I vampiri [Blu-ray] [Region A & B & C]

il primo horror italiano diretto da Riccardo Freda con la collaborazione di Mario Bava arriva in blu ray dalla sinister dopo l’edizione DVD,stavolta pero’la qualit e’davvero ottima,un bel restauro HD che onora questo grande film.per tutti gli appassionati un acquisto obbligato.

What a find this was, I had read and seen articles on “I Vampiri” before, but never seen it…now that I have, I am very impressed. The film is fairly simple, and is modestly told, but with style, atmosphere and simple, good cinematography, it succeeds.

Plot is as follows…it is 1950s, black and white France. Local girls are disappearing then turning up dead with all their blood drained away. Police and the local press investigate, but it takes a some luck and freak connections to uncover what is going on. Unsurprisingly a family of aristocrats who inhabit a large ornate castle seem to be most heavily implicated…surely the frail and elderly “duchess” who is never seen without her veil couldn’t be a prime suspect…could she? Although the action is not intense or gory, I still found the film very enjoyable. For a film with “vampire” in the title, there is a total lack of blood, biting or fangs to be seen. Instead it’s more like a murder mystery film. The main characters are a reporter and his semi-girlfriend, a stunning lady who happens to be a younger member of the rich family, and a policeman who is doing his best to catch the killer. The Cinemascope format really enhances the appealing black and white photography – watching this in full screen would surely ruin it. The sets and decor are also fantastic, especially scenes set in the castle and several decaying apartments and chambers. The acting of the male leads is not that impressive, but the girl victims and in particular the gorgeous Gianna Maria Canale (as the young aristocrat) perform very well.

There’s a really good twist about halfway through the story, which I won’t reveal, but it is the standout moment of the film – a character suddenly ages rapidly on camera without cuts or dissolves. This incredible effect is repeated twice more and on each of the three occasions I reversed and watched the scene again just to marvel at how good it looked. According to excellent UK magazine “is It UNCUT”, the process was “a secret for many years” and I am not even going to explain it, as it is better if you don’t guess how they did it. Most viewers today probably will work it out, but I can imagine it perplexed many moviegoers who caught saw it in 1959.

Do yourself a favour and track this movie down. Apparently it was not a big success on it’s release, so we should be thankful for the new Image Entertainment DVD release which presents a beautiful widescreen version of the film. Definitely recommended.

Elizabeth Bthory (aka “Lady Dracula”) became infamous for murdering over six hundred young girls, and allegedly bathing in their blood to retain her youth.

Well, probably the bathing-in-blood part is untrue — just a centuries-old version of an urban legend. But who cares? It makes for a fascinating horror movie in “I Vampiri,” which gives a scientific slant to the legendary use of blood to retain youth — and it’s a pretty good murder mystery too.

Girls in Paris keep vanishing, only to turn up drained of blood. Of course, reporter Pierre Lantin (Dario Michaelis) is determined to find out who is doing this, when he’s not fending off the advances of the Duchess du Grand’s sultry niece Giselle (Gianna Maria Canale). Apparently the old duchess was in love with Pierre’s dad, and now Giselle wants to continue. Pierre is more interested in finding the “vampire.”

But then an unwanted suitor tries to seduce Giselle — and sees her instantly transform into a withered old woman, right before she shoots him. Turns out she’s the old duchess, keeping herself eternally alive and young by transfusing blood from young girls into herself. But this murderous therapy is taking its toll on the duchess — and Pierre is getting too close to the truth…

If “I Vampiri” doesn’t have Mario Bava’s distinctive flavour, that’s for one simple reason — it was originally directed by Riccardo Freda, and when he left the production Bava had to wrap things up. So don’t expect the same kind of experience that Bava’s solo pictures had, although it’s a pretty solid Euro-horror movie on its own.

Half of the movie is steady, not very captivating detective work, with Pierre ticking off the local police chief, flirting with schoolgirls, and reluctantly attending a ball — where, of course, he hears someone screaming from the tower but doesn’t clue in. And of course, lots of creepy men in the streets and autopsies of the dead girls.

No, the creepiness is there when the Good Guys are not present — dungeons, coffins, sinister labs, zombies, junkies, mad scientists, and old gothic castles with long white drapes blowing in the wind. Not to mention the decrepit old lady shooting mirrors, and ranting endlessly about how she just HAS to be young and beautiful again, no matter what the risk. And despite being from the mid-fifties, the “aging” special effects are still very, very well-done.

The final scenes are where Bava’s influence comes out, as Pierre and the police finally get a clue. Director No. 2 toys around with light and shadow, music, and the ghastly architecture — turning a formerly mundane transformation into a thing of horror.

Michaelis and Carlo D’Angelo do pretty tepid jobs as Pierre and the police chief, though admittedly they’re not given much to work with. Canale is the real star of this piece — she can flip from a sultry seductress to screeching harridan on a moment’s notice, and you can see the absolute insanity bubbling under the surface. And Wandisa Guida has a good, brief performance as the love interest/latest blood victim.

“I Vampiri” is less about vampirism than about a Hollywoodesque determination to preserve youth and beauty, whatever the cost. And that devastating vanity is what makes this REALLY horrific.