I, Desire
Law student David Balsinger [David Naughton] works as a coroner's aid at the County Coroner's office in Los Angeles. David is busy studying _Constitutional Law_ when they bring in Milton King, attacked by a hooker, two holes in his neck, and all of his blood drained. Shortly thereafter, a priest arrives to see the body, but David learns later that Milton King was Jewish. Strange. Oh well. Time for David to pick up girlfriend Cheryl Gillen [Marilyn Jones], a nurse at Memorial Hospital. Tonight is a special night. It is the night that Cheryl is moving in with David. She had an interesting night, too. Someone walked off with two pints of AB+ blood. When David tells Cheryl about Milton King and the priest, she suggests that he tell the police what he knows. Detective Jerry Van Ness [Dorian Harewood] is a law student, too, so they chat amiably on the way down to the station where David is asked to look at mugshots and a lineup. On his return to the hospital to pick up Cheryl, David notices the priest getting into an elevator. David tries to follow but loses him. While looking for the priest, David and Cheryl hear screams coming from the bloodbank. Marge Bookman [Anne Bloom] has been attacked by someone who escapes by breaking through the iron bars on the window but, when David tries to tell Van Ness what he saw, he gets the brush off.The next day, a second victim is brought in. Same M.O. David tries to talk about it, but no one seems interested. Van Ness doesn't want to talk about the priest. Dr Herrera doesn't want to talk at all. Dieners Daryl [Timothy Stack] and Larry [Marc Silver] make jokes. Not even Cheryl wants to hear any more about hookers or vampires. People are starting to think that David needs to see a shrink.That night, when David goes to pick up Cheryl from work, he is sent to Marge's room. Cheryl isn't there, and Marge is gasping for air. He notices her oxygen line has been disconnected. As he is re-attaching it, he is attacked by a vampire. She pins him against the wall and tries to bite his neck. Fortunately, a nurse enters the room, and the vampire leaps out the third floor window. When David tells Van Ness about the woman, Van Ness doesn't believe him, so David decides to do a little investigating on his own. He goes down to Hollywood Blvd where he sees the priest. The priest tries to elude him, but David pursues. They go to a nearby donut shop to talk. Priest Paul [Brad Dourif] tells David that the vampire's name is Desire and that he has been following her, most recently from Fort Worth to Tucson and now to Los Angeles. He also tells David that a vampire has no power over a righteous man and agrees to talk with Van Ness. When David phones Van Ness, however, Paul disappears. So David decides to talk with a hooker. She turns out to be an undercover cop and arrests him for soliciting.Cheryl decides that she can't live like this and moves out. David goes back to Hollywood Blvd, looking for Desire. He doesn't find her, but he does run into Mona [Barbara Stock], a candystriper from the hospital. Mona invites David to her apartment for a drink. Mona's apartment turns out to be the penthouse, which she explains was left to her by her father. She only volunteers at the hospital to have something to do. Mona kisses David, then starts to unbutton his shirt. David jumps up and asks to use the bathroom. Upstairs, he finds the priest dead and laid out on a slab. Knowing that David now knows she is the vampire, Mona cuts the seduction act and starts going for the jugular. David attempts to escape, but the doors are locked. He goes outside on the balcony, all the while hollaring over and over, "I am a righteous man!" Mona/Desire leaps, David ducks, and Mona goes over the railing, falling to her death. When David goes back into the room, he finds that Paul has turned into a vampire. Paul leaps at David, but David holds up a deadwood branch, and Paul is impaled on it.David summons the police who find a coffin behind a concealed door. Van Ness warns David that, if he sticks to his version of the events, his life will become a living hell. Instead, he cooks up a story of how Desire killed Paul then came after David, they struggled, and she fell off the balcony. Cheryl comes back to David. While they walk away, another vampire stands in the shadows, watching them. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.]
murder