tells her to get ready for her bath, during which Lemora attempts to get
the crucifix off Lila's neck, but to no avail. When Lemora leaves the room
for a few minutes, Lila's ghoulish father breaks in and chases her until
Lemora scares him off with fire and Lila flies into Lemora's arms for
protection. Lemora explains that a year ago some of her people began
turning ugly and that it is now necessary to kill them all, including her
father. Lemora then carries a tired Lila upstairs and lovingly puts her to
bed.This is just what Lemora was hoping -- that Lila would come to love
and trust her, unlike Mary Jo Spinks, another 13-year old girl who was a
weakling and couldn't stand her "love". When Lila finds Mary Jo's diary,
written in 1892, in which she describes something happening to her that is
so horrible she must kill herself, Lila realizes that she has to get away
from Lemora, too. Dressed in her nightgown, Lila quietly creeps down the
stairs and goes out the front door. Once in the yard, Lila peeks through a
window and sees Lemora drinking the blood from the neck of the young child
that was locked in the stonehouse. Finally coming to the realization that
Lemora is a vampire, Lila screams. Lemora looks up.The chase is on. Lila runs through the trees and is pursed by ghouls.
She hides in the back of a hearse and is delivered to a group of vampires
in Asteroth who also take pursuit. Lila runs in and out of buildings, up
and down stairs, past human bones and corpses, including that of Mary Jo
Spinks, until she takes shelter in an abandoned house. Unfortunately,
Lemora is waiting for her there. Lemora offers to make Lila into her real
self and promises that she won't mutate into one of those ghouls because
of the goodness in her heart. Lila refuses. Out in the streets, the ghouls
and vampires are fighting each other, driving stakes through each others'
hearts. Suddenly, Lila is attacked again by her ghoulish father. Lila pulls the stake from Lemora's
heart, and her father falls on it. Of course, removing the stake from
Lemora brings her back to life. Lemora takes Lila into her arms and
removes the crucifix from around her neck.Meanwhile, the Reverend has been looking for Lila. He passes through
Asteroth and stands in the street shouting Lila's name. For some reason,
he falls asleep. When he awakens, he is lying next to Lila, who is kissing
him. He kisses her back ardently. He looks up into Lila's face and sees
that her teeth have turned to fangs just as she bends forward and bites
his neck. Lemora looks on and smiles.Epilogue [added postproduction]: Lila is still in church, singing "Rock of
Ages" to the congregation. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.]
gothic, murder