L'ultima preda del vampiro

Five female dancers, their manager and their bus driver travel around Europe performing in one venue after another while barely making ends meet. One night after a storm blocks the main road, they take a secondary route which leads to a castle belonging to "Count Gabor Kernassy" (Walter Brandi). They are warned to turn around but are reluctant to do so because the manager "Lucas" (Alfredo Rizzo) didn't pay the hotel bill the night before. So the Count puts them up for the night but gives them a strict warning that they are not to leave their bedrooms during the night. Unfortunately, one curious dancer named "Katia" (Maria Giovannini) becomes too curious and dies from an apparent fall from the castle. Things only begin to get even more curious after that. That said, rather than divulge the mysteries that remain I will just say that this is a film more noted for the attractive dancers than anything else. And while Maria Giovannini was certainly sexy, I thought Lyla Rocco (as "Vera") was prettier still. But other than the appearance of the attractive ladies, I thought the film was slow-moving and dull at times. Still, it wasn't a bad vampire film and it's worth a look for those who enjoy movies of this kind from the early 60's.

Notable actors: Walter Brandi! Walter Brandi again!

More vampire madness from Italy as five exotic dancers, one grumpy manager, and one level headed musician end up at the creepy castle of Walter Brandi. We've already been alerted that something's amiss in this place with the atmospheric opening credits, but when dancer Vera seems to recognise the place, including where the cigarettes are kept (?), the mystery deepens...if you haven't watched a vampire film, ever. Walter Brandi and his minions tell the group to beat it but when he sets his sights on Vera, he quickly changes his tune, instead letting them stay on the condition that everyone stays in their rooms at night and definitely do not go wandering around the place at night. Of course, the dumbest of the girls, Katya (who is completely obsessed with her legs!), goes out to find the shower and ends up being attacked by someone, ending up dead outside the next day.

Everyone of course is very upset so they decide they best thing to do is to perform a bit of a dance routine! Better still, one of the girls decides to turn it into a full on striptease instead. I know the girls are supposed to be upset, but the crapness of their dancing is a sight to behold. Except the striptease which is quite good unless you do the mental arithmetic and figure out that the woman you are looking at in well into her seventies, you perv!

Of course someone digs up Katya's body and before you know it she's prancing about the about in the nude trying to put the bite on various people (and at this point the film steals the 'earliest boobs' crown from 1964's Castle of Blood. The plot thickens as Walter Brandi seems to be hiding something but if he's a vampire, why is walking about during the day? Walter and Vera fall in love (do I even need to mention that she's the reincarnation of a distant relative?) and there's a vampire or two to be taken out before the film ends.

(Spoilers next, if you're mental and didn't figure out what's going on)

You see, Walter's ancestor is a vampire and living in the basement, and he also recognised Vera. However, he killed Katya by mistake because she was wearing Vera's coat, but the funniest thing about this is Katya's incessant, instant nagging of vampire Walter! She just won't stop henpecking him, which leads to a pretty bloody staking. Also, when Walter himself gets impaled on the bizarre family crest, the results are rather bizarre.

While not as stupid/enjoyable as The Vampire of the Opera, this one tries to give it a run for its money.

The Playgirls and the Vampire is the English-language version of Piero Regnoli's L'ultima preda del vampiro, released in the US by enterprising producer and distributor Richard Gordon.

The film sees a troupe of exotic dancers, their piano player Frank (Leonardo Botta) and manager Lucas (Alfredo Rizzo) seeking refuge at a remote castle after they are forced to take a detour in their minibus. The owner of the castle, Count Gabor Kernassy (Walter Brandi), reluctantly allows the visitors to stay but neglects to tell them about the vampire that stalks the place at night...

The plot for this film is pedestrian (it's very similar to the equally desperate The Vampire and the Ballerina, released earlier the same year) and the script is uninspired, the film relying on the allure of its scantily clad women to retain the viewer's interest. The ladies are certainly attractive, but even with plenty of 'cheesecake' (and a brief glimpse of nudity), The Playgirls and the Vampire is a colossal bore, director Regnoli handling matters with zero sense of style or finesse.

The most entertaining things about the film are the hilarious dance rehearsal, in which each girl does their own thing, all of them gyrating awkwardly out of time to the music, and the terrible special effects used to show the vampire disintegrating when he is impaled. But as funny as these scenes are, they're not nearly enough to make up for the rest of this clumsy Eurohorror, which is as dull and dreary as the castle in which it is set.

You are lost on a lonely Italian road. A storm is coming up. There is no motel around. You spot a castle. Stay away, you dolt! Sleep in the car. Do not enter the creepy castle.

Alas, our group does not heed the warning and end up in a castle. The owner, Count Gabor Kernassy (Walter Brandi), tries to shoo them away, but there seems to be a connection with one named Vera (Lila Rocco). She even knows where the smokes are kept, even though she has never been there.

Despite warnings, one of the girls (Maria Giovannini) goes wandering and surprise, she's found dead the next day. I guess the story would have ended too soon if they all obeyed the Count.

There was not a lot of blood in this early Italian classic, and there was only a brief flash of nudity. The girls did, however, do a lot of running around in their see-through nighties. I always though castles were cold and damp. I guess this one had central heat.

For true vampire aficionados only.

As was often the case with European horror movies from the 1960's and 1970's this film had many titles but I watched it on DVD as "The Playgirls and the Vampire". Five very attractive showgirls, their annoying manager and driver seek refuge at a castle during a night storm, but as so often happens the old building is resident to a centuries old vampire. And sadly he isn't a very good one, his ultimate demise is rather disappointing too. Hammer were doing this so much better, this is just a cheap imitation. I watched the English language version and the bad dubbing didn't help. On the plus side the five Playgirls are very attractive, we are treated to several scenes in which they are either scantily dressed or in perhaps the film's most notable moment naked. This movie apparently features the first nude on-screen female vampire, we see her breasts though not full frontal. A staking has blood running down her bare leg, quite strong for 1960. The theatrical trailer states for "Adults only" but decades on this is very tame stuff, only recommended for fans of Italian horror.