Eternal (2004)

21% of critics liked it
(33 reviews)
38% of users liked it
(1,249 ratings)

A tough cop makes a startling discovery about his wife and the leader of a band of bisexual sensualists in this erotic thriller. Raymond Pope (Conrad Pla) is a police detective with an appetite for kinky sex and an inability to stay faithful to his wife. As it happens, Pope's wife also has a… More A tough cop makes a startling discovery about his wife and the leader of a band of bisexual sensualists in this erotic thriller. Raymond Pope (Conrad Pla) is a police detective with an appetite for kinky sex and an inability to stay faithful to his wife. As it happens, Pope's wife also has a wandering eye, and when she disappears under mysterious circumstances, Pope finds himself investigating the case and discovers that his spouse had fallen in with Elizabeth Kane (Caroline Neron). Kane is a woman with a taste for other women and an unquenchable sexual desire, but as Pope finds himself drawn to her strange allure, he makes a disturbing discovery -- Kane is actually Erzsebet Bathory, a Hungarian countess of the 16th century who many years ago found the secret of eternal life by bathing in the blood of beautiful women. Eternal is the first feature film from the writing and directing team of Wilhelm Liebenberg and Federico Sanchez. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 47 min.
Directed By: Wilhelm Liebenberg, Federico Sanchez
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Horror

In Theaters: Aug 26, 2004 Wide
On DVD: Oct 18, 2005
Studio: Regent Releasing

Critic Reviews

G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
There's no camp in this vamp; the lady, and the film, is a tramp.
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times
That the acting is stilted and that the filmmakers and especially Pla take themselves so seriously serves to make Eternal deliriously silly camp fare.
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
I wouldn't recommend this for theatrical viewing, but as late night cable fare, it's an acceptable way for an insomniac to pass two hours.
David Edelstein, Slate
Perfect for watching on video on a cool Cape Cod night, but maybe not so arousing in an arthouse for 10 bucks and change.
Lou Lumenick, New York Post
Quite silly and not especially scary.
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News
It's impossible to overstate the silliness of all this, but it would still be a decent Halloween trick -- if it were Halloween.
David Noh, Film Journal International
You watch this brain-dead film in a similar state yourself, until its culmination at--where else?--the cheesiest of masked balls.
Laura Kelly, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
But for all its exposed skin, the film's pulse is hard to find.
Luke Y. Thompson, New Times
Neron and Pla look like porn stars and have about the same level of acting ability.
Rory L. Aronsky, Film Threat
...this whole production might as well just be a music video featuring everything Elizabeth from lusting for blood to bathing in it and the process involved.
Mark R. Leeper, rec.arts.movies.reviews
ETERNAL is a sexy and stylish horror thriller from Canada that unfortunately seems to be re-treading all-too-familiar territory. It gets points for its lavish production design, but very little for originality or real horror.
Andy Klein, Los Angeles CityBeat
Eternal is only occasionally completely stupid...but it's never very bright either.
Frank Swietek, One Guy's Opinion
This oddball mixture of bloodsucking horror and soft-core porn is both objectively terrible and perversely fascinating.
John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews
the photography only creates a sense of suspense that something worth seeing may eventually appear
, E! Online
It was cooler when it was called Basic Instinct.
Mark Olsen, L.A. Weekly
Conrad Pla turns in a performance of such staggering ineptitude that it almost (key word: almost) reaches a so-bad-it's-good, Plan 9 From Outer Space brilliance.
Ron Wilkinson, Monsters and Critics
A desperate cop is in over his head under the spell of a reincarnated lesbian vampire with great hair.
Karina Montgomery, Cinerina
Just by being true to the legend, as if Erszebet had truly lived, Eternal is an interesting work, an erotic thriller with a supernatural bent.