Plot

This ultra-hip, post-modern vampire tale is set in contemporary New York City. Members of a dysfunctional family of vampires are trying to come to terms with each other, in the wake of their father's death. Meanwhile, they are being hunted by Dr. Van Helsing and his hapless nephew. As in all good vampire movies, forces of love are pitted against forces of destruction.—Tad Dibbern <DIBBERN_D@a1.mscf.upenn.edu>

When Count Dracula is murdered with a stake in his heart, her daughter Nadja and the family slave Renfield travel to the morgue to claim his body, and Nadja brings his ashes to New York. Then she stumbles in a bar with Lucy and they befriend each other, since both are feeling emptiness in their lives, and they have a love affair. Soon her husband Jim, who has traveled with his uncle Abraham Van Helsing to kill Dracula, returns home with Van Helsing and they note that Lucy is acting like a zombie, under the influence of Nadja. Then Nadja goes to the house of her brother Edgar that is weak and under the treatment of the nurse Cassandra. She notes that Cassandra is in love with Edgar and convinces her to move her brother to her apartment to save him. Meanwhile Jim and Van Helsing use Lucy to find Nadja.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Count Voivoide Arminius Chousescu Dracula dies with a stake in his heart,and his daughter Nadja [Elina Löwensohn] shows up to claim the body, hoping that his death will free her from the life her father has forced on her. She has the body cremated and prepares to take the ashes to Brooklyn and pay a visit to her twin brother Edgar [Jared Harris] whom she hasn't seen for a long time. Before she leaves, however, she stops for a drink and meets Lucy [Galaxy Craze]. Lucy is also feeling a sense of emptiness, so she takes Nadja home. They appear to cheer each other up, and they wind up having sex together.

So, who killed Dracula? Van Helsing [Peter Fonda], of course. And Helsing's nephew Jim [Martin Donovan], who also happens to be Lucy's husband, has to bail him out of jail. Helsing knows that, if Dracula's body is not destroyed properly, he'll be back. When Helsing learns that Dracula's body has been removed from the morgue, he enlists Jim's help.

Meanwhile, Nadja goes to visit Edgar and meets his nurse and live-in lover Cassandra [Suzy Amis]. Edgar is sick. Nadja pursuades Cassandra to move Edgar to her apartment where she can help him by transfusing him with plasma from the blood of shark embryoes, which is what Nadja uses to stay healthy. Edgar revives enough to drink some of Nadja's blood. However, Lucy has fallen under Nadja's mesmerism. She leads both Jim and Van Helsing to Edgar's house where Nadja is staying with her renfield. Edgar awakens long enough to warn Cassandra to leave the house, as she is in danger. Cassandra, who just happens to be Van Helsing's daughter, attempts to escape, with Nadja pursuing her, Lucy pursuing Nadja, and Jim pursuing Lucy. Cassandra runs into a gas station where it looks like two burly mechanics are going to protect her, but Nadja mesmerizes them and kills one of them. The other one shoots Nadja in the abdomen.

Edgar is improving. He unites with the Helsings to stop Nadja. He receives a "psychic fax" from Nadja, telling him that she is injured and must return to Transylvania. She also mentions that she's taking Cassandra with her, so Edgar and the Helsings high-tail it to Transylvania, too. As they approach the castle, Nadja begins a transfusion of Cassandra's blood while Cassandra sleeps. While Jim fights with Nadja's renfield, Edgar and Helsing drive a stake through Nadja's heart. Lucy is released, Nadja is destroyed, and Cassandra wakes up. However, not all is as it seems. Nadja narrates the epilogue: "They cut off my head...burned my body...no one knew...no one suspected that I was now alive in [Cassandra's] body. [Edgar and I] were married at City Hall...there *is* a better way to live." [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.]