Movie Review: Vampyros Lesbos (1971)

I’ve actually heard quite a bit about this film, mostly from my male friends. So when it arrived I was rather excited to be able to view it myself! Imagine my disappointment, though, when it turned out to be a bootleg copy that had been edited to all hell so none of the tasty bits were left in. The only way I know that for sure is when I went to find stills to include in this review, there were a SHIT TON of pics of scenes with the same actresses (Soledad Miranda and Ewa Stromberg *rowr*) all naked and awesome but were NOT in the movie I just watched.

*all the pouting*

Vampyros Lesbos begins with a banal voice over about Princess Nadia being locked up by her husband, Prince Oskudar, centuries earlier. When her attendants all begin to die off, and she gets stronger after each one, we realize something is amiss with our beautiful royalty. Then one day she disappears.

Next thing we know, we are in modern times and hear Alice explaining to her therapist about the strange dream she keeps having every night. A woman’s voice calls to her over and over while a strange amalgamation of images flash by: a scorpion, a trapped butterfly, a soaring kite. Though the dream terrifies her, she feels compelled by the voice and longs to find the source.

Movie Review: Countess Dracula (1970, Blu-ray / DVD)

What do you get when you mix blood, murder, virgins, and a selfish, manipulative, homicidal crazy who doesn’t want to get older? Elizabeth Nádasdy, aka Countess Bathory. Hammer Films brings us Countess Dracula, a campy little vehicle perfect for the sultry beauty of Ingrid Pitt, our luscious little noble.

Countess Dracula is the story of Elizabeth Bathory and her horrific crimes committed against the young and nubile ladies in her neighborhood. We open with the funeral of the Countess’s husband and how she ogles Imre, the son of her husband’s best friend. I have to admit he is pretty but I’ve always been a sucker for a cleft chin.

At the reading of the Count’s will, Fabio, the castle Historian (who knew there was such a thing?) and Imre are very happy. But Captain Dobi dislikes inheriting the armory and the Countess is pissed she has to share her estate with Ilona, her and the Count’s daughter. Just because you can have kids doesn’t mean you should. What a bitch.

Movie Review: The Vampire Lovers (Blu-ray, 1970)

The legendary Hammer Studios output is finally starting see some very well deserved life on glorious Blu-ray. Scream Factory has made a splash with several Blu-ray releases of some of the best of 80's slashers (Halloween II, Funhouse, Terror Train), and now have taken a stab at releasing one of the finer Hammer vampire films in Roy Ward Baker's The Vampire Lovers. This release of course is a filled to the brim HD special edition.

Based on J. Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla, The Vampire Lovers is the story about a family living in the English countryside who has taken upon themselves to invite a gorgeous stranger into their home by the name of Carmilla (Ingrid Pitt, Countess Dracula, and The Wicker Man). This lovely stranger isn't exactly the best guest you’d want to be around other nubile women, when in fact this buxom siren is actually a vampire, thirsting for their blood. Of course no great vampire film coming out of Hammer Studios is complete without the always professional, Peter Cushing (Twins of Evil, Dracula: Prince of Darkness). Cushing is hot on the tail of Carmilla, who even for this seasoned vampire hunter proves to be a tough catch.