La sangsue

(aka: The Bloodsucker Leads the Dance)

Lots of naked babes in this one with a couple of lesbo scenes thrown in. The film is supposed to take place in Ireland but it looks more like Rome and the Adriatic to me.

Gothic lesbians get invited to a Count's island castle for the weekend. One by one they seem to be missing their heads due to a madperson running around.

It's not very scary or bloody and the rooms look like they are lit with floodlights even though candles are lit. Go figure...(sic)

Dubbing is worse than usual and the plot only serves as an excuse for the eroticism and nudity. Directed by euro horror actor Alfredo Rizzo, this is one snoozer.

Pretty boring 2 out of 10

-- it just plain sucks. Set in turn-of-the-century Ireland, said film could have BEEN MADE at the turn-of-the-century, what with it's bright, ugly, flat lighting, plot so-old it creaks and gore scenes that would shame a Sunday School spook house! Rich man invites theatrical troupe to his isolated island mansion and the women all start turning up beheaded. Many who like bad movies will find nothing of interest. Read a book instead!

The packaging for this film is quite misleading, which may account for all the ill will towards it: first the title itself implies this is a vampire movie (it's not) and the cover picture shows an actress (Krista Nell?) with a vaguely Bride-of-Frankenstein-esque hairstyle, which also gives a misleading impression of the subject of this film. And it must be acknowledged at the outset that "Bloodsucker Leads the Dance" is a trifle, more of an excuse to get its actresses naked than a serious attempt at filmmaking.

That said, however, I don't think the film is entirely without redeeming characteristics, especially for fans of giallo (Italian thrillers), the major characteristics of which this film displays in its plot (a murderer with supernatural overtones is stalking a bevy of sexy houseguests at the remote country mansion of a count) and its gothic setting. If you take it for what it is (a flimsy giallo made on a shoestring budget) and not high art, you notice a few fun things about this production while viewing it: a cool soundtrack, nice costumes and sets, a perverse view of human nature and of course lots of female skin. It can be a fun movie to watch if you approach it in the right spirit. Probably not for those not already "hooked" on giallo, though.

Strange, mediocre movie, a late specimen of the Italian gothic horrors that were very popular in the Sixties and early Seventies. More an excuse for showing what its ancestors couldn't (i.e., lot of naked female bodies, several love scenes, even a couple of lesbian ones)that a real horror, this convoluted tale revolving around a charming count and an old curse that stalks the women in his castle is very slow for more than a half of its total and in the end fails to deliver any chills and even the final explanation is boring and silly. This is very unfortunate as the male lead is Giacomo Rossi Stuart, that was very active during the Sixties in several interesting Gothic samples (like Operazione Paura by Mario Bava, the better of the Italian directors of this genre).

In contrast to my fellow reviewers, I always try to find something redeeming in any film I see.Yes, the quality of the dubbing and lighting is abysmal, the acting is wooden and the opening sequence highly misleading what with all those lascivious female lesbian vampires with blood dripping.Something must be lost in the translation of the word "Bloodsucker" from the Italian in the title; almost as if the producers were originally going to film a Gothic Vampire tale and then changed their minds but could not afford to give up their dramatic opening sequence, so tacked it onto the film anyway.

This film made in 1975 has recently been issued on DVD and comes with its own theatrical trailer which in some respects is more daring than seen in the film!Now anyone who buys this film has probably already read its synopsis anyway and knows what to expect - Italian softporn from the mid 1970s.I bought it because I am attracted to Christa Nelli (credited most often as "Krista Nell").The absence of a cast of characters I find most frustrating in a lot of these Eurosleaze films from the 60s & 70s.I had hoped Imdb would show the cast of characters as one hears their names in the film but without a cast list, it is very difficult to link them to the actor concerned.I think Krista Nell played "Cora" but underneath that massive hair style, costume and make-up it is difficult to distinguish her for sure.

There is mostly a two dimensional portrayal by the actors of their parts and no one really stands out.Maybe something is lost in the dubbing process.What were the positive points?Well the music was atmospheric and of course if you're into beautiful lesbian soft porn its there.The external locations used were good and I would like to know where they filmed the castle on its island.It purports to be set in "Ireland" (North or the Republic?)in 1902, so everyone sports period piece costumes.Some of the scenes I found unintentionally funny especially those sex scenes!!Anyway an enjoyable romp.I rated it 4/10.