Product Details

• Actors: Vampira, Skal, Ackerman, Eastman
• Directors: Kevin Sean Michaels
• Format: Black & White, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Alpha Video
• DVD Release Date: August 28, 2007
• Run Time: 70 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000SSONO8
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #74,217 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

The true life story of the world's first TV horror movie host is unveiled in this labor-of-love documentary. Bonus features include: Director commentary, Screening lectures, Music video, Trailer, Outtakes, "Joe Flynn Show" Vampira episode and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice to hear from Maila again... October 22, 2007

By Ethan D. Van Sciver

Amazon Verified Purchase

I just finished watching this documentary, and I've decided to be very, very kind, despite how frustrated I was watching it. I'll give it the full five stars, because as a fan of "The Wood Spooks" this was the single best and most informative Maila Nurmi interview ever. When she is on the screen, she is fascinating, humorous, lovely and incredibly entertaining. Absolutely wonderful.

Much of what she imparts here you may have heard before in prior Ed Wood related documentaries, but since those have always been edited in such a way as to retain focus on Wood, Maila's story was always a bit more vague. Here, although intercut with some of the most useless and irritating sound bytes from poseurs and fans alike, she is for the most part allowed to speak her mind and tell her story, creating her own legend and spinning her own web as she'd like it to be understood. This should have been the entire "documentary". Point a camera at her, ask her a few guiding questions and let this woman speak. Period.

Instead, the director interrupts her with clips of horrible reenactment footage, nonsensical and off topic comments from lowlifes, and fan-made performances in tribute to Vampira. This is his first error: We don't wish to see or hear from these people, and it hurts your film.

The second problem is that towards the end, the movie forgets what it's even about, turning into another round of contrary people tributing the great misunderstood genius Ed Wood. Who cares how Lloyd Kaufman feels about the Golden Turkey Awards in this context? Especially since he's only parroting sentiments made in The Plan 9 Companion by other contrary people. It has nothing to do with Vampira, and if Ed Wood is spoken about at all, as I'm afraid he must be, it needs to be from the honest point of view of Maila Nurmi and NO ONE ELSE'S. It's called "VAMPIRA THE MOVIE" afterall. The director can't seem to stay on topic.

And so, look, what we have here is a beautiful 6 LB Maine Lobster prepared by a horrible chef. I'm grateful for the clips from Vampira's old television show (which I'd assumed were gone forever) and for more of the wit and wisdom of this great lady. I'm upset that I share my interest in her work with the characters that insist on squatting in this documentary. Yet, I'm glad to add it to my library, and hope that by showing my enthusiasm for the subject matter, a more worthy film will be made soon.

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars And you thought Plan 9 was bad... October 18, 2007

By Daryl Macon

It really is a shame that we earthlings don't have "stupid minds" as those uptight aliens from Plan 9 suggest. Perhaps if we did have lower mentalities we could better enjoy Vampira: The Movie. Leave it to Alpha Video, the company responsible for putting out some of the most pitiful of public domain prints on video to destroy what little dignity Maila "Vampira" Nurmi has left. Within an hour's time Vampira's mysterious, other worldly charm is chipped away until we are left with nothing but an old lady surrounded by a gang of freak show rejects. The film starts out on the right path, but quickly goes astray with a bizarre and useless reenactment of an actress in a cheap blonde wig posing as Maila Nurmi during her days as a pin-up model. We are later treated to some footage of this actress putting on a black wig to illustrate the transformation into Vampira. These silly, contrived bits can be overlooked, but the real problems are still to come. While Vampira is given plenty of screen time to tell her abridged life story, she is shot from only one angle with no special makeup, wardrobe, set or lighting. The setting is very pedestrian and the producer's should have splurged and spent the extra $100 for a backdrop. Vampira's story is interesting and it's a great asset to hear the words from her mouth, but over much of her talk is some ear bleeding synthetic stock music which is distracting at the least. The rest of the picture is made up of unknown horror "stars" who haunt the convention circuits. Most have never even met the woman. This is made embarrassingly clear when they generically chatter about black dresses and fingernails which could be applied to any Vampire character. There are so many ignorant interviewees that one feels that Vampira really has no fan base outside of a carnival sideshow. As if they were not bad enough one at a time, we are then treated to a four star spectacular that flashes them on the screen one right after another with stock music playing in the background. One would think if they planned to fill the movie with unknowns, they would have chose Vampira's actual friends rather than this gaggle of ghouls. The only interesting aspect of this movie is hearing Elvira's side of the Vampira lawsuit (though Vampira herself never mentions it) and seeing clips from Vampira's famed 1950s television show. The movie could have been much better if it were trimmed down to about thirty minutes and completely scrapped the weirdos. The editing is perhaps the worst ever in documentary filmmaking. It seems to have been edited by a child learning how to use the free software included with their new DVD burner. The still photos featured in the movie have been taken from web sites and eBay auctions, which explains the pixilation problems. The editing of these photos is ridiculous in itself. The editor obviously used random zoom filters which zoom into the center of the photos... usually right into someone's chest. Other times, the photos will fade into another before the subject's face is seen! Clearly this is the work of amateurs and Alpha should have left such an intriguing subject to more capable hands. Vampira is an artist, poet, actress, model, dancer even a singer, but this poor excuse for a documentary paints a very vague picture and leaves the uneducated viewer to believe she should only be remembered as a kook who clings to a 50 year old black wig. I give it one star - simply because Amazon does not have zero or negative ratings.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A chat with Vampira November 24, 2007

By Art E. Misia

This video contains a full-length interview with Vampira: the elusive (some might say reclusive) Maila Nurmi. Her thoughts, her memories, her experiences as Vampira and afterward. I don't think this kind of footage exists anywhere else. It also includes segments from Vampira's short-lived but legendary TV show, which I had thought lost to the fog machines of time. These two elements alone make this film worth having for any fan of Vampira, or collector of Vampire lore and legend. Rather than tearing down the director for technical problems, real or perceived, I think he should be congratulated for managing to get Ms. Nurmi to sit still for his camera in such a relaxed and informal way. Some of the critical reviewers make good points, but I'm happy that I have this video so I can watch the parts with Ms. Nurmi over and over again. She is such an interesting person, and the fact that she inhabits such a strong, quirky and artistic persona at the age of 85 is truly inspirational!