La strage dei vampiri

SLAUGHTER OF THE VAMPIRES (aka: CURSE OF THE BLOOD GHOULS) stars Dieter Eppler as the be-fanged monster of the title.

Wolfgang and Louise (Walter Brandi and Graziella Granata) have moved into their new castle, unaware that a certain coffin is hidden in the wine cellar! Soon, an enigmatic stranger crashes their housewarming party, bewitching Louise. In no time at all, she is donating her blood to him, the old-fashioned way! Can Wolfgang and the vampire-hunting Dr. Nietzsche (Luigi Batzella) uncover the true cause of Louise's "anemia", before she is lost forever?

SOTV is a black and white Italian film that makes great use of it's location and gloomy atmosphere. Eppler is excellent in his sinister, bug-eyed role. Obviously drawing heavily from DRACULA, this movie still manages to remain interesting and creepy.

EXTRA POINTS FOR: The woo-woo musical score!...

The Vampire and his bride were on the run from the villagers when the bride was caught and staked. Now The Vampire is in search of a new bride. Wolfgang and his wife, Louise, acquire a castle and move in. Now The Vampire has his eyes on Louise and wants to make her his new bride.

If you like the story of Dracula, then it's possible you will like this Italian Gothic chiller. Louise and Wolfgang are much like Mina and Jonathan Harker, while Dr. Nietzsche is sorta a Dr. Van Helsing character. Carine is like Lucy and The Vampire, of course, is like Dracula.

I didn't have a problem with the dubbing from Italian into English - the copy I watched was fine. It's beautifully filmed, one of the best Italian films I've ever seen. The movie is written well -- just a revamping of the classic story of Dracula - and it's well acted out as too.

I really enjoyed this film - and I do recommend it to Vampire fans and for those that love Classic Gothic Horror.

8.5/10

As they celebrate their honeymoon in a faraway castle, newlyweds Wolfgang (Walter Brandi) and Louise (Graziella Granata) are unaware of the bloodthirsty vampire (Dieter Eppler) who lives in the basement wine cellar below. With a knack for romancing female guests and seducing them into his lair, the undead Lothario racks up a string of tasty victims -- and as soon as he spots Louise, she'll be next. Can Wolfgang save his young bride?

Also appearing: Alfredo Rizzo, and directed by Roberto Mauri. This film is also known as "Curse of the Blood Ghouls", though that is in no way a good translation.

On the Netflix version, the sound editing is really poor, rough and abrupt going from scene to scene. The Dark Sky disc may be better, as they have a way of restoring old foreign films. And the little girl's voice sounds like an adult dubbing a child. It would be much better subtitled.

Luca Palmerini says this is a "dismal example of an Italian horror movie" and "amateurish". I don't think it was all that bad, but this may be based on a poor copy. If nothing else, even if the film is "eh" the costumes are still superb. I am not clear on why Dr. Nietzsche's name is apparently pronounced "Nitch" rather than "Neetch-uh", though.

I first watched this film on TV in the late 60's, early 70's. At that time i thought that it was a pretty good film. Recently, i purchased it on DVD and have, somewhat, changed my mind. The atmosphere, castle and surrounding settings are very good, however, the acting could be better. The opening sequence is great, however, the movie goes downhill from there. Graziella Granata, is drop dead gorgeous and Walter Brandi, her husband/male lead is OK. My main problem is with Dieter Eppler, the Vampire. He is way too stiff and his makeup is overdone. He,i assume, does his best with what he has to work with but looks like an extra in a stage play, who just comes in and out. The music is fine and the film, overall, is worth watching. I just feel that it could have been so much better. John R. Tracy

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.