★ 6 / 10
**_The precursor to Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”_** When
Wuchak
**_The precursor to Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”_** When a troupe of mostly female dancers stay at a professor’s mansion southeast of Rome, two of them…
**_The precursor to Coppola’s “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”_**
When a troupe of mostly female dancers stay at a professor’s mansion southeast of Rome, two of them (Helene Remy and Tina Gloriani) and a male friend make the mistake of seeking shelter at a nearby abandoned castle during a storm. The problem is, it’s inhabited by two predatory vampires, one male and the other female.
“The Vampire and the Ballerina” (1960) is a B&W Italian production originally called “The Lover of the Vampire” (translated from Italian). The old, hideous vampire transforming into a normal-looking male after drinking fresh blood is a concept borrowed by Francis Ford Coppola & (writer) James Hart for their "Bram Stoker's Dracula" 32 years later.
Hammer’s “Horror of Dracula” came out two years earlier, but was shot in lush color; the same with the contemporaneous “The Brides of Dracula.” Regrettably, this one is bogged down by flat B&W cinematography. Nevertheless, it evokes the expected spooky Gothic atmosphere, not to mention is highlighted by the authentic castle locations and the stunning female cast augmented by filmmakers who actually know how to shoot beautiful women (no pun intended). Don’t get me wrong, there’s no nudity or sleaze; instead, there’s a sense of beauty to the proceedings, as well as reverence, despite the diabolical vampirism.
I should add that Helene Remy as Luisa is reminiscent of Candace Hilligoss in “Carnival of Souls,” which was also shot in B&W. I bring this up because the filmmaking is similar; if you like one, you’ll appreciate the other.
It runs 1 hour, 27 minutes, and was shot at the Palazzo Borghese in Artena, Italy (aka the castle of Artena), which is a half hour drive southeast of Rome. Studio work was done in the city at LUCE Studios.
GRADE: B-
★ 6 / 10
Well paced vampire madness
Bezenby
Before television presenters, members of parliament, glam rockers, Hollywood producers, cigar-toting disc jockeys, Australian artists and weird haired American…
Before television presenters, members of parliament, glam rockers, Hollywood producers, cigar-toting disc jockeys, Australian artists and weird haired American actors, all a young person had to worry about was attacks by classic monsters. This cautionary tale warns us that if you're looking after a troupe of ballerinas, it's best not to put them up in a village where there's a vampire on the loose.
A young, non-dancer girl from the village is attacked first and brought to the huge mansion all the girls are staying in. Turns out half the village believe there's a vampire loose, whereas the other half think that's a load of crap, including the dance troupe leader's uncle – and it's his house all these scantily clad girls are lounging about. So he sits them all down and tells them the story of a curse – you know, the one you've heard about a million times.
The village girl dies and there's a creepy scene where she wakes up in the coffin shortly before being buried. Later that night the vampire turns up and offers to take her to his castle to start a new life as a bloodsucker, but this is a ruse when he stakes her instead – looks this vamp doesn't want any rivals. But never mind that – these vampire attacks have inspired the dance troupe to do a vampire themed performance, so we get a great Fame-like sudden improvised dance workout!
Of course two of these girls have boyfriends and some of them end up in the vampire's castle getting their necks sucked on and one of the boyfriends gets seduced by a female vampire. It's this kind of thing that gets in the way of one's marriage plans, so the boyfriends have to band together to take on these anaemic goth bastards.
An early Italian horror with a lot of campy atmosphere, fast paced and gorgeous looking. It's not scary but it has a beautiful cheese level. And the vampire looks like a contemporary Mickey Rourke! Some of the 'vampire melting' effects are quite good too.
Due to it being so early, there's not too much gore and no nudity, but that doesn't stop them trying! There's even a slightly implied lesbian relationship between the two main girls (and it seems to be symptom of vampirism in that it makes you bisexual). It's short too, which is good after sitting through so many gialli.
5.6/10
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