Customer Reviews

Vampyres

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Okay, 1974's VAMPYRES admittedly has numerous nude scenes--full frontal female nude scenes, in some cases--that was a prerequisite for the sexploitation horror pouring out of Europe in the 1970s. And yes, the two female players have hourglass figures, ample bosoms, and beautiful faces. However, this British indie film, directed by Spanish auteur José Ramón Larraz, has a cinematic aesthetic that makes it stand out above its contemporaries as a horror film of true quality. Larraz does a fantastic job of directing, working in close conjunction with cinematographer Harry Waxman to ensure that nearly every shot of every scene is a balanced, well-framed image. In keeping with the spooky atmosphere of the moldering English manor house and surrounding grounds used for location shooting, production designer Ken Bridgeman maintains the perfect ambiance throughout. And unlike many other buxom sexploitation actresses of the era, erotic stars Marianne Morris and Anulka (Dziubinska) can actually act, and they do a superb job in making the eponymous characters both scary and sympathetic.

In addition to the outstanding efforts of cast and crew, the tight, well-written script is refreshingly new--even from this vantage point of some thirty years hence. Avoiding the usual vampire clichés, these VAMPYRES are really more like ghosts who have some inexplicable but insatiable desire to feed on the blood of the living. They don't have fangs, they can tolerate moderate sunlight, and instead of resting in musty old caskets, they sleep in a wine cellar during the brightest of the daylight hours. They also can eat, drink liquids other than blood, and seem to genuinely enjoy sex. And they even sometimes have sympathy for their victims, a characteristic that may lead to their ultimate downfall.

The myth of the vampire has always been regarded as sexual in nature, especially the intimacy of the flesh-penetrating bite on the neck. VAMPYRES carries this metaphor to the extreme, with heterosexual vampiric coitus portrayed as an intensely passionate, rigorous event that includes feasting on the blood of the non-vampiric partner. And the eponymous characters in VAMPYRES don't gently suck from two pricks in the neck; in the midst of sexual passion, they tear open their victims and lap up the crimson liquid with ferocious, writhing pleasure.

In short, VAMPYRES is an excellent British erotic horror flick that is superior to most others from its era of origin, and it can even stand up against many straightforward, non-sexploitation horror films. It is well written, well acted, and has high production values throughout--and all this in spite of a low, low budget. Director Larraz and his co-scripters have take an idea that they could play for camp or sheer sexploitation and, instead, deliver a thought-provoking look at indiscriminate and promiscuous sex, physical obsession, and guilt. And on top of that, they still throw in lots of delicious T&A.

The DVD from Blue Underground is a great buy. Not only does it present a widescreen restored director's version of this excellent film--transferred primarily from the original negatives--but it also has lots of cool extras. It offers a feature-commentary track with director José Ramón Larraz and producer Brian Smedley-Aston that is both hilarious--due to Larraz's frank use of English colloquialisms--and informative. And there are also recent interviews with Marianne Morris and Anulka Dziubinska, the film's beautiful stars; a lost scene recreated via production stills; U.S. and European trailers; and more. This is a piece of erotic artistic cinematic history that any serious horror fans will want to add to their collections.

A pair of bisexual women (Marianne Morris and Playboy playmate Anulka) living in a dark, decaying mansion have a craving for blood and sex. Hitchiking in long black cloaks, they lure men home and then take them to bed, slash them with knives, and dump the bodies, making it look like a car wreck. They like one guy so much they keep him around for days and he knows something bad is happening, but he's not sure what. Some people camping nearby also suspect that the women are up to strange things.... The violence is strong even though there's more blood than gore, plenty of sex and nudity, and some very lyrical, beautiful scenes. The ending throws a whole new, darker twist on the proceedings and ties it all together nicely. It has kind of a "Hammer Films" look to it, but the storyline is more along the lines of Jean Rollin. Even though the budget was small, this is a quality-looking film. The DVD looks great and contains a commentary track with producer Brian Smedley-Aston and director Joseph Larraz that's worth listening to - it's informative, and Larraz is hilarious and pulls no punches - ya gotta love the guy, even though he admits he's become a dirty old man (the comment during one of Anulka's nude scenes had me rolling on the floor). :) It's one of the most entertaining commentary tracks I've heard on a DVD, and a quality film besides.

If you watch this movie for anything other than the sexual content you are most likely to be disappointed. The plot is paper thin (hell, I could have written it!) and poses numerous questions without bothering to answer any of them. Even the film's title is a bit of a misnomer. But, let's face it...the whole point of the film is to set up situations that allow the two female "vampyres" to disrobe and display their bodies (no complaints here!). Getting to view the two stunning ladies repeatedly in nude scenes is enough to earn this film four stars in my book! Seriously though, this film does have a Hammeresque quality to it and the setting is very atmospheric (nice blend of mid-70's style with a touch of gothic). The acting is pretty good, too. But, the film loses a star due to it's lack of storyline and departure from classic vampire lore. Classic horror? No. Classic erotica? Yes.

Some time ago I made a statement to the effect that I avoided vampire films like the plague. What did I do immediately after making such a pronouncement? Why, I went right out and started watching vampire films! I am nothing if not a huge hypocrite, but at least this time there is a reason for my hypocrisy. You see, I am finally getting a chance to see all the great Eurohorror classics thanks to the advent of DVD. And it just so happens that some of these great classics employ the tried and true vampire theme. How could I pass up the joy that is "Daughters of Darkness" merely because I try to avoid vampire films? Or Jose Larraz's epic "Vampyres"? Actually, I never even heard of this last movie before DVD arrived on the scene. I was thumbing through the lists of supposed Eurohorror classics and stumbled over the title. The word on it was good, great in some instances, so I decided to give it a shot. I'm glad I did. In fact, if I had to cite one example of a movie that embodied the look and feel of 1970s Eurohorror, I would pick "Vampyres." The only thing missing from Larraz's film is an extremely high gore quotient (the film is quite bloody, though).

Fran (Marianne Morris) and her blonde partner Miriam (Anulka) are just your average, everyday dead spirits wandering through rain shrouded cemeteries, back roads, and dark forests somewhere in England. We learn at the beginning of the film that someone, presumably a male, expressed his disappointment at finding the two young women in a compromising position and thus shot them with a handgun. Flash forward some number of years to a creepy looking castle located out in the sticks, the same castle where the aforementioned crime took place. Miriam and Fran, clad in flowing robes, flit from their abode to the roadside where they entice young male drivers back to the castle for an evening of wine, fun, and other assorted activities. Later, we see the police prying these hapless wretches from their wrecked cars, drained of blood and with watches that mysteriously stopped. Hmmm. Looks like something decidedly supernatural is going on in the vicinity. Could the accidents have something to do with our two wayward spirits? It sure looks like it, especially considering the last time we see these blokes alive is in the company of Fran and Miriam.

Enter three people who will soon learn more than they ever wanted to know about young, gorgeous spirit vampires. There's a driver, Ted (Murray Brown), who accepts an invitation from Fran to return to the castle only to find himself imprisoned there as a sort of ongoing snack for the voracious cutie. Then we meet a couple of campers, John (Brian Deacon) and his girl Harriet (Sally Faulkner), who set up their little trailer on the grounds of the supposedly empty castle. Camping out on the site where a couple of vampires ply their trade isn't a good idea, and it isn't too long before both John and Harriet experience several frightening up close and personal encounters with Fran and Miriam. They even have a run in with Ted, without knowing he's an unwilling participant in the festivities going on in the house, but his sudden presence along with his ghostly pallor greatly alarms our campers. Meanwhile, Miriam warns Fran that her irrational love--for lack of a better term--for Ted endangers their presence in the castle and their highway activities. Fran persists in keeping Ted around, however, and will pay a price for doing so. Maybe. O.k., she doesn't pay as much of a price as John, Harriet, Ted, and a few other sorry souls do. Spending any time at all around these vampires is extraordinarily bad for one's health.

Forget about performances or the occasional bloodshed in "Vampyres." This is a movie where the atmosphere takes center stage. Every image reeks of doom and gloom, from the forbidding castle to the rain and fog shrouded environs to the massively haunting musical score. I mentioned earlier that "Vampyres" could serve as an archetype of the Eurohorror phenomenon of the 1970s, and one need look no further than the scenes where Miriam and Fran run soundlessly through a decrepit cemetery on their frequent jaunts to the road as proof of this assertion. Anyone writing a book about the prime years of European horror films should use a still taken from these scenes for the cover. "Vampyres" isn't all about atmosphere, though. There is also an enormous amount of erotic imagery in the movie, imagery made all the more impressive considering the beautiful visages of Marianne Morris and Anulka. These are two incredibly attractive women who, despite the atrocious dubbing in the case of Morris, really help propel the plot. When you've got a film about two beautiful young ladies turned into spiritual vampires, it helps to cast two beautiful young ladies in the respective parts. European horror films are known for casting attractive women (see Edwige Fenech, Uschi Digard, Christina Lindberg, etc.), but Larraz really went above and beyond the call of duty here.

Once again, Blue Underground went overboard on the extras for "Vampyres." Interviews with Marianne Morris and Anulka grace the disc, along with a commentary track with director Jose Larraz. Too, the disc throws in a few funky trailers as well as a reconstruction of a lost scene through still photographs. The picture and audio look and sound great. I heartily recommend "Vampyres" for anyone interested in learning about Eurohorror. I would think fans of vampire films already know about this one, but they should definitely check it out if they haven't heard about it.

I rate vampire/horror movies as great, bad and terrible. "Bad" horror films can be a lot of fun with their unintentional goofs and silly occurrences. Great movies are rarely the low budget Hammer-type films, and terrible is simply that...terrible.

Vampyres falls somewhere in between great and bad to my surprise. The chemistry of the actors was superb, the vampyres always seemed to have a good time and there were some great sex scenes. The violence was pitched just right, and there was some creativity such as eschewing the traditional neck-biting for sliced bloodletting, the vampyres enjoying sex, wine and even a cigarette.

Unfortunately, the "moldering" castle looked like new to me, and the camping couple nearby was a bit annoying. Who would go camping in a tiny trailer near the castle, then sit and polish the silver?

However, another refreshing detail of this film was the lovely nude actresses had genuine breasts! Not something you see much of anymore. Get it guys? [...]
I very much enjoyed this film, it is now one of my favorites. I'm not sure if I'll let my husband see it though, he might really like it!

Make no mistake this film is a cult classic along side the other female vampire film Vamyros Lesbos. It is bloody and sexy and fun.

Other reviews have done a great job of describing the film but one point about the DVD releases, while AnchorBay does a great job on plenty of Fulci titles they dropped the ball with their Vampyres DVD as it is actually slightly cut. Get the Blue Underground DVD as it is uncut and has some remakable special features.

Where to begin.....
As far as an erotic vampire movie goes, look no further. As far as a savage and gory vampire movie goes, look no further. As far as an interesting story goes with great cinematography to boot, look no further.

This movie came out in 1974 and had to be edited by the censors for release in most countries. The footage that had been cut has been put back in for this excellent dvd release from Anchor Bay. It was directed by Spanish director Joseph Larraz and filmed in England on Hammer Studios sets.

The story goes something like this:
Two women are making love in a bed and someone walks in on them and shoots them. Next thing we know a man (Murray Brown) is driving through the countryside and picks up a woman (Marianne Morris) along the road. They go to her place which just happens to be a huge manor home in the middle of nowhere. They end up having sex and the next thing he know it is next morning. He feels weak and notices a nasty cut on his arm and the girl is nowhere to be found. He gets in his car a drives a little ways along the dirt road leading out of the estate when he runs across a couple who have picked this site to park their trailer and go camping. They help the man bandage his cut and after a little while he leaves. He runs across the strange woman he picked up the night before and they go back to the estate. Her friend (Anulka Dziubinska) has picked up another man and before too long the two couples have made their way to the bedrooms. The first man makes love to the woman but this time we see her sucking blood out of the cut on his arm. Her friend walks in and they go to the other bedroom where he lover is lying face up up on the bed covered in blood. They both start an orgiastic feast on the man and when they are done they drag him out of the room.

The next morning the first man wakes up and and makes his way to the highway in his car when he slows down for a car wreck along the road. The bloody body behind the wheel is the man he had seen at the house the prior evening. He drives back to the estate and starts wandering around and winds up getting locked in the cellar. The girls return, find and release him, and he goes back up to the bedroom.

Meanwhile, while all of this has been going on, the woman on vacation in the trailer has become terribly interested in the goings on at the estate and keeps trying to get her husband interested. He feels it is none of their business and is content to go fishing and wishes his wife would just be happy with her paintings that she has been working on.

That night, the girls at the estate bring home another man they picked up and they end up going down to the wine cellar. Before too long he is a bloody mess and the first man has now left and made his way to the trailer.

The couple in the trailer are horrified to see the condition that the man is in so the husband goes out to the car to go get help. Before he can take off the women attack him in the car and kill him. The wife goes out to check on him and starts screaming when she sees his bloody body in the car. The two women then attack the wife and she is dragged, kicking and screaming, back to the cellar where they strip her and then feast on her.

I have probably given away too much, but I won't give away the ending. I have read that some people thought the end was stupid and some people liked it. I happened to have liked it a lot. This is a pretty unique vampire movie and it is too bad it didn't do better at the box office, maybe then we would have had a sequel! ...

Though I'd seen it once before in Magnum's now out of print pan-and-scan version, I just rewatched this 1974 lesbian vampire film in Anchor Bay's recent uncut reissue. I must say, they really do wonders at Anchor Bay with the films they release. Seeing it with such an improved picture and in widescreen for the first time, I was really able to appreciate as I hadn't before just how beautifully composed and photographed this film is.

Yes, as director Joseph Larraz himself has said, the film does deliver on the "blood and naked women". But Vampyres really is so much more than *just* an exploitaion film.

The film really, I think, brings a fresh approach to the whole vampire theme, jettisoning nearly all the typical conventions and cliches of vampire films that Hammer and Universal had built up in thier films, in exchange for approaches that I think are pretty unique to the film.

The gothic atmosphere is very well done, and I liked that Larraz accomplished this without the usual reliance on fake dry ice fog and fake lightning and thunder and the like. Rather, everything was accomplished through superb use of the late autumn English woods and country location settings, as well as the great choice of location shooting sites for the Vampyres' mansion and its interiors (no studio sets in this one). And great shots of the actual sky and clouds. Vampyres is probably one of the most naturalistic of gothic horror movies.

Marianne Morris and Anulka are really superb in thier roles. It's not just thier looks, but an amazing on-screen presence and intensity, and a willingness to throw themselves into every scene with total commitment and relish. The scenes with them stalking the woods are just as stunning as any of the more "active" scenes in the film.

And finally, as for the "exploitation" elements, the sexuality, while venturing into soft core territory, is imaginative and done with genuine style, while the violence is unusually realistic and genuinely horrifying for a vampire film.

Anyway, this is a film that I'm really glad I purchased and gave a second look to, and I can't say enough good things about what Anchor Bay has done for the film.

Just a final note regarding the reviewer who said he thought a particular scene was cut short--I could detect no cuts in Anchor Bay's version compared to the out of print uncut Magnum release. As far as I can tell, Anchor Bay's version is totally intact and uncut, and the digital remastering and widescreen presentation make this the best version ever offered.

I would have given this film more stars, but there a serious plot problems. _Vampyres_, when it even has a plot, is so repetitive that I lost all interest in the story 30 minutes into the viewing. As another reviewer mentions, everyone is just walking through moody interior and exterior shots not doing or saying anything of any particular interest.

Two bisexual vampires lovers hitchhike on a nearby road to pick up men. They take the men back to their mouldering mansion, get them drunk and kill them. Innocently viewing the actions of the vampires is a couple on a weekend getaway, living out of an RV that is parked practically on the front lawn of the mansion. That's it. That's the story. On a couple of occasions, there appears to be some foreshadowing of darker forces at work...but both of those hints are just left hanging by the end of the film.

The movie was originally marketed as an "adult horror film" which I interpret as meaning soft porn with a horror theme. Maybe it's too much to expect plot from that kind of production. If you're looking for a good story or great acting, don't bother with _Vampyres_. You'll just be wasting your time and money.

On the other hand, with regard to mood, lighting, set decoration, location, makeup special effects (the blood, in particular) and filming techniques, _Vampyres_ is a beautiful film to watch. It was originally released in 1974 and I have to admit that, aesthetically speaking, it has either aged well or the remastering worked wonders. There was something intoxicating about the soft-focused, low-light, grainy quality of the images. It put me in the mind of a lot of those old vampire films (especially the Italian horror films) I watched as a young man on Saturday afternoons back in the 70s.

The sex scenes were somehow entertaining -- not for the sex itself (which were either badly choreographed or just clumsily executed) but more for the blood-letting aspect of their carnal endeavors. If you saw Bram Stoker's Dracula (a la F.F. Coppola) then you'll probably remember the three vampire brides feeding on poor stupid Keanu Reeves. The scenes in that film were very Hollywood, very stylized. No so in _Vampires_. I'd describe the depiction of the blood orgies in this film as "natural." The kills seemed quite realistic to me.

So, if you are looking for more stuff like _The Lost Boys_, _Interview With The Vampire_ or _Bram Stoker's Dracula_, you should look elsewhere and leave this one to everyone who loved _The Keep_.

In an unusual turn for the British horror film, Spanish-born director José Larraz helmed a trio of interesting, sometimes overlooked U.K. genre efforts: SCREAM AND DIE (aka THE HOUSE THAT VANISHED), VAMPYRES, and SYMPTOMS. Of the three, VAMPYRES is the one that garnished a considerable cult following to this day, as it's an outstanding slice of erotic goth that compares favorably to similar bloodsuckers from Jean Rollin and Jess Franco, and is far bolder than the classic sexy Hammer vamps of the period.

A pre-credit sequence shows two beautiful nude young ladies making love, and then being shot by an unseen assailant. We later see these ladies alive and well and black-garbed. Fran (Marianne Morris) and Miriam (Anulka Dziubinska) have a habit of flagging down cars on the countryside highway, and getting strange men to pick them up for insidious reasons.

VAMPYRES is one of the finest British horror films of the 70s, utilizing the lesbian vampire to full effect, and brimming with atmosphere and crimson-soaked grisliness. Although very inexperienced at the time and post-dubbed by other actresses, Marianne Morris and Anulka Dziubinska are mesmerizing as the female savages, easily alluring men and quickly caught up in a frenzy of animalistic blood drinking that becomes a carnal ordeal for them. Larraz keeps the duo very ambiguous, as the word "vampire" is never mentioned, they don't possess fangs, and their onscreen presence is often ghost-like. Although plotted in modern day and bathed in sex and violence, the film is furnished in a traditional gothic style, with the famous Oakley Court--the manor house of numerous Hammer films and THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW--providing haunting exteriors, and some decaying interiors as well.

VAMPYRES was previously available on DVD from Anchor Bay, and fans who own that disc will not want to hesitate to upgrade to Blue Underground's definitive release. Letterboxed in its theatrical ratio of 1.85:1 with Anamorphic enhancement, the excessive grain present in the older disc is not to be found here. The image also appears sharper and the palette of mostly warm colors is stable. Audio is a Dolby Digital mono mix, and does the film justice. Blue Underground's disc is also completely uncut, restoring approximately 30 seconds of climatic bloodshed not present in the Anchor Bay release.

An audio commentary with director Larraz and producer Brian Smedley-Aston is carried over from the Anchor Bay release. The heavily accented Larraz and the British editor- turned- producer Smedley-Aston provide a nice talk, reflecting a friendly working relationship and rather contrasting personalities. Smedley-Aston provides a lot of info about the production, while Larraz gives comments and recollections with a wry sense of humor (his pronunciation of the "F word" is a hoot).

A really nice treat is a new video interview (14 minutes) with Marianne and Anulka, who still look as beautiful as ever. You'll be charmed as you get to hear their true voices, as they discuss their involvement in VAMPYRES to great detail, unveil how proud they are to be associated with it all these years later, and tell us what they are up to today. Also included is a photo reconstruction of the "lost caravan scene" not in the completed film; both the international and U.S. trailer, which added "Very Unusual Ladies" to the title; an extensive poster & still gallery with lots of press ads, poster art, PR photos, and numerous behind-the-scenes shots; a glamour photo gallery of lovely Anulka; a bio of Larraz, and lastly; a DVD-ROM option for "VAMPYRES: A Tribute to the Ultimate in Erotic Horror Cinema," an expanded version of an excellent publication by Tim Greaves.