½ litro di rosso per il conte Dracula

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).

Have a taste for blood… well let me throw in a side tray of goofy humour and seedy sexual activity. The (post-hippie stage) early 70s "The Vampire Happening" is a playfully sexy low-budget German produced horror spoof that sinks its teeth into the vampire genre. While not always on the mark with the gags (where sometimes the script didn't throw up enough or just repeated the gimmicks or rowdiness), as the fangs could have use a sharpen, but it remains rather diverting because of the idiotic silliness and free flowing skin.

Hollywood star Betty Williams, but her real name countess Von Robenstein has made her way to her newly inherited castle in Transylvania. Upon checking it out, she decides to stay. Unknowingly to her, Claramonde Catani her great grandmother is kept in a tomb in the castle and happens to be a vampire. They look so alike except for the colour of their hair and that of their nail polish, but Catani constantly switches identities with her granddaughter who confuses her anxious servant Josef and the town's folk.

The robust story is pure ham, digging up every opportunity to poke fun at the vampire conventions and the superstitious framework. The film's closing half focusing on the swinging orgy party filled with vampires and a special guest --- Count Dracula himself (a terrifically amusing mock turn by Ferdy Mayne) takes the icing. It's exploitative in its revealing, if tempting visuals (don't count the cheap, charming make-up) and the clumsy script is constantly cheeky with its innuendos. Pia Degermark is a complete hoot, as she's seductively saucy in her dual roles Williams / Catani. She's a prowess! Yvor Murillo is fitting as the bumbling comic servant Josef and Thomas Hunter is acceptable as William's lover. Director Freddie Francis does a surefooted job, if nothing overly special, but the choice of locations bathe nicely in a Gothic ambiance despite the modern setting. Liked the illustrated opening credits.

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.

This is the story about a young actress, Betty Williams, who inherits a castle in Transylvania. When she arrives, the caretaker immediately recognizes and shows her the stark resemblance between Betty and her great great grandmother, Clarimonde: who just so happens to be a most feared vampire. During her time in the castle, Betty unknowingly awakens the 'still fresh looking' corpse of Clarimonde deep in the castle vaults and mayhem ensues.

If intelligent and thought provoking is what you are looking for, then you won't find it in The Vampire Happening. This is a movie that garners its charm from the satirical, sex driven jokes found throughout the entire film. You have your senile old man that has a habit of freaking himself out all of the time, an aspiring monk that happens to be a closet nymphomaniac (this becomes comically apparent when he starts seeing visions of sexual display in the form of nature during a walk in the woods.), and last but not least, gratuitous amounts of nudity.

Yes, it's full of bad acting, bad scriptwriting and shoddy direction, but this film still managed to accomplish what I'm sure the filmmakers ultimately intended: it entertained me. I think it's important for any person expressing interest in the horror genre to give movies like The Vampire Happening a chance: there's something to admire in the people who make them.

"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)