I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This was renowned as the best of the 3 virtually interchangeable vampire 'classics' emanating from Italy early into their Gothic Horror phase; however, while that may be so, it is still nothing to write home about! I am not sure about THE VAMPIRE AND THE BALLERINA (1960) since it has been some time from my sole viewing of it, but this at least maintains a period setting throughout (beginning with villagers rising up against a bloodsucking couple). Incidentally, while Walter Brandi also turns up here, he is not the monster – the latter, in fact, is played by Dieter Eppler and he proves one of the hammiest ever depicted, while hilariously looking like Criswell from the Ed Wood movies! Brandi, then, makes for an ineffectual lead (he is even bitten twice throughout, offering virtually no opposition to his female assailants!) – though he does contrive to ambiguously participate in the climax, where we are unsure whether he intends harming a little girl or not, before trapping Eppler and proceeding to impale him with the pointed edges of a wooden gate! During the course of the film, Eppler manages to vampirize two ladies: Brandi's wife Graziella Granata (who is virtually put under a spell by the villain, whose coffin is hidden in their country-estate's wine-cellar!) – an unintentionally amusing scene has her responding to Eppler's disembodied voice, then he nonchalantly appears from behind a nearby tree! – and her maid (who looks an awful lot like a plumper version of Isabelle Adjani!). The most impressive member of the cast is Paolo Solvay, actually a pseudonym for director Luigi Batzella (best-known for the nonsensical erotic Gothic NUDE FOR Satan [1974]), here appearing as Dr. Nietzche(!) and evoking Peter Cook, of all people, in appearance – in his case, the most hilarious bit has him telling Brandi of Granata's imminent demise and getting no reaction whatsoever (incidentally, the English dialogue of this one is exceedingly stilted, which may well have been an intentional choice so as to complement Eppler's stagy performance)! Another future film-maker, Alfredo Rizzo, turns up here as well but in a minor role this time around.In conclusion, I recently watched an interview with director Mauri on the "Stracult" program on late-night Italian TV: apart from SLAUGHTER itself (in Italian), this section included scenes from a number of his other efforts…and I was sufficiently intrigued to acquire the black-and-white Giallo NIGHT OF VIOLENCE (1965), the psycho-drama MADELINE, STUDY OF A NIGHTMARE (1974; with Camille Keaton, and whose failure through poor distribution Mauri particularly bemoaned) and THE PORNO KILLERS (1980; albeit in its softer original form) soon after!

Although this movie sports the cool word "slaughter" in its title, this movie is very much the old Dracula story all over again (with only a minor twist at the end). While there are a few differences (such as the vampire looking pretty weird--a bit like a blond Liberace with raccoon eyes) as well as more cleavage than usual, the essence of the film is the same old same old--though the names have been changed. Although there is no one named Van Helsing or Nina Harker, the characters are still there but with different names. The biggest difference is that the entire first portion of the book and original movies is absent--and it begins later in the story. The only serious negatives are the silly music (which might have sounded better in a sci-fi flick) and the silly look of the vampire. Because the story is so similar and there isn't any new innovation to make it memorable, this is a story horror fans don't need to rush out to see, as the Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee versions cover the same territory but do it much better.By the way, there were some complaints about the dubbing, though for a 1960s import, the quality isn't bad (except for the little girl--which sounds like an adult trying to sound like a girl). The voices seem appropriate and it wasn't a noticeable problem. Still, like many viewers, I would have preferred this to have been subtitled instead of dubbed into English.

DARK SKY FILMS has just released their version of SLAUGHTER OF THE VAMPIRES on DVD and I must tell you, it is far and away superior to that of the Retromedia version of the film. It is crisp, clear and sharp Black & White as I have ever seen in a film that is over 40 years old. They did a superb job of presenting this in DVD format. They include chapter index and when you go to a chapter, it doesn't put you right in the middle of a scene as Retromedia's version did. It is also presented in widescreen format too. Believe me, put your Retromedia copy on your Trade-in pile and go out and get DARK SKY FILMS version. The DSF version also includes a scene or two not presented in any other version that I remember although that storied missing 11 minutes that I have heard so much about does not seem to be there, it is still an excellent reproduction. Even though this film is from 1962, it still outshines a lot of vampire movies that I have seen. Graziella Granata is still gorgeous in this movie and her Titular jog through the castle to escape the stake is worth seeing in slow-mo. Whether or not you are a fan of a vampire movie this old, it still has a lot going for it. It shines in a dim way but it still shines. I call it the "GONE WITH THE WIND" of bad B-Vampire movies because it is the best of the worst.Wanna talk about it?.............leave a comment, I'll get back to you.Bill

This isn't a bad of a movie like the Reviews above/below said it was. The Dubbness wasn't awesome (but i was ready for it dued to the low budget of this film). The film's music score was pretty good for a Low Budgetter, the vampire (whoever he was) was very seductive, kinda like a "Italian Christopher Lee". It's a very tragic, and sadden story about a Count and his newly married countess bride is tormented by a vampire in 1600 Italy, Wolfgang (the count) calls upon a Doctor Nietzsche . Doctor Nietzsche is the Van Helsing role of the film, who wasn't unusually not that bad for a amateur actor. So my overall view of "Slaughter of the Vampires is a ******** out of 10.