Dracula's Terror Byte

Vampires have gone back underground since the sparkly Twilight mania of the '00s, reclaiming their cachet. There have been cool movies like Jim Jarmusch's Only Lovers Left Alive, with Tilda Swinton and (a pre-Tay Tay-corrupted) Tom Hiddleston, and cool television series such as The Originals and American Horror Story: Hotel (starring Lady Gaga). Even that augmented reality game phenom Pokemon GO has a vampire bat in Zubat. But, through it all, Dracula's Cabaret Melbourne has staged experiential noir vaudeville, its latest spectacular Terror Byte touted as "an adrenalin-spiked aphrodisiac for the soul".

Dracula's is a Melbourne icon. Seasoned theatre entrepreneurs John and Tikki Newman launched the horror-themed cabaret restaurant in a Drewery Lane warehouse in 1980. Dracula's subsequently relocated to an old metal foundry in Carlton, becoming the purple-illuminated gothic "castle" it is today. (It has a twin venue on the Gold Coast.) A family business, Dracula's has lasted longer than most nightclubs. If local hipsters assume that Dracula's is a haunt for tourists, or their folks, then they're missing out. With the goth subculture undergoing a revival, and The Cure headlining Splendour In The Grass, Dracula's is cutting-edge. (In fact, Dracula's boldly presented its '70s homage Retro Vampt as part of 2015's Melbourne International Comedy Festival.)

We arrive at Dracula's Castle at 7pm, to enjoy the cocktail bar with its Hollywood memorabilia, kitsch horror decor and clubby vibe. Encased in a wall is a lifecast of David Bowie's face, apparently used to develop make-up effects for Nicolas Roeg's cult flick The Man Who Fell To Earth. Patrons enter the main theatre via the building's showground ghost train — yes, you read right. The charismatic Draculettes (waiting staff) serve a three-course dinner (the menu does have a veggie option). Dessert is Death By Chocolate: cream-filled chocolate coffins. 

Pre-show, there is live music, Stewart "Diamond" Reeve, lead vocalist and stand-up comedian, playing host. The night's "vampire" cast perform the Time Warp, from The Rocky Horror Show, and Jace Everett's Bad Things, the True Blood theme.

As a revue, Terror Byte, in three acts, is fluidly conceptualised around steampunk, retro-futurism, cyber sci-fi and supernatural reinvention — the poltergeist in the pop machine. It encompasses music, dance, circus arts, burlesque, drag, puppetry, and adult comedy, both naughty and kinky (one joke riffs off the Pokemon craze). The high production values — with extravagant costumes, sets, props, screens, lighting and effects — will amaze.

Many of the featured songs are rock covers — albeit some hyper-contemporary. Terror Byte opens with a gothic take on Muse's 2015 prog opera Dead Inside, Kiwi rock chick Jette (aka Rachel Trainor) providing stadium drums. It's followed by Reeve's rousing version of John Newman's hit Love Me Again, which has the house clapping along. Christine Ibrahim handles Melody Gardot's torch song Your Heart Is As Black As Night. Closing the first sequence is a cover of Taylor "Gossip Girl" Momsen's emo Make Me Wanna Die with The Pretty Reckless, Amanda "Alexia" Conti on aerial acrobatics.

The third act might be the best with an iconoclastic version of REM's '90s Losing My Religion, Reeve adorned in fantastic angel's wings. There is a surreal show-within-a-show by Black Light Puppetry. Terror Byte climaxes with an ingeniously eccentric tribute to rock's fabled 27 Club, entailing uncanny performances of classics by the likes of Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison (Conti's fire trickery enhancing The Doors' Light My Fire). Dystopia was never so glam.