Vampire Blues

In the long filmography of Jess Franco, this direct-to-video cheapo is obviously just a minor work. "Vampire Blues" tells about a tourist (Rachel Sheppard) who has daydreams about a vampire lady seducing her. The strong points of the movie are: first, Lina Romay as the fortune-teller; she has a strong presence. Second, newcomer Rachel Sheppard brings an innocent beauty into the flick, just the kind of victim a wicked vampire would look out for. Third, certain obsessive shots (the mysterious house up the hill, the palm trees) create a surreal atmosphere typical for Franco. On the other hand, the weak points are the video effects (which seemed fashionable in 1983 maybe), the vampire lady who looks like a retired porn actress, and the minimized story. Many viewers will dislike the slowness of the movie as well as its bizarre colors. I suppose "Vampire Blues" could have done well as an experimental 30 minute video, but there is not enough substance for a 90 minute movie.

Now this is pure and unadulterated Jess Franco! The director is perfectly teamed with his new One Shot Productions staff and together they have created one of the coolest and most unusual vampire films ever made. The cast consists of Euro diva Lina Romay, one of the most underrated actresses of the last quarter century, and relative unknowns Analia Ivars and Rachel Sheppard. Sheppard is terrific as the gal from New Joisey who encounters a sexually active vampire during her vacation in Spain. The English dub is the best on any Franco film in the last 10 years and the music on the American version is perfectly chosen by One Shot Productions. It's moody and visually spectacular. Definitely one of Franco's best later efforts and not to be missed if you are a fan of occult films or vampire cinema.

The previous detractors have it right.

There is almost no plot, and the video appears very cheap.

The low level of dialog renders the movie quite amateurish. The 'silk screened' video effect on the characters' bodies, or overall, was bizarre, but did not help much. The overly guttural growls and vampire slurping worsened the cheap effects.

If the same plot were 'fleshed out' with more drama, more dialog, and less flesh, I would probably appreciate it much more! The result is a a very dull film with almost no eroticism.

Please, Mr. Franco, put some meat in the plot!

this is a modern jess franco made in malaga spain Like all jess francos its rubbishy a lot of the time but it has its moments,most noteably the daeth by dildo scene. Really only for fans,if its modern franco you are after try "Tender Flesh" made the previos year

To Jess Franco I plead: please don't ever turn out a vile, unwatchable piece of trash like this ever again. This is your yellow card, one more screw up like this and it's game over.

Alright, the plot: Vampire chick seduces younger, hotter chick, witch-lady chick tries to prevent.

Even compared solely against the director's own material, this is bad. Almost the entire running time is composed of LLLOOOONNNGGGG slow-mo and optically distorted shots of the (unattractive) vampire chick doing a strip tease. The actress could have been any individual person's dream girl and it would still suck, an hour of that just isn't interesting.

Furhtering the matter is the non-existent script (you know they made up the limited dialogue on set), the bad acting (except for Romay, schlocky as ever), the cheap film stock, and the horrid editing.

Franco completest (like me) should still see it, ever one else should decry it's existence.

1/10