A voluptuous model, Sylvia(..the well endowed Anita Ekberg) is to inherit a gargantuan castle from her mother and discovers from her austere, rather enigmatic uncle, Count Walbrooke(Julián Ugarte)that her blood is polluted by the evil curse of her great-grandmother, Malenka, a "practicing witch" who dabbled in alchemy and discovered the key to eternal life, burnt at the stake by superstitious locals. Sylvia is told by her uncle that she must never associate with the outside world due to the curse and that includes her proposed betrothal to Dr Pietro Lufuani(Gianni Medici). Sylvia also discovers that her uncle could be a vampire..
Director Amando de Ossorio's take on the vampire genre is a moderately entertaining effort with a dash of Bava(the use of colors and darkened areas of the castle), Browning(the reactions of the locals when Sylvia announces her reason for being in their village and the first moments in the castle, along with a cast of eccentrics), and Hammer(lots of heavy bosoms from sexy big chested European women in the cast, with big hair and theatrical acting). You have the mausoleum, eerie tunnels in and underneath the castle. You have the towering butler, the Count's hulking muscle when needed. You have the expected "rise from the grave" sequence featuring the luscious Diana Lorys as a pub bartender who "services" the Count when he has a "need to feed". Rosanna Yanni is Lorys concerned sister, Freya. César Benet is Medici's pal, Max, the comic relief of the film, who accompanies him on his journey to the castle to find out about Sylvia, why she would send him a letter calling off their wedding. Adriana Ambesis is a supposed vampire slave the Count keeps prisoner and assaults through lashings when she misbehaves and Carlos Casaravilla is a kooky village doc, Horbringer, a boozer who warns our heroes of the possible terror that awaits those who have the misfortune of coming in contact with residents of the castle.
The version I watched is a mess. I have read that prints of Fangs of the Living Dead edit a lot of important details imperative in understanding the climax in better detail. It's not as atmospheric as I was hoping it'd be and is rather tedious despite being relatively short. The essence of the plot carries the usual vampire traits until the ending as chaos reigns. The attractive women and the castle itself are reasons I'd recommend it, but for pure atmosphere and dread you should pursue the ending of de Ossorio's Tombs of the Blind Dead instead. There are plenty of plot inconsistencies which may be better improved upon if a proper, more fleshed-out version is released in the future.
Director Amando de Ossorio's take on the vampire genre is a moderately entertaining effort with a dash of Bava(the use of colors and darkened areas of the castle), Browning(the reactions of the locals when Sylvia announces her reason for being in their village and the first moments in the castle, along with a cast of eccentrics), and Hammer(lots of heavy bosoms from sexy big chested European women in the cast, with big hair and theatrical acting). You have the mausoleum, eerie tunnels in and underneath the castle. You have the towering butler, the Count's hulking muscle when needed. You have the expected "rise from the grave" sequence featuring the luscious Diana Lorys as a pub bartender who "services" the Count when he has a "need to feed". Rosanna Yanni is Lorys concerned sister, Freya. César Benet is Medici's pal, Max, the comic relief of the film, who accompanies him on his journey to the castle to find out about Sylvia, why she would send him a letter calling off their wedding. Adriana Ambesis is a supposed vampire slave the Count keeps prisoner and assaults through lashings when she misbehaves and Carlos Casaravilla is a kooky village doc, Horbringer, a boozer who warns our heroes of the possible terror that awaits those who have the misfortune of coming in contact with residents of the castle.
The version I watched is a mess. I have read that prints of Fangs of the Living Dead edit a lot of important details imperative in understanding the climax in better detail. It's not as atmospheric as I was hoping it'd be and is rather tedious despite being relatively short. The essence of the plot carries the usual vampire traits until the ending as chaos reigns. The attractive women and the castle itself are reasons I'd recommend it, but for pure atmosphere and dread you should pursue the ending of de Ossorio's Tombs of the Blind Dead instead. There are plenty of plot inconsistencies which may be better improved upon if a proper, more fleshed-out version is released in the future.