Gebissen wird nur nachts - das Happening der Vampire

"The Vampire Happening" follows an American actress who inherits a Transylvanian castle that belonged to her countess ancestor. Upon going to visit her newfound property, she not only unleashes the dead, but utter chaos, debauchery, and vampiric shenanigans on the local town.

This is a film that I'd been curious about seeing for a number of years, but had put on the back burner for two reasons: first, it's incredibly difficult to get a hold of; and second, I wasn't sure I'd like it. The scenario sounds intriguing enough, but vampire horror is not my favorite subgenera, and with the comedic angle, I just wasn't sure. Boy, was I wrong.

Let's be clear: this is not a "good" film by any stretch of the imagination, but it most definitely hits all the right notes for a niche audience. It is essentially a no-budget vampire comedy that is crude and absurd—however, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't an absolute joy to watch. Its most striking element is most definitely its Gothic atmosphere, accentuated by some relatively solid cinematography. The sets look like they were cribbed straight from a Hammer horror film from the early sixties, which is probably intentional, but the kitsch factor of it all is what makes it so much fun to watch.

The film is about as frightening as a "Scooby Doo" episode, and the humor is completely off-kilter, but there is a strange charm to it all as it balances humor with the macabre. It pokes fun at the subgenera with a sprightly approach, and edges on satire throughout. The cast is made up of multiple international actors and actresses, who spend most of the film half-nude and in various blasphemous scenarios, with Swedish actress Pia Degermark at the helm, playing a dual role as the vampy twentieth-century actress, and her grand-matron counterpart. Degermark is the highlight here, and most of the show is stolen by her.

Overall, I found "The Vampire Happening" to be far better than the reputation that precedes it. It is among the ranks of Jess Franco's most absurd work, and is a delightfully kitschy, Gothic odyssey. It is not a masterwork, nor does it posture itself as one—it's a lovingly satirical re-imagining of the contemporary vampire movie, loaded with bloodletting, tacky set pieces, nudity, and utter blasphemy—which somehow found its way into my heart (and my bloodstream). 8/10.

"The Vampire Happening" is a West German horror/comedy from 1971 (the German title can roughly be translated as "You Only Get Bitten at Night"). The beautiful Pia Degermark plays a double role as an American actress who inherits a castle in Transylvania and discovers that her grandmother is a vampire who looks just like her, albeit raven-haired, also played by Pia. Some of the inhabitants of a nearby monastery and girl's school join the ranks of the undead and the vampires throw a helluva costume party where Dracula shows up.

The movie combines elements of "Kiss of the Vampire" (1963) and "The Devil's Nightmare" (1971) with the zaniness of "The Fearless Vampire Killers" (1967). It's a fun romp and not supposed to be taken seriously; anyone offended by its irreverence needs to visit the psyche ward.

Ms. Degermark's amazing beauty is a key highlight. Pia was married to the producer at the time and was a promising starlet; she previously won awards at Cannes (Best Actress) and the Golden Globes (Most Promising Female Newcomer). Not that I care about such awards; I just want to establish Pia's blossoming career at the time. Unfortunately, this was her final film -- of only four -- and she divorced the producer a couple years later, falling into anorexia, poverty, fraud and prison in the later 70s. How the mighty have fallen! But, thankfully, I heard she later got her life back on track. In any event, she was in her prime in this movie and does an impressive job in the dual role; in fact, she easily carries the film.

Actually, there are quite a few good-lookin' women on display here, but their portrayal is too one-dimensional. If you're a breast man, though, you'll be ecstatic.

The film was directed by Freddie Francis, an Oscar-winning cinematographer, known for such quality films as "Glory," "Cape Fear" (1991), "The Elephant Man," "The Creeping Flesh" and "Dracula has Risen from the Grave," but also lesser films (to be nice) like the infamous "Trog." I point this out to stress that this is not some amateur production, although you might think it is since it's such an obscure public domain film, featured on numerous cheap DVDs.

"The Vampire Happening" plays out like a satire of Hammer's vampire flicks. As such, there's quite a bit to appreciate here if you're in the mood for a horror sex comedy. The problem is that the story tends to meander.

I found the depiction of the Roman monastery and monks to be interesting. Is this what people think Christianity really is? Dull, sterile men wearing drab robes swearing off sex and marriage, utterly appalled by any depiction of nudity, sex or sexuality? I guess they never seriously examined the Song of Songs in their studies (or much of the rest of the Bible, for that matter). What an absurd and erroneous depiction of Christianity, and I'm not blaming the filmmakers, but rather the idiotic religious spirit and sterile organizations that foster such a depiction.

FINAL WORD: Although "The Vampire Happening" is a Euro-trash horror sex comedy, it's a fun film if you're in the right mode. It amusingly spoofs vampire flicks and features a strong protagonist/antagonist performance by Pia Degermark. On the downside, it's a little overlong and the story isn't fully engaging, not to mention they drop the ball with the women by being ridiculously one-dimensional. Nevertheless, it's more entertaining than Polanski's overrated "The Fearless Vampire Killers."

The film runs 102 minutes and was shot at Castle Kreuzenstein, Austria.

GRADE: C+/B- (5.5/10)

This movie was the last of four movies showcasing the beauty of Pia Degermark; a Swedish actress from the 1960s. She was the classic beauty in the Swedish movie "Elvira Madigan"- a movie that won quite a few awards on the international scene and made her a well known actress on her initial outing at age 18. This movie came out in 1967 and though set in the 19th century actually reflected the changing attitudes and mores of Western Society during the "golden age" of the youth movement.

She had a very strong supporting role a couple of years later in the movie "The Looking Glass War"; a realistic view of espionage during that period. Her role as "The Girl" in that movie was very strong and she showed her acting strength alongside that of a young Anthony Hopkins!

"The Vampire Happening" is a much more lighthearted movie than Elvira Madigan or The Looking Glass War or the seldom seen "A Brief Season" . She had just married a wealthy Italian industrialist who was also a noted film producer, and he wanted to show off his "trophy wife." And, she wanted to show off herself; hence the large amount of nudity. In her case it was pretty much only topless nudity- of historical interest are the scenes in the torture chamber where a nude female is subjected to medieval punishment. These scenes were brushing against the censor standards of that age. Though Sweden (Degermark's home country) had allowed some "artistic" female nudity in its own films for a few years prior to that the films had generally not been distributed in the "unrated" format outside of that country. This film was one of the first distributed films showing the torture of a nude woman; as well as giving a substantial glance at her pubic region (not usually allowed back then- you could show breasts and butts only and were glad you show even that much!). They got away with showing the realistic torture scenes in this movie as they were depicted in a fairly "lighthearted " manner and in a day dream sequence. Nevertheless, this film is sometimes mentioned as a ground breaker in what it did show (sex and somewhat realistic torture of a nude woman).

Anyway, when you see this movie you really see a young bride during and enjoying the honeymoon phase of her marriage and that along is reason enough to view it. It is a lighthearted romp and if you find a technical mistake somewhere in it please be advised that probably nobody else really cares!! It brings up great memories for people who were teenagers during this time (like me). Of note is one of the final scenes in the movie that takes place in an airport- no metal detectors or X-Ray machines, no lines, and a beautiful architectural setting! Like the rest of the movie, it is a nostalgic look back at a golden age!

This is another obscure horror title (actually a spoof), despite the involvement of Hammer/Amicus regular Francis; emanating from Germany, it was produced and scored by Pier A. Caminneci and Jerry van Rooyen respectively, who had been responsible for one of Jess Franco's most impressive works i.e. SUCCUBUS (1967). From what little I read about the film under review (the R1 DVD release arrived courtesy of Anchor Bay), the general consensus is that it does not work and the director should never have gotten himself involved to begin with. Still, Francis cannot have been too displeased at this change-of-pace since he would embark on a similarly outrageous venture not long after, the result being the equally maligned and even harder-to-find SON OF Dracula (1974)! Anyway, what we have here is a fairly engaging sex comedy which just happens to take place in Transylvania: having been an Oscar-winning cinematographer beforehand, the director ensures a good-looking film with the traditional (and authentic) Gothic scenery providing the appropriate contrast to the modern-day setting (the title itself being amusingly 'with it').

One other coup of the film, however, is the presence (in a dual role of a porn star with an Edie Sedgwick look and her dark-haired vampire ancestor) of leading lady Pia Degermark, though the "DVD Drive-In" reviewer seems to have appreciated her contribution solely on an aesthetic level (claiming he was unable to tell the two characters apart – well, the tell-tale sign was the different color of their finger-nails and, for the record, I preferred the 'older' version)! While she may have been cast due to her liaison with the film's producer, Degermark (previously from Bo Widerberg's tragic romance ELVIRA MADIGAN [1967], an established classic of World Cinema that I own but have yet to watch) carries the show with reasonable aplomb – which, at 104 minutes, is saying a lot! Unfortunately, her initial fairy-tale existence and fast living (she came from a wealthy family, for a time dated the King of Sweden and then, at just 17, won the Best Actress award at Cannes and was cited the Most Promising Female Newcomer at the Golden Globes!) spiraled into numerous health problems and, finding herself socially ostracized, even ended up in jail…but, thankfully, she now seems to have mostly picked up the pieces and gotten her life back on track.

To return to the film, it starts and ends with plane journeys: first, we get varied reactions to the in-flight viewing of a "Betty Williams" skin-flick (her name even appears in the opening credits of the movie proper!) and, ultimately, the vampire (having been mistaken for the porn star) landing in Hollywood in her stead! Among the numerous other characters to figure in the plot line are the Baroness' clumsy elderly servant (he orchestrates many a botched attempt to dispose of the bloodsucker and, at one point, even interacts with the audience!), a young monk (his initial suffering at being aroused by his fetching neighbor is amusing but his eventual sex-crazed antics when transformed into a vampire become tiresome) from the monastery adjacent to the castle, his irascible abbot (complete with funny German accent), a number of teachers (the male immediately becomes the heroine's lover, while the female is revealed as a lesbian) and promiscuous students from a nearby girls' school.

We even get the belated introduction of Count Dracula himself (played by THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS [1967]'s Ferdy Mayne, with Satanic salute intact!) – arriving at the concluding undead convention in a chopper flanked by Mafiosi(!) and depicted as quite the party animal; indeed, THE VAMPIRE HAPPENING must surely be the only movie which gives us the opportunity to see Dracula wearing spectacles, munching on a banana and even, quite literally, being caught with his pants down at sunrise ("Damn the zipper! Full speed ahead", he barks to his minions – a long way after Charles Coburn's 1943 Oscar-winning turn in THE MORE THE MERRIER)! There are even a couple of references to another Roman Polanksi horror effort, ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968), as well as a cute jibe at Christopher Lee – interestingly, Francis had himself previously directed the actor's third stab at his signature role in Hammer's Dracula HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE (1968)! This lengthy section of the film, then, suggests that everyone, from generals to sheiks to rock musicians and even astronauts(!), is 'in'.

To be honest, though obviously no classic, I rather enjoyed the film and only felt that it fell apart at the climax (with the multiple fang-work proving especially amateurish!). One unusual and prophetic aspect (little seen in the subgenre prior to the recent advent of the "Twilight" saga, which I actually have little interest in watching in view of its teen fan-base!) is when the bloodsucking Degermark restrains herself from draining the teacher's blood because she simply wants to re-experience the emotions of a sexual encounter with a living human being (for which the 'Prince Of Darkness' later takes her to task).

I purchased this film on the strength of reviews that suggested it was worth a look. I want my money back. There is very little about this film that is worth looking at once, let alone repeated viewings. It appears to be an effort to emulate the unique style and tone of Roman Polanski's "The Fearless Vampire Killers" but fails in the attempt. I like Freddie Francis a great deal, particularly as a cinematographer but also as a director. His work has always had a touch of class even if the scripts he was given did not. Unfortunately, this is not an outing of his that I would recommend to anyone. Mr. Francis must have needed the job to take on this dismal horror-comedy that is totally lacking in horror and evokes few smiles and no laughs.