By Chris Hyde

June 10, 2003

In the grand spirit of a politically correct world where every subculture gets a celebratory period of its own, BOP hereby declares this Lesbian Vampire Week.

It's been an incredible year in DVD for nearly all areas of film, but in the cult and horror space of late the action has been particularly furious. One of the leading reasons for this increase in activity is Bill Lustig's Blue Underground label, an outfit that specializes in bringing all sorts of genre films into the digital format. Lustig himself has directed and produced this sort of film in the past (such as the 1980 slasher Maniac), and it's obvious from the care he lavishes on his product that this is a man who truly loves movies of an outré ilk. For perfect examples, one need look no farther than the beautiful new versions of a couple classic Sapphic seventies bloodsucker tales that hit the shelves at the end of May.

First of these is the 1971 Daughters of Darkness, an artsy and stylish take on the vampire legend. Delphine Seyrig, an actress who also appeared in movies by people like Alain Resnais and Luis Buñuel, plays a Hungarian Countess making the rounds of off-season European towns with the companionship of her gorgeous young charge Ilona (Andrea Rau). The two are not simply the idle rich that they appear, however, with the concierge even going so far as to recall the Countess having stayed at the hotel nearly 40 years before -- though to his eyes it appears she hasn't aged even a day. While at the hotel, this mysterious pair encounters a couple of young newlyweds (John Karlen and Danielle Ouimet), and the Countess dedicates herself to snaring them in her wicked web.

The movie is done in a slow and serious manner, and this artistic choice lends a languidly pretentious air to the proceedings. Atmospheric and existential, the film moves at a tempered pace that helps draw the audience into the sexy violence of the story. This may mean that if you prefer your terror a little more on the action-packed side that the outing may overwhelm you with its air of ennui; but if you're one who doesn't mind putting up with a bit of affected European attitude then the rewards are ultimately great. Tight plotting is also certainly not an a prime concern here, but the character-driven nature of the story adds to its interest and keeps the psychological and sexual tension of the film ratcheted up at very high levels until its ultimate conclusion.

Cinematically, then, a Daughters of Darkness DVD could be justified just on the merits of the movie itself. But Blue Underground releases rarely stop after providing you with just a film alone, and this one is no exception. Bursting with extras, this special edition provides plenty of nice additional features that add to the enjoyment of this sexy shocker. Two commentary tracks are provided here, one voiced by director Harry Kummel and the other by journalist David Del Valle with star John Karlen. Also included is a wonderful contemporary interview with Andrea Rau, wherein she talks about her experiences with the film and briefly discusses her career in general. Rounding out this excellent package is a theatrical trailer, some radio spots and an extensive poster and stills gallery, all of which combine with the film to make this entire edition a valuable and enticing one.

You'd think a single release of the caliber of Daughters of Darkness would be enough to satisfy the rabid hordes of girl-girl vampire lovers, but Lustig and company decided to pile on at the end of May by resurrecting another classic entrant in the genre. Surprisingly, this movie turns out to be even better than the first as Vampyres offers up some cheap soft porn thrills in addition to its creepy atmospherics and disturbingly blood-soaked scenes of orgiastic writhing. In this one, the exotic Marianne Morris lives in a crumbling English manor with her beautiful companion Anulka Dzuibinska (Playboy Playmate of the Month May 1973). They often go out at dusk to hitchhike and thereby lure unsuspecting bachelors back to their gothic domicile for sex and sustenance. One such victim is the film's major protagonist Ted (Murray Brown), who must be so good in bed that Ms. Morris decides to keep him around for a couple extra nights of fun before draining him completely dry. Also in the mix here are a young couple that have the misfortune of parking their camper next door to where the vampires have set up shop, which threatens to turn their trip into the English countryside from an innocent fishing and painting excursion into a horrifying nightmare.

Given the low budget nature of this film (and in fact the extras include stills of a scene that was never completed mainly due to lack of money), the production values are of a surprisingly high quality. The movie is exceptionally well cast, the interior and exterior settings brim with a gloomy air, and the story is both engaging and somewhat unpredictable. Other portions of film production that are often overlooked with regards to exploitation fare are handled in this case with great care; aspects of the movie such as the camerawork and lighting are capably done and never call attention to themselves. Additionally, while the two principal actresses were chosen more for their natural attractions than their dramatic abilities, their scenes together are charged with a tension that helps carry the film far beyond its more tawdry qualities.

Yet again, Blue Underground goes above and beyond to enhance their DVD edition of Vampyres with a passel of extras that add incredible value on top of the already excellent film. As usual, the transfer itself looks just pristine, and the cut here restores all the various footage that had been excised from certain other releases of this movie. There's also the aforementioned batch of stills of the lost caravan scene, a gallery of even more photographs, a short biographical entry on the director, a selection of modeling shots by Anulka, the international and US versions of the movie's trailer, and a print essay by film critic Tim Greaves. But that's not all: included as well is a brilliant contemporary interview with both of the vampire starlets that contains some great insights into the film's history and shows also that both retain their stunning beauty right up to the present day. The final extra offered with this DVD is a fantastic and entertaining commentary with producer Brian Smedley-Aston and director Jose Ramon Larraz, which is worth listening to not only for the information provided but also for the director's hilariously earthy and not always circumspect comments on the production and its cast.