Review: Vampyres (1974)

Directed by: José Ramón Larraz
Starring: Marianne Morris, Anulka Dziubinska, Murray Brown
Written by: Diana Daubeney
Music by: James Clark
Country: United Kingdom
Available on: Blu-ray (Blue Underground, Arrow), DVD (Blue Underground)
IMDb

Vampyres is only my second foray into the work of José Ramón Larraz, the first being Edge of the Axe (1988), a solidly entertaining slasher flick. Vampyres follows two women, Fran and Miriam, murdered in their home and resurrected as vampires, who lure tourists to their estate to feed upon but whose plans are complicated when Fran falls for one of her targets. This is a British contemporary of the works of Jean Rollin and Jess Franco, leaning into the subgenre of atmospheric, erotic lesbian vampires. While this one can certainly hold its own in terms of beautiful cinematography; foggy, gothic settings; beautiful bloodthirsty women; and deliberately but evocatively paced moodiness, it stands unique in its viciousness. The eponymous vampires are violently insatiable in their hunger for blood. As a result, Vampyres is much more sanguine than its more fantastical counterparts. Their attacks are impressively volatile, like starving wolves drawn to every drop of the red stuff. They’re not limited to neck-biting, either; they’ll feed from any opening and there are extended sequences of the women lapping at a gash in a man’s arm in a manner not at all subtle in its suggestion of cunnilingus. Similarly, the sexual content in Vampyres is more aggressive than Rollin’s casual eroticism. While everything is simulated, everyone’s libido is more animalistic, driven raw by their desires. All of this culminates in a more horror-tinged experience than you typically see in films like this, and there are multiple sequences that prioritize the suspense of the kill. Larraz’s film is less concerned about symbolic themes than it is with visceral impact, and it’s very successful at that. Marianne Morris is entrancing as Fran and it’s easy to see how she’s able to seduce so many men to their doom, and “Anulka,” as she’s credited, is equally captivating in her more limited screen time. The script doesn’t spend any time explaining how these women became vampires or even if they’re vampires at all (you never see fangs and it’s suggested they’re just ghosts with a taste for blood), but of course the ins and outs of storytelling aren’t really the point here. Vampyres is an absolutely compelling watch, particularly if you’re generally a fan of these types of films, but you find yourself wanting more dread and less of a wandering lens.

Overall rating: 9 out of 10