Vampyres (1974) Movie Review
Written by: ML
Edited by: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Jose Ramon Larraz
Producers: Brian Smedley-Aston
Writers: Diana Daubeney
Date Released: 1974
Cast:
Marianne Morris as Fran
Anulka Dziubinska as Miriam
Murray Brown as Ted
Brian Deacon as John
Sally Faulkner as Harriet
Michael Byrne as the playboy
Karl Lanchbury as Rupert
Rating = 1/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
The story is about two women, Fran and Miriam, making love and were killed. In an unexplained event, they resurrected as vampires and started luring men driving alone on the road. A couple on a camping trip saw them and the wife began to suspect the two women. They camped out near the women’s castle and were witnesses to strange events. Several men were victimized but there’s this man who seemingly fell in love with Fran. He was being sucked from his arm wound and kept weak in the castle. As more men get killed, it is up to him to survive and escape the castle before it’s too late.
Gore Factor
The movie started with the scene of a murder where a man was seen shooting several times at the two naked women having sex. It was bloody. Other notable scenes include the sucking of the arm wound, the bloody man in the car accident, the stabbing and bloodsucking of the man on the bed, the stabbing of the wine connoisseur in the cellar, and the brutal killing of the husband in the car towards the end.
The Grave Review
Although this movie was obviously about vampires, everything else was confusing. If the real estate agent at the end did not mention about the two women getting killed, no one would know that the vampires were resurrected.
Speaking of which, there was no indication as to how they came back to life as vampires. In fact, the lack of fangs added to the confusion. Some proofs of vampirism include the women running to their grave at dawn, covered mirrors in the castle, and bloodlust.
There were a lot of unnecessary scenes in the movie that just added to the chaotic and dragging storyline. This includes the hotel scene where Ted checked in, the long castle explorations, the basement and cellar peek where the wife did not see the skeletons behind her, the scene where the wife was painting and the women approached her with a cryptic message, and the scene where they took the wife from the trailer all the way to the cellar only to slit her throat.
Aside from the failed vampire story and lack of horror, this movie was oozing with sex scenes, naked bodies, bisexuality, and lesbianism.
With nobody realizing and discovering the true secret of the women, the ending was open-ended. No one knows if the women continued killing or if Ted successfully ran off without meeting them on the side of the road again.
Overall, this movie is still recommended for those who are into sexy vampire films.
For the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives Vampyres (1974) one grave out of five graves.
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