VAMPYRES

Spaniard Jos� Ramon Larraz (often credited as �Joseph Larraz� on Western releases of his films) is one of the most interesting characters in 1970�s European horror/exploitation cinema. In their brilliant book on the genre (�Immoral Tales�), authors Pete Tombs and Cathal Tohill devote a chapter to him (and the front cover), alongside Jean Rollin and Jess Franco. Illustrious company indeed. However, he has only really become critically recognised in recent years. He is best known for this film, VAMPYRES (1974), but has made many other films in the horror genre, along with many other domestic films (usually comedies). He started out as a comic book artist, but (like fellow maverick Jess Franco) became frustrated with the censorship of his art by Spanish dictator General Franco. Relocating to Britain (whilst Franco headed foe Germany), he made the exploitation film WHIRLPOOL (1969, aka �She Died with Her Boots On�), which is now sadly considered a �lost� film. Next he made the excellent DEVIATION (1971), another very rarely seen film (it was also considered lost until fairly recently when a few copies of the film on the �Prima� label resurfaced in the US) which he would later remake as BLACK CANDLES (1981). His third film, SCREAM & DIE (1973, aka THE HOUSE THAT VANISHED) was a well above-average early slasher film featuring considerable nudity (a foreshadowing of things to come perhaps). However, it was with his next film that Larraz really came to prominence � SYMPTOMS (1974) was a daring psychological horror film that so impressed British critics that it was selected as the UK Cannes Film Festival entry for that year. Frustratingly, it has also become almost impossible to find � the only English language print currently in circulation is a bootleg of a French release with French subtitles. It is difficult to think of another director as well known as Larraz whose films are as hard to find copies of. Even on the bootleg circuit, these first four films are extremely hard to find (to date only VAMPYRES has been released on DVD and none of his other works are yet scheduled for release, though a heavily cut print of VIOLATION OF THE BITCH is due in the UK soon from Pagan Films (as �The Coming of Sin�)).

Larraz� next film was thankfully not to suffer from the same problems. On SYMPTOMS Larraz had worked with an upper-class English editor-producer called Brian Smedley-Aston (if the name sounds familiar to you, it�s probably as a result of his involvement in the excellent English video nasty EXPOS� (1975, aka �The House on Straw Hill�)). This meeting led to Larraz and Smedley-Aston developing an unlikely friendship (just listen to the two of them on the audio commentary on this disc to see why I say �unlikely�!) and deciding to make an erotic horror film together. Smedley-Aston would produce whilst Larraz would script the film and direct. They needed to make something very low budget that would attract audiences, so an erotic horror film would seem an obvious choice. Larraz quickly wrote a screenplay that required two good-looking actresses who wouldn�t be too shy about the plentiful sex and nudity that Larraz� script called for (although Larraz wrote the screenplay, it was credited to his then-wife, 'Diana Daubeney' for fiscal reasons). The two actresses chosen were not really actresses � both were models with no acting experience. Marianne Morris was a curvy, dark-haired lady, whilst Anulka (her second name was left off credits to make her sound even more exotic) was a thin, blonde ex-Playboy model. Looking back at VAMPYRES today, it�s amazing that Larraz had the good fortune to find these two women � they complement each other perfectly in the film, and it�s impossible to imagine anyone else in the parts. It�s very rare that women chosen purely for their looks really succeed in a horror film (the lovely Brigitte Lahaie springs to mind as another example, as does porn star Marilyn Chambers in Cronenberg�s RABID), but the two actresses in this film really are perfect. The film was completed very quickly and released to some minor success. Over the years it has acquired a real cult following, and is today recognised as the ultimate erotic vampire film, preferred by most horror fans to Rollin�s vampire quartet.

The film begins as it means to go on, with a very strong scene in which the two leading ladies are lying naked together on a bed, caressing each other. A man enters the spooky castle that they�re in, comes to their room and flings the door open, shooting them both dead. This very bloody scene with the two nude women would cause problems with the censor even today and it really packs a punch as an opening (Larraz often uses very powerful openings in his films � DEVIATION springs to mind with its frenzied opening scenes). Cut to a young couple towing a caravan. They�re driving through thick English woods and spot a dark haired woman by the side of the road, dressed in a flowing black robe. As they pass her, the lady in the car notices a second, blonde lady crouched behind a tree by the road. They park up in the grounds of a big chateau which we recognise from the film�s opening scenes. Thus the scene is set � the couple in the caravan provide some light relief (until the film�s last reel anyway), and the chateau and mysterious women have been introduced to the audience. The rest of the film is a hallucinatory tale of seduction and murder, but is secondary to the sheer *feel* of the film and the many beautifully filmed scenes involving the vampire sisters.

Easily the most surprising thing about VAMPYRES is its sex content. Add to that the fact that most of the sex scenes involve blood and murder and you�ve got a concoction that isn�t going to please censors very much. Indeed, VAMPYRES was heavily censored upon release in the UK, removing most of the film�s most impressive scenes. What really sets the film apart from most other erotic horror films is the sheer presence of the two women � the sex scenes involving them are heady, breathless and charged with a genuine passion, making the blood drinking more shocking and bringing the film as close to the erotic undertones of Bram Stoker�s novel as any film has yet come. The teaming of the two women seems too perfect to be a fluke � Morris is the warm, flirtatious one whilst Anulka is her icy cool, vicious partner. The men in the film are generally bad actors and are totally out-shone by their female counterparts, becoming merely a minor feature of the film. Larraz films the English countryside in a luscious, painterly fashion, investing the sunsets and dawns with a sense of beauty, yet also of danger (as in fellow Spaniard Jorge Grau�s LIVING DEAD AT THE MANCHESTER MORGUE). The chateau (the �Hammer House� used in many of the English company�s productions) is a menacing central presence in the film (as in Rollin�s vampire films) and Larraz films the interiors with dark colours, contrasting the green outdoors perfectly. The scenes with the two women waiting by the side of the road are perfect, guaranteed to send a shiver down the spines of anyone watching and the film as a whole is beautifully realised. Critics often point out that the scenes involving the couple in the caravan are a burden, seemingly out of key with the rest of the film. This can�t really be denied, but is very understandable given the low budget and the need to reach a feature length. The most famous scene in the film occurs when Morris is making love with a man (played by Larraz regular Karl Lanchberry) who she has picked up on the road. She suddenly starts to stab him, licking frantically at the blood spurting from his body. Anulka rushes in like a demon, the two women stabbing and cutting the man and kissing each other�s bloodied mouths. Larraz has said that he wanted his vampires to behave �like wild animals�, and that he wanted to show the desperate need that the vampire has for blood. Indeed, this scene of blood lust is one of the most chilling scenes in vampire cinema and sticks with the viewer long after the film has ended. The final murder in the film is also very powerful, Larraz pulling no punches in his very violent (and sexual) denouement.

DVD Specification
Original year of release - 1974
Approximate running time - 87m 6s
Aspect ratio - Widescreen 1.85:1
System - NTSC (colour)
Rating - Unrated.
Sound - Dolby Digital (1.0)
DVD release - Anchor Bay
Region Coding - Region 0 (code free)

DVD Extras
Original US Theatrical Trailer
Audio commentary by Larraz and Brian Smedley-Aston (producer)

DVD Ratings (out of 5)
Picture - 4
The film is presented in anamorphic 1.85:1 - the first time that it has been available in widescreen to the best of my knowledge. Anchor Bay have done a fantastic job with this transfer, as we have come to expect from them. The film doesn�t look 25 years old at all, and has stood the test of time very well (only the cars and the silly haircuts of the men give away its age), and AB�s print reflects this. Colours are about right and it�s nice to have anamorphic enhancement on a low budget film like this. It has been debated as to whether the film was shot with an anamorphic process, but the image doesn�t look compromised. An American friend of mine who sent me over a copy of their Magnum VHS release of the film several years ago remarked recently that he still prefers his VHS tape for its grainy, darker look and this is something that I can emphasise with. Still, this is a very welcome release of a classic of the genre.
Sound - 3
Mono, but to be honest there isn�t really much activity on the speakers. Music is minimal, and Larraz is much more concerned with the images on screen than the soundtrack accompanying them (much like Rollin, whose vampire films often feature hardly any dialogue).
Extras - 4
The trailer for VAMPYRES is the US one, and is fairly embarrassing. However, the DVD�s trump card is the audio commentary by Larraz and Smedley-Aston, the producer and Larraz� long-time friend. Larraz had recently been seen on an episode of �Eurotika!� devoted to his work and seems to have become more willing to take part in horror-related work recently, hence this commentary. This is easily one of the most entertaining commentaries I have listened to (matched only by the EVIL DEAD commentaries), with Larraz sounding like a very enthusiastic dirty old man with Smedley-Aston his extremely cultured, upper-class counterpart. The two get along very well, and Larraz� broken English is very easy to listen to (as opposed to Italians speaking English, who are very difficult to listen to, I have found). They discuss the making of the film and seem genuinely saddened that the days when people could just go out and make films have past.
Overall Rating - 4
To my mind, VAMPYRES is one of the great achievements of European erotic horror cinema, and is easily one of the best horror films ever shot in England. Violent, sexy, surreal and atmospheric, it�s an unforgettable film. Anchor Bay�s presentation does the film justice, and the disc�s worth buying for the commentary alone. It�s a shame that Anchor Bay once again decided not to release a fully uncut print (see below), but this is only a minor quibble. If you�ve never seen this film then you�re really missing out.

Film Tag Lines
"They shared the pleasures of the flesh, and the horrors of the grave!"

AKA
Daughters of Dracula
Vampyres - Daughters of Darkness
The Vampyre Orgy

Alternative versions
When I first watched the DVD I thought that several scenes towards the end of the film had less impact than I remembered from the Magnum US release. In the current issue of The Dark Side magazine, Brad Stevens confirms this, listing several cuts that have been made to the print Anchor Bay have used. They are as follows:

82m 15s - 5 seconds removed showing John's hands covered in blood as Fran and Miriam attack him in his car.
82m 35s - 15 seconds removed consisting of a close-up of Fran, her mouth dripping blood, a shot in the car of John's head rocking from side to side, a shot panning to the car window and zooming in as the vampire women feed.
83m 40s - 3 seconds removed of Miriam holding the naked Harriet's hands behind her back and lifting her head as Fran approaches with a knife.
83m 45s - 5 seconds removed of Harriet screaming as she is held in a crouch on the ground.
83m 50s - 2 seconds removed of the camera zooming into Harriet's face as Fran swings the knife at her neck.

The Magnum tape is uncut (running at 85m 59s), but truncates Larraz� preferred ending, in which Murray Brown wakes up in his car in the grounds of the castle to see an estate agent showing a couple around the house (55 seconds of footage). He comes over to the car and tells Brown to get off the property. This ending does make Larraz� circular plot a little more clear, and is nice to have. It was included on the European release of the film, and also on the cut UK tape. Stevens also points out that the piano music at the beginning was replaced by synthesiser music on Magnum's tape and the credits were also altered. Anchor Bay's DVD restores the original music and title cards.

 

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