Plot

A beautiful virgin inherits a castle, but when she arrives at it, she finds that the inhabitants include a strange nobleman and a bevy of beautiful women she suspects may be vampires.

"Malenka, the Vampire's Niece" is a 1969 horror film that was written and directed by Spanish director Amando de Ossorio;. Sylvia is delighted to discover that she has inherited the title of countess, and also inherited a castle located in the country. She travel to the castle, and once there, she stops at a local inn for a drink, where she announces her destination and relation to the castle's inhabitants; this horrifies the towns people. Unswayed by their reactions, Sylvia arrives at the castle and meets her uncle, Count Walbrooke, and beds down for the night. She is later awakened by the maid servant Blinka, who warns her that Walbrooke is a century old vampire that means her harm. Will Sylvia survive?—Paul Gerard Kennedy

Just two weeks from her marriage, model Sylvia Morelle [Anita Ekberg] receives a letter from her Uncle, Count Walbrook [Julián Ugarte], informing her that her mother has died and that she has inherited a castle and the title of Countess. Consequently, Sylvia leaves her fiancé, Dr Piero Luciani [John Hamilton] with his friend Max [Guy Roberts], in Rome while she goes to Castle Walbrook to sign papers and check out her good fortune. However, the afternoon she arrives at the castle, her uncle is not there to greet her, and she is told by his Manservant Vladis [Fernando Bilbao] that the count never rises before 10 PM. At precisely 10 PM, Sylvia's uncle appears. For an "uncle", he looks very young, and Sylvia can't help but notice the chill in his cheeks. The first thing he does is to show Sylvia an oil painting portrait of her grandmother Malenka and point out how much alike they look (except that Sylvia is blonde and Malenka has dark hair). Later that night, after Sylvia has gone to bed, she is awakened by a dark-haired woman who calls herself Velinka [Adriana Ambesi] and who tells Sylvia that her "uncle" is not her uncle, and explains how he had locked Sylvia's mother in her bedroom each night, and warns that he wants Sylvia to do something for him that her mother had refused to do. As Velinka bends down to "kiss" Sylvia's neck, the count interrupts them and, angrily, escorts Velinka to the dungeon where he proceeds to whip her (off camera). Next day, when Sylvia confronts her uncle, he tells her the family curse: Grandma Malenka was a witch. It was her mysterious alchemy rituals and her search for immortality that scared the villagers, so they burned her at the stake (flashback in sepia). They didn't know, however, that Malenka was successful in her search. In fact, Sylvia's uncle claims to be Malenka's husband and now lives on as an immortal nosferatu, a non-dead. Uncle commands that Sylvia cancels her plan to wed Piero, but Piero isn't about to be put off so easily. He and Max travel to Walbrook, but they are turned away at the castle by Vladis. They go back to the village inn where Piero is asked by Freya Ziemsen [Rosanna Yanni] to examine her brunette sister, Bertha Ziemsen [Diana Lorys], who has lately been feeling unwell. It's a mild case of anemia, says Piero, and he writes her a prescription for iron. Later, following a visit from the Count, Bertha is found dead by her sister Freya. Dr. Hörbiger [Carlos Casaravilla], the local physician and a drunkard, points out the two holes in Bertha's neck and tells Piero the local legends about Malenka. Of course, Piero doesn't believe in vampires, and the next day Bertha is buried without the usual precautions. Meanwhile, back at the castle, the count decides to perform the ritual that will make Sylvia immortal. First, the Count slices his arm and fills a chalice with his blood. Then he bodes Sylvia to drink it, but Sylvia refuses. As the Count is about to pour it down her throat, Bertha comes calling. As the Count is distracted by Bertha, promising to call her next day, Sylvia dumps out the blood and makes her getaway. Helpful Velinka shows Sylvia a way out of the castle. Sylvia runs to the village inn and into the arms of Piero, but when she tells him that she saw Bertha, he doesn't believe her until one of the villagers wanders by and says that he also saw Bertha. Dr. Hörbiger advises that they must drive a wooden stake through Bertha's heart, so that night he, Piero, and Max go to the cemetery to await Bertha's awakening. Meanwhile, Vladis comes to the inn and forces Sylvia to return to the castle with him. When Piero hears that Sylvia has been taken, he, Max, and Dr. Hörbiger pay the Count a visit, but Sylvia tells Piero to go away, explaining that she is bound by her heritage to remain at the castle. When Piero confronts the Count, the Count has him placed in chains and then explains his plan to have Sylvia declared insane by virtue of her believing herself to be a vampire, her Uncle to be over 150 years old, and then killing Piero in order to drink his blood. Seemingly in a trance and obeying her uncle's commands, Sylvia approaches Piero to drink his blood. Velinka suddenly enters the room, announcing that none of this is true. Bertha attacks Velinka, and, while the Count watches them tussle, Sylvia releases Piero's bonds. Piero punches the Count and sets him afire. The Count ages before his eyes, and Malenka's picture begins to burn.

Epilogue: The next morning, Sylvia and Piero prepare to return to Rome. Freya stops Max and tells him that since her sister does not need her anymore, if she can go to Rome with him. Max smiles widely, showing vampire fangs and chases after her. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl.]