Fangs for the Memories

Udo Kier (Photo By John Anderson)

Former Andy Warhol associate and underground film personality Udo Kier, he of the recent BMW advertisements and the explosive performance as Blade's vampiric overlord Dragonetti, proved once and for all last weekend that you can take the man out of trashy European softcore porn, but you can never take the Euro-trash out of the man. The Alamo Drafthouse's double screenings on Dec. 6-7 of Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula, both featuring the charismatic actor in the title roles, managed passable attendance and some fine, well-lubricated Q&A by Kier, but the real fun began well after the reel fun climaxed. The ever-loquacious guest with a fondness for red wine ("Because I am a vampire, you know") converted legions of thrilled and occasionally baffled Austinites to his darkly debauched and rather tipsy cause in between visits to downtown nightspots such as goth-nexus Elysium, Oil Can Harry's, and retro-furniture zones Aqua and Room Service ("That gorgeous lamp is only $30 here and in Los Angeles I see it for $300! Here -- see if you can unscrew the base for me"). All this and a pug named Mogwai, Texas barbecue for a vegetarian vampire, and bad, sad gags at Anna Nicole Smith's expense made for one of the most bizarrely entertaining weekend events Tim and Karrie League of the Alamo have ever hosted. Rumor has it an Alamo-based career retrospective of Kier's work is in the early planning stage and a movement is already afoot to convince Kier to purchase one of those tony downtown lofts to help store his voluminous collection of fine art and classic Fifties furniture. Or maybe just a darkened cave beneath the Congress Avenue bridge alongside his night-feasting brethren. He needs the blood of virgins, you see, because "the blood of these whores is making me sick!"