Director: Renato Polselli
Year: 1960
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: L'amante del vampire; The Vampire's Lover
Genre: Vampire
Plot:
After a series of strange incidents, a traveling troupe of ballerinas is stranded in a small village where the locals are concerned that a group of vampires is inhabiting, and when they stay at a local castle learn the place is the home of the bloodsucking creatures and must try to get away.
Review:
Overall, this was a fairly fun and enjoyable Gothic-tinged vampire effort. Among the better qualities on display here come from the strong central setup that provides this with the fun of getting the group involved in the action. Getting the early scenes here involving the different girls who are out on the loop with the rest of the ballerina troupe that are staying in the local village makes for a fun time here involving the chance to get to know the different members of the team as well as getting a chance to see the mindset of the villagers they meet with on their travels is a great way to get this started. The type of superstition and paranoia that runs rampant in the community sets this up rather nicely to uncover the kind of fun setup that this genre requires.
When it comes time for the introduction of the vampire hiding in the castle nearby, this one turns into a fun and more lively series of setpieces revolving around the group being targeted by the creatures. With the first meeting bringing about the one member of the ballerina troupe to be seduced and turned so that she can disrupt the others while the main vampire count can target the one victim further and manage to get this one to bring the vampires into their circle, that makes the final half focus more on the different confrontations in the second half. The slow realization that the one victim is compromised and everything revolves around the race to get the vampiric count and his charge, who are staying at the castle, featuring a fun finale, has a lot to like. Overall, these factors give the film a lot to enjoy.
There are some issues present here. The main issue here is the flimsy reason for how the vampires can stay in the group’s employ without anyone being able to figure out what’s going on, as it’s plainly obvious what’s going on. There’s been way too much talk of vampires by the locals or their handler by that point for them not to be aware of what’s going on with the main victim by the way she acts and presents herself after returning from the castle, as that just highlights the kind of interaction they feared from the beginning. There’s also the generally stiff and bland first half that figures into a series of exploits about the lives of the dancers and preparing for an exhibition but doesn’t offer up the kind of vampire action expected here beyond the opening attack as until the group is attacked in the castle while seeking shelter there’s nothing but dance rehearsals and romantic canoodling that does keep the running time a bit static. Beyond that, there's not much else holding this down.
Overview: ***.5/5
A fun and generally likable Gothic Vampire outing, there’s enough to like here that it manages to come together well enough to hold back the few drawbacks present that hold it down. Those with an interest in this era of genre fare, who are curious about this one, or who are fans of the creative crew, will have a lot to like here, while most others might want to heed caution.
This review is part of our ongoing series of reviews for Italian Horror Month, every November on the site:
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