50 YEARS OF VAMPYRES (1974)!!!

HORROR 101 with Dr. AC

VAMPYRES (1974) d. Jose Ramon Larraz (UK/Spain)

At a time when throwing extensive vampiric nudity on screen would have been enough, writer/director Jose Ramon Larraz went the extra mile to conjure a deceptively simple, highly satisfying tale of two bisexual bloodsuckers with Vampyres, released in 1974.

Played with charged sensuality by newcomers Marianne Morris (as the dark, mysterious Fran) and Anulka (as blonde, fresh-faced Miriam), the Sapphic duo take up residence in a remote English countryside estate, flagging down unsuspecting male drivers to take home for an evening snack. In addition to their daily iron intake, these vampires enjoy all pleasures of the flesh, and Larraz delivers the goods in numerous well-shot, sexy interludes between the lovers and their victims.

Vampire purists be warned: the couple does move about in rather bright shades of twilight and uses sharp implements rather than fangs to get their victims’ blood flowing. And while some may be put off by Larraz’s leisurely pace in getting around to any actual bloodletting, when the inevitable feeding time comes, the sheer ferocity with which these naughty nymphs indulge their appetites is appropriately shocking and gory.

The performances, which also include Sally Faulkner, Murray Brown, and Brian Deacon, are quite good, while Harry Waxman’s handsomely nuanced photography, and James Kenelm Clarke’s piano/flute score contribute immeasurably to a realistic atmosphere of gloom.

Tonight, AC and his incredible panel of guests (Troy Howarth, Barry Kaufman, Jason Coffman, Steve Archacki, Jon Kitley) celebrate 50 years of Vampyres with a Y, a high-water mark of '70s lesbian vampire horror films (alongside Daughters of Darkness and The Vampire Lovers) and certainly a must-see title for any fan of sanguinary cinema.

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STEVE ARCHACKI is a connoisseur and collector of all things EuroTrash (especially Italian/Spanish gothic and giallo films and anything Hammer Horror). He also identifies as an avid vinyl soundtrack collector, lapsing metalhead, direct mail marketing guru, and to this day, still harbors perpetual crushes on Rosalba Neri and Dagmar Lassander.

JASON COFFMAN is the Unrepentant Cinephile. Former contributor to Daily Grindhouse and Film Monthly (RIP). Director of Housesitters and occasional "recording artist." Proud owner of 35mm prints of Andy Milligan's Guru, the Mad Monk and Zalman King's Two Moon Junction. On Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/rabbitroom/

TROY HOWARTH is a Rondo Award-nominated writer who specializes in European Cult cinema. His books include The Haunted World of Mario Bava, Splintered Visions: Lucio Fulci and His Films, So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films, among others. He has also contributed audio commentaries, audio essays, and liner notes to over one hundred DVD and Blu-ray releases from the U.S., the U.K., and Germany. He resides in Pennsylvania.

BARRY KAUFMAN has been committed to spreading the gospel of obscure horror and science-fiction cinema since writing the fanzines Monsters of Japan and Demonique in the 1970s and 80s. He ran All-Horror Video out of a house in the woods in Homewood, Illinois through the 1980s, followed by his shop The House of Monsters in Chicago from 1996 to 2007. He now vends at genre-related shows and programs festivals in the Chicago area featuring his inconspicuous film favorites.

JON KITLEY has been running his website, Kitley's Krypt for 25 years. He's a columnist for HorrorHound magazine, a co-host on the Discover the Horror podcast, and attends multiple conventions and all-night horror movie marathons at the drive-in theaters! https://kitleyskrypt.com/

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