Highly Overrated But Still Good

Fresh and Exciting

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Director Jesús Franco had already directed an impoverished international adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" the prior year. At least, that film managed to attract two acclaimed actors in Christopher Lee and Klaus Kinski, both of whose careers would include being in better Dracula movies made by others (Lee had and would continue to star in Hammer's series, and Kinski went on to be in Werner Herzog's 1979 "Nosferatu"). "Vampyros Lesbos" has lesbian vampires and nudity. The 1970 Dracula was closer to Stoker's text than most adaptations; "Vampyros Lesbos" is a very loose reworking or continuation of the novel. Neither one does anything especially intelligent, though.Here, Linda repeats, from Stoker, Jonathan Harker's business trip to a vampire's lair (this time on an island, presumably Lesbos), where the Countess Nadine Carody, perhaps intentionally, offers a twist on Bela Lugosi's famous line ("I never drink... wine.") from the 1931 "Dracula," saying, "I love red wine." Apparently, Linda is overseeing the Countess' inheritance from Count Dracula. Not that it matters; the story is poorly developed, and this Dracula connection only serves to bring the women together. There's another woman named Agra who plays the Renfield-type character here in Dr. Seward's asylum. Seward, meanwhile, doubles in the role of his namesake from Stoker as well as the Van Helsing type. Appropriately, Agra isn't a bug eater like Renfield. She's another lesbian, but frustrated by the celibacy of being locked in a cell. Agra and Linda are both blondes, which is a bit confusing for a moment, because, for a while, they're both committed to Seward's asylum.This rehashing of Stoker's book is enough story for a short film, but Franco and company add a bunch of filler to drag it out to feature length. There are long stretches that rely too heavily on the musical score—making this, at times, appear more like a music video rather than a film. There are numerous location shots serving no narrative purpose. The many insert shots of a scorpion are loosely connected to the story in the end, but would have been better left out. The shots of a moth never make sense. Franco himself has an on-screen role as a woman killer, a part that seems as though it were filmed as an afterthought for further runtime padding. It has nothing to do with the main Sapphic vampire plot, and it should've been entirely excluded.Besides being a countess, Nadine also performs at a nightclub (yeah, it makes no sense), which she exploits to suck the blood from her nude-female counterpart on the stage. Linda watches this performance in the film's beginning, and the performance is again replayed later. I guess, though, that Linda's viewing of it may've been explained as a dream. There's also a repeated voice-over of Nadine saying Linda's name. Some have claimed this filler to add to the film's dreamlike and psychedelic atmosphere, but in my sober state, I fail to appreciate it. This isn't a poor-man's or an exploitative edition of Carl Theodor Dreyer's "Vampyr" (1932); it's just bad.Which can be good, but I prefer trashy, poorly-made movies to be funny. This one isn't; instead, it flails between the artsy and erotic and mostly fails at both. Somewhat funny, however, is the non-Seward shrink business. Not only does Linda see one, but there's also a scene where the Countess lies on a bed submitting herself to the mute psychotherapy of a male vampire, as she, ironically, talks about how she hates men. Linda's quack, meanwhile, doodles a diagram seemingly depicting the filming of a vampire movie! This one, perhaps. Too bad the doodle doesn't offer any rationale for Franco's obsession with zoom shots. I would've enjoyed his Dracula movies much more without the constant zooming in and out. Especially bad is how some of the zooms are telegraphed by the shots, at first, being out of focus. Narratively, "Vampyros Lesbos" likewise lacks focus; it's soft- focus, soft-core erotica.(Mirror Note: The Countess uses a mirror, which casts her reflection, in the nightclub performances. The male vampire's reflection is also seen in the finale. Franco demonstrated that he knew Dracula didn't cast reflections in his 1970 adaptation. "Vampyros Lesbos" isn't a strict adaptation, so I'm not especially offended by these vamp reflections, although the mirror shots aren't interesting otherwise.)

Coming across like some kind of wildly psychedelic cinematic fever dream that combines trashy exploitation and pretty artiness with extremely enjoyable and arresting results, legendary maverick filmmaker Jess Franco here relates the tale of predatory vampire countess Nadine Carody (a mesmerizing portrayal by slinky and sensuous brunette stunner Soledad Miranda), who sets her seductive sights on lawyer Linda Westinghouse (yummy blonde Ewa Stromberg) as her next victim.Directed in typically free-form anything goes experimental fashion by Franco, the languid pacing, meandering narrative, bizarre visuals, extremely groovy prog-rock score, isolated island setting, and sumptuous cinematography that's rife with striking oddball imagery merge together to create a supremely trippy and surreal dreamlike atmosphere that's truly something to behold. Naturally, Franco also delivers more than enough tasty female nudity and arousing lesbianism to satisfy the sleazehounds. Moreover, there are solid acting contributions from Dennis Price as curious vampire enthusiast Dr. Alvin Seward, Paul Muller as the concerned Dr. Steiner, Heidrun Kussin as anguished asylum agent Agra, and Franco himself as creepy sadist Memmet. Recommended viewing for both Franco fans and aficionados of outre avant-garde celluloid fare alike.

This vampire film from director Jesus Franco is an unarguable example of a cult movie if ever there was one. It sure isn't going to appeal to everyone that's for sure. This is no ordinary horror movie – like a lot of Franco's films the horror is pretty half-hearted to say the least – it's much more left-field arty erotica. Franco is often criticised for being a bad film-maker, one who put out lots of films too quickly and with little care. To some degree this is true as his movies do always look like they were made fast and their low budgets always compromise them to some extent. Vampyros Lesbos exhibits these faults as well – it does have cheap sets and it does look like it has been made in a hurry – but this is one of the films from Franco that clearly shows that he had something really interesting to offer. His mix of horror, eroticism and surrealism puts him alongside French director Jean Rollin. At their best, both men made highly personal films that look more and more interesting and unique as each year goes by.Vampyros Lesbos can maybe best be described as a hallucinatory fever-dream. It has a striking feel and atmosphere. A great deal of its success can be put down to two things – its soundtrack and its lead actress, Soledad Miranda. The score by Manfred Hubler and Sigfried Schwab is pretty mind-blowing. It can perhaps best be described as psychedelic lounge music. It's very effective and creates an unusual ambiance all of its own. And as for Soledad Miranda, well she's pretty extraordinary. She starred in several Franco films at the time and she was always fantastic but this is her most famous and iconic role. Her character is Princess Nadine Korody; a mysterious vampire woman appears to a female lawyer in the form of a series of erotic dreams. Miranda is a very beautiful woman and she had an incredible screen presence. Her performance here is one of the greatest in erotic cinema. And the nudity never feels gratuitous with Miranda, always entirely natural and, dare I say it, beautiful. Ewa Strömberg is very sexy too but it's difficult competing with someone like Soledad Miranda and this is undoubtedly her film. The male cast has a few familiar faces but they are pretty negligible and there more for plot exposition purposes rather than anything much more. Franco himself does deserve some credit too for having the vision to bring all of this psychotronic madness to the screen in such a committed way. He does photograph things really interestingly at times, even if he is a bit of a zoom merchant.This is hardly a film for everyone. It's not even going to appeal to most horror fans. In fact it'll no doubt appal a lot of them. Because it's mainly about erotic imagery, as opposed to horror. And, like most Franco, it isn't plot driven in the least. Its story is a variation on 'Dracula' but it's more a means to an end and there is no attempt at generating suspense or anything like that. You have to be able to get into its very specific groove to get into it. It's overall a very strange film but for 70's Euro cult enthusiasts I would say this is an absolute must.

"The Queen of the Night will bear you up on her dark wings."I guess you can look at "Vampyros lesbos" as director Jesús Franco's 70's modern variation on Bram Stoker's Dracula using Soledad Miranda as the seductive female lesbian vampire who took lessons from her master(..that being Count Dracula)in capturing victims through a form of hypnotic lust, invading women through their dreams. You could say that Ewa Strömberg's Linda, an agent whose firm, Simpson & Simpson, is handling Dracula's will which would entitle that his inheritance of the Kadidados islands(..and everything on it) be left to her, is Mina, the object for which Carody desires to "initiate into her inner circle." Andrés Monales, as Linda's lover Omar, would be the Jonathan Harker, the one who stands between Carody and her paramour. There really isn't a strong candidate for Van Helsing..it seems like Dennis Price, as scientist Dr. Alwin Seward, who runs a clinic and studies vampirism, would be, but he harbours a desire to be a vampire himself so he could obtain supernatural powers. Within Seward's clinic is Agra(Heidrun Kussin), who is the Renfield of the film, except instead of madness, she's more overcome by a state of constant orgasm, wantonly desiring to return to Carody, locked up in Seward's clinic. Her husband is Memmet(..portrayed by the director in one of his typically bizarre roles), who works at a hotel which charters a small boat to ferry people to Carody's island. Memmet is actually a psychotic torturer(..who likes to sucker females into the hotel wine cellar where he binds them before the nasty business) whose madness derives from the fact that Carody "changed" his wife into a lunatic only yearning for her touch. Paul Muller is given, frankly, a thankless role as Linda's psychiatrist who believes her rantings of being haunted by fantasies of Carody is merely bad sex. Carody's relationship to Dracula, subtly mentioned here and there in the film, comes from an incident near a castle she lived overcome by depravity and violence. Men were ravaging the village women, attempting to rape her(..this also provides the emphasis on why she hates men), dragging her from her castle..Dracula killing the man on top of her, subsequently "adopting" Carody into his family. Carody mentions how she was the woman who made his life worth living and that he always desired her body, taking just enough blood he needed to survive finally turning her into a vampire. The Turkish locations are definitely highlighted in this film as Franco's camera embraces various aspects of his setting. But, the pleasure for me is Soledad Miranda. The many ways Franco shoots her, the character is all hers. Of her short few lead roles, I think this, "She Killed in Ecstasy" & "Eugenie de Sade" each display her hold on the viewer. Whether it be her very unusual stage act where she dresses a "human mannequin" for an audience before biting her assistant's neck, the way her face is lit, or the abstract camera angles;it seems Franco wants you to see her as a very special creature, not meant for our world. Whether she's naked, in a bikini, or wearing lingerie on stage, Miranda is a showcase for our viewing pleasure. She's a dark-eyed goddess to me, a portrait on celluloid. I would definitely say Miranda's iconic accessory for this particular film is her red scarf. It's around her neck almost always. José Martínez Blanco is Carody's henchman Morpho, with dead eyes which stare right through you. The score only heightens the otherworldly nature Franco's direction brings to this fantasy. It's a vampire film, but I felt it embraces the erotic side rather than the violence often elaborated in Dracula adaptations. Sure, Carody's bites, but I think this is more about her seduction and entrapment over female victims she desires than the relishing bite on the jugular for flowing blood. I think the ultimate nourishment for a vampire like Carody is capturing the heart and soul of her victim, not their lifeforce.