review

VAMPYRES

By 1974, the vampire film was old hat in British cinema. With Hammer losing momentum - some would say in it's death throes - it's surprising just how many pictures were still being made that contained the old Hammer flavor. Jose Ramon Larraz, a Spanish filmmaker working in England and hot off the success of his acclaimed film SYMPTOMS, decided to tackle that old Hammer staple: the lesbian vampire tale. The resulting film, VAMPYRES, has since become a classic of the horror genre, revered in some circles as the ultimate example of the vampire sub-genre. While I would argue that there are better vampire films - DAUGHTERS OF DARKNESS comes to mind - there is no disputing the greatness on display here.


Sex and Death in Vampyres

Vampire films, especially those that were being cranked out left and right by the fine folks at Hammer, had long been good examples of erotic horror. Unfortunately, as the market demand moved towards more and more skin, the very DNA of the pictures changed with them. These newer films seemed more softcore pornography than horror. Usually featuring plentiful nudity - or at the very least copious amounts of cleavage - and sex, the majority of these films traded fear for luscious spectacle, more interested in making folks drool than in making them scream. Larraz doesn't choose sides here. While VAMPYRES is easily one of the most seductive of all vampire stories, it still contains it's fair share of creepy scenes and genuine shocks. In a break from traditional vampire stories, Larraz gives us vamps without fangs. Our two lovely undead heroines - played by Marianne Morris and Playboy centerfold Anulka - draw blood the good old fashioned way, using knives and broken glass. While most vampire stories feature a bloodless, five-second long bite to the neck, this film shows vampirism in all its manic, full-blown glory. Far removed from the suave Count Dracula and his semi-nude groupies, the vampires here react like sharks in a feeding frenzy, ripping and tearing at their victims, licking the blood off each other's lips, before collapsing into sexual ecstacy.


Jose Ramon Larraz's Vampyres

If VAMPYRES has a fault, it's in the plot. And by that I mean that there isn't really a plot at all. Nothing much happens during the course of the film. The narrative is made up of reasonably small events - which is why the ending feels in many ways to be anti-climatic - with absolutely no game changers present at all. But because of it's pure visual strength it overcomes this lack of plot developments. Both Jess Franco and Jean Rollin have made copious amounts of films like VAMPYRES in their careers - short on plot, long on legs - but have never managed to come close to matching Larraz's film. There's a sort of surreal artistry in Larraz's direction, whether it'd be long shots of the two vampires running through graveyards in the early morning or of a young woman walking through seemingly endless underground corridors. And thanks to Harry Waxman - who also photographed THE WICKER MAN - this is a gorgeous film to watch.


Anulka and Marianne Morris in Jose Ramon Larraz's Vampyres

While neither Marianne Morris or Anulka were trained actresses - not surprisingly they were hired for their good looks - they both manage to turn in superb performances, backed ably by a great list of character actors including Murray Brown, Brian Deacon, and Michael Byrne. In the stand-out role, Morris really knocks it out of the park, creating in her performance a strange kind of pathos, especially evident in her scenes with Murray Brown, here playing a man slowly being drained of his life by Morris. Though supremely sexy and self-assured, there's an air of sadness to Morris, of vulnerability that's simply hard to resist.


Marianne Morris and Anulka in Vampyres

VAMPYRES endures because it is a truly great film, full of wonderful visuals and a seductive mix of sex and violence that not only demands our attention but deserves it as well.


Essential viewing.


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