Vampyros Lesbos

Vampyros Lesbos (1970)

*** (out of 4)

Jess Franco's cult classic has a real estate worker (Ewa Stromberg) going to visit a mysterious woman (Soledad Miranda) who just happens to be a vampire. Soon the two enter a deadly mix of sex and violence. This is my third viewing of the film and I enjoyed it more this time than ever before. I watched the newer print of this film and the colors are downright beautiful and quite striking to look at. The film works on many levels but the biggest one is the terrific surreal nature that Franco creates. If you need action or a quick moving film then this certainly isn't for you. If you prefer something that takes its time to deliver then this is a wonderful selection. The jazz score adds a lot to the atmosphere and the locations are easy to look out. The best thing about this movie is the performance by Miranda who sadly was killed shortly after finishing this film. Her quite and calm performance makes her character one of the most memorable of all Euro horror. The way she quietly glides through the film also helps the atmosphere. Supporting players Dennis Price, Paul Muller and Franco himself do nice jobs as well. This is a perfect little gem that manages to be very dreamlike and haunting at the same time. The biggest downfall are all the zoom shots, which normally don't bother me but they're very distracting here.

This has got to be one of the most surreal films ever made. The film brilliantly combines weird art-house imagery with sexadelic soft-core to create a genuinly original film, full of strange gothic colours and futuristic, freefall visuals. The eerie soundtrack of spacey synths and sexy piano sleeze brilliantly captures Linda's confusion as she enters the world of the mysterious Countess. This film is quite unlike anything else you have seen before.

It deals with Linda Westinghouse (the German Ewa Strömberg) , a charming young American lawyer, working in a law office in Istanbul . In the night, she has erotic dreams in which appears a sexy vixen vampiress (the Spanish Soledad Miranda, her pseudonym, Susann Korda, was created by director Jesús Franco , and she was destined to become a legend) , and makes passionate love to her, from which she's unable to defend herself . A minor case about an inheritance forces her to travel to one of the small islands off the Turkish coast. Then, her nightmares come upon her in ghastly and lively ways . Later on , the beautiful Linda is is sent to a mental institution where Dr, Steiner (The Italian Paul Muller) , who is also a vampire expert, treats her but things go wrong .



An erotic and eerie horror tale about a seducing blood-sucker who kidnaps and murders girls to appease her insatiable thirst for female blood. This is a passable yarn by the prolific writer/producer/director Jesús Franco , considered to be one of the best films in his second period . Unforgettable and attractive Soledad Miranda as a sex-pot brunette who harasses women and sucks their blood . This fragile beauty appeared in numerous comedies, dramas, B-movies, and horror films, mostly in Spain , over thirty films altogether from 1960 to 1970 . In 1970 Soledad was in a car accident on a highway in Portugal and she sadly died . Ironically, before this tragic accident, the powerful German film producer Artur Brauner had offered her a contract which would have made her a great star. Soledad was destined to become a legend .Her biggest break came from legendary director Jess Franco, who cast Soledad in such cult classics as Count Dracula , Eugenie De Sade , Sex Charade , The Devil Came from Akasava and Vampyros Lesbos. Soledad is generally regarded as Franco's greatest discovery and not until the years after her death has she become a cult starlet with fans all over the world now discovering the beautiful, doomed actress. This Vampyros Lesbos is a pure psychedelic movie , being well produced Artur Brauner and Arturo Marcos but in short budget . Shot in Istanbul , Turkey , posing as the fictitious city in which lives the Countess vampire Nadine Carody , gorgeous Soledad Miranda ,though she was was dubbed . This classic terror motion picture , a classic in some circles , was professionally directed by Jesús Franco who never considered the film to be a horror story, but instead felt it was tale of "anguish" . Franco is really influenced by ¨Bram Stoker's Drácula ¨, ¨Carmilla's Sheridan Le Fanu¨ , B-Horror movies , German expressionism , and the Universal Terror . The picture was really cut , and it has several versions both , soft and hard . Initial releases of the film were met with negative reactions from film critics , while the general critical reaction had been poor , however ,today is considered to be an acceptable fim. Furthermore , support cast is pretty good such as Dennis Price as Dr. Alwin Seward , Paul Muller as Dr. Steiner and Jess Frank or Jesús Franco himself as a sadist killer . Special mention for musical score composed by synthesizer , full of strange sounds , jazzy , shouts and psychedelic soundtrack from Manfred Hübler and Jesús Franco as David Khune .



The film has a lot of titles the German version is Vampyros Lesbos: Die Erbin des Drácula, the French version titled "Vampiros lesbos" was used, while the original German release title was spelled "Vampyros Lesbos" and Spanish versión titled ¨Las vampiras¨ .The motion picture was strange and regularly directed by Jess Frank , here using continous zooms, surprising close-ups , including blood drops , scorpions , butterfly , other insects and and kites . Jesus Franco was a Stajanovist filmmaker who realized 203 movies . However , here uses his trademarks , as he pulls off a complex narration , extreme zooms , and lousy pace . As the picture belongs to Franco's second period in which he made so-so flicks . Jesus uses to sign under pseudonym , among the aliases he used, apart from the names Jess Franco or Franco Manera, were Jess Frank, Robert Zimmerman, Frank Hollman, Clifford Brown, David Khune , Toni Falt, James P. Johnson, Charlie Christian, David Tough , among others . Franco used to utilize usual marks such as zooms , nudism , foreground on objects , filmmaking in ¨do-it-yourself effort¨ style or DIY and managing to work extraordinarily quickly , realizing some fun diversions, and a lot of absolute crap . Many pictures had nice photography , full of lights and shades in Orson Welles style , in fact , Franco was direction-assistant in ¨Chimes at midnight¨ and edited ¨El Quijote¨ by Welles . He often used to introduce second , third or fourth versions , including Hardcore or Softcore inserts or sexual stocks many of them played by his muse Lina Romay . In many of the more than 200 films he's directed he has also worked as composer, writer, cinematographer and editor. His first was "We Are 18 Years Old" and the second picture was ¨Gritos en la Noche¨ (1962) , the best of all them , also titled "The Awful Dr. Orlof" , it's followed by various sequels such as El Secreto del Dr. Orloff (1964) aka "The Mistresses of Dr. Jekyll" , " Orloff y el hombre invisible (1970) aka "Dr. Orloff's Invisible Monster" and finally "Faceless" (1987) . He also directed to the great Christopher Lee in 4 films : "The Bloody Judge" , ¨Count Dracula¨, ¨The Blood of Fu Manchu¨ and ¨The castle of Fu Manchu¨ . Jesús's influence has been notable all over Europe . From his huge body of work we can deduce that Jesús Franco is one of the most restless directors of Spanish cinema and often releasing several titles at the same time. Many of his films have had problems in getting released, and others have been made directly for video. More than once his staunchest supporters have found his "new" films to contain much footage from one or more of his older films . Jesús Franco is a survivor in a time when most of his colleagues tried to please the government administration. He broke up with all that and got the independence he was seeking. He always went upstream in an ephemeral industry that fed opportunists and curbed the activity of many professionals . But time doesn't pass in vain, and Jesus' production has diminished since the 90s ; however he went on shooting until his recent death .

'Vampyros Lesbos' is one of the high points of 1970s exploitation movies. This movie has something for everybody! Vampires, gratuitous nudity (especially memorable from the stunningly beautiful and ill fated Soledad Miranda), violence, pretentious symbolism, some aesthetically pleasing scenery and camera work, all bound together by one of the most unique genre-busting rock scores ever, chock full of fuzz guitars and electric sitar.

The legendary Jess Franco has made more cult movies than the mind can conceive of, but this must surely stand out as one of the most artistically successful of his career. 'Vampyros Lesbos' manages to juggle sex, art, trash and horror, and impresses on every level. A truly wondrous movie! Don't miss this one (uncut, natch) if you get the chance!

This eurohorror classic by Jess Franco stars Soledad Miranda as Countess Nadine Carody, a wealthy recluse who strips at a club in Istanbul. Ewa Strömberg plays a woman who is strangely drawn to the Countess. Nadine appears in Linda's dreams, beckoning her. Linda is then sent to the Nadine's island on a business assignment. The film follows the course of the strange romance between Linda and Nadine. Linda falls under Nadine's spell and a living nightmare soon begins. This film mixes dream and reality in a terrific way. Franco appears as Memmet, a sadistic killer. Soledad is absolutely fantastic in this movie. She's very low-key, yet totally captivating all the same. You'll wish you could be possessed by her! Franco's direction involves crazy zoom shots, interspersed footage of insects (with a scorpion that perhaps is meant to mirror the Countess), and a funky pop-art style. The psychedelic music used throughout the movie was written by Manfred Hübler and Siegfried Schwab. Despite its European success, Vampyros Lesbos never received distribution in the United States. It was long considered the Holy Grail of the European lesbian vampire genre. It was a renaissance in interest in Jess Franco, as well as the chart-topping success of the soundtrack in the '90s, that brought the film back into attention. A must-see for anyone into Soledad Miranda, Jess Franco, or vampire movies!