Il plenilunio delle vergini (1973)

...aka: Devil's Wedding Night, The

...aka: Full Moon of the Virgins

Directed by:

Luigi Batzella

There's really not much to gain from seeking out this boring, nudity-filled remake of Hammer's COUNTESS DRACULA. Sometime in the 1800s, twin brothers Karl and Franz Schiller (both of whom are played by Mark Damon) discuss vampires and the legendary ruby red "Ring of Niebelonion." Legend has it the ring had passed down supernatural abilities to such historical figures as Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun and Ivan the Terrible. Anyway, Franz the bad boy (who wears heavy eyeliner, has slicked back hair, gambling debts and quotes Edgar Allan Poe) decides to take his horse down the road to visit Castle Dracula and complete his "architectural studies." First he stops by an inn to ignore the locals' warnings and seduce the innkeeper's daughter Tania (Francesca Romana Davila). Once in the castle, he meets a zombie-like maid named Lara (Esmeralda Barros) and then the owner of the castle, seductive Countess Dracula (Rosalba Neri as "Sara Bay). Even though he finds the behavior of both ladies a little strange and off-putting (hell, he even catches Lara lounging in a casket at one point!), that doesn't distract him from the feminine wiles of Mrs. Dracula, as he's easily seduced, vampirized and stuck in a coffin.

When bookish Karl shows up later looking for his missing bro, he's encouraged to spend the night, his wine is drugged and he trips out to creepy sculptures, laughing, a soft-focus lesbian scene and (the best bit) Neri being coated with blood and emerging naked from a fog-enshrouded crypt. He also figures out that the Countess is in possession of the ring and plans on using its powers to lure five virginal village girls to her castle to sacrifice; bathing in their blood helping her maintain her beauty and youth. She also wants Satan to possess the body of Franz or something to that effect (it's all a little muddled). There's a a fairly well done ritual ceremony at the end where five naked girls are prepared to be sacrificed by hooded cultists, but otherwise it's just a very slow trip where the rewards are few and far between.

Neri (LADY FRANKENSTEIN) looks great as the Countess, especially in the black wedding gown, but this film isn't a very good showcase for her talents (which, unlike many starlets of the era, extended much further than her nude scenes). Barros (the Brazilian-born star of 1968's KING OF KONG ISLAND) is also pretty good as Lady Dracula's stern lesbian handmaiden. "Ciro"/Xiro Papas has a small, but fun, role as a big bald unibrow-sporting vampire who shows up near the end. Damon, is tolerable, but a bit on the dull side as he usually is. There's only a minimal amount of atmosphere thanks to cheap-looking set design and Joe D'Amato's flat-looking photography. It's based on the story "The Brides of Countess Dracula" by Ian Danby and Ralph Zucker.

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The DVD from Shout! Factory is a bad print of the film with lots of damage and bad jumps in both picture and sound. There's an optional version taken from Elvira's "Movie Macabre" show, where she interrupts the film from time to time to make her trademark cheesy wisecracks.

★1/2

I tre volti della paura (1963)

... aka: Black Sabbath
... aka: Les trois visages de la peur
... aka: Three Faces of Fear, The
... aka: Three Faces of Terror, The

Directed by:
Mario Bava

Originally titled I tre volti della paura ("The Three Faces of Fear"), this three-part horror anthology first made it to the U.S. under the new title of Black Sabbath to remind viewers of how good director Bava's BLACK SUNDAY (1960) was. There were numerous other changes made in the English-language version prepped by distributors A.I.P., as well. It gained an excellent Les Baxter soundtrack (replacing the one done by Roberto Nicolosi for the Italian release), some of the hosting segments featuring star Boris Karloff were removed, the tales were reversed in order and some implied lesbianism and violence were omitted, but that's good ole' American censorship for you (both have since been restored for the Anchor Bay and Image DVD releases, anyway). In any case, this anthology is a minor classic of its kind and is a must see for anyone interested in the development of Italian horror. I'm listing the stories in the order they appear in the original version of the film instead of the way they first showed up in America.

The first tale, based on the F.G. Snyder story "The Telephone," involves a beautiful young woman named Rosy (sexy Michèle Mercier) who is stalked inside her apartment - starting with unsettling telephone calls - by a madman who may have just escaped from a mental institution. The least interesting of the segments, both visually and thematically, this is still sometimes admired for being an early example of the giallo (it was released about seven months before Bava's establishing giallo Blood and Black Lace and is also considered the first Italian thriller to be shot in color). However, the conventional plotting and predictability of it all bogs this short down a little bit. With Lidia Alfonsi (involved in the thinly-veiled lesbian subtext removed from original U.S. prints) and Milo Quesada.

The middle segment, "The Wurulak" (based on the Aleksei Tolstoy novelette "Sem'ya vurdalaka") is an incredibly atmospheric tale with outstanding art direction, photography, lighting and costumes that flavorfully brings us into an eerie Gothic period setting and stars an intense Karloff as Gorca, patriarch of a large family who is turned into a vampire by the curse of the Wurdulak. He returns to his home and proceeds to turn each member of his family, one by one, into the walking dead. Mark Damon (previously seen in Corman's The House of Usher) plays the handsome hero, who falls in love with the lovely daughter Sdenka (Susy Anderson) and tires to save her. All around, beautifully done. Also with Massimo Righi.

The final segment, "A Drop of Water," is based on a story by Ivan Checkov and is generally regarded as the scariest of all the stories. It certainly has the creepiest central image of any of them - an outstandingly hideous and truly freaky-looking corpse! Jacqueline Pierreux stars as Helen, a n unethical nurse who gets her just desserts after stealing the ring right of the finger of a deceased, wealthy old lady. To Helen's unexpected horror, the ghostly stiff comes back looking for revenge. Again, the extremely vivid use of color here is pretty stunning, and a particularly novel use of sound is made in this segment, as well. Also with Gustavo De Nardo as a police inspector and Harriet Medin as a neighbor.

So despite the slight misstep at the very beginning, the two later tales are colorfully, creatively done and drenched in Bava's trademark rich style. It was released on laserdisc (by Image) as a dual feature along with Bava's Black Sunday, which seems to be high on the list of must haves for Bava collectors. Supposedly, in 1968, a struggling heavy metal group called Earth decided to change their name to Black Sabbath when they noticed there were more people in line to see this movie than were attending one of their concerts!

★★★

House of Usher (1960)

...aka: Fall of the House of Usher, The

Directed by:

Roger Corman

By the late 50s, Roger Corman had already established himself as a person capable of making imaginative and amusing genre pictures that could be produced cheaply and yet always turn a profit. Now it was him time to establish himself as a serious director. USHER was his first Poe film out of an eventual eight-part series of films (well, one of them is actually based on Lovecraft, but we'll ignore that...) and remains one of the best adaptations thus far of the familiar story. In my estimation it is only rivaled by Epstein's wonderfully gloomy 1928 silent version. This was both a critical and commercial success in its day on a meager $125,000 budget. Vincent Price give a superb performance as Roderick Usher, an eternally sick, tortured soul who lives in a crumbling castle with his sister Madeline (Myrna Fahey) and faithful butler Bristol (nicely etched by Harry Ellerbe). When handsome Philip Winthrop (handsome, but otherwise bland, Mark Damon in a role that helped him snag a "Most Promising Actor" award at the Golden Globes) shows up to take Madeline away, Roderick's incestuous feelings come to surface and the terror begins. Highlights include Damon's colorful nightmare sequence and Price's amusing explanation of the Usher family history.

It's intelligent, subtle and effective, with disturbing and daring subtext, good sets and costumes. Excellent contributions from scriptwriter Richard Matheson, composer Les Baxter, cameraman Floyd Crosby and art director Daniel Haller are all united by Corman's smart, stylish, fluent direction. Truly deserving of it's reputation as horror classic. Also released as THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER.

Other films in the Poe series include: PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1961), PREMATURE BURIAL (1962), TALES OF TERROR (1962), THE HAUNTED PALACE (1963), THE RAVEN (1963) and THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964) and THE TOMB OF LIGEIA (1964).

★★★1/2