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Wonderful Movie

That was an excellent one.

Simply A Masterpiece

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Taking a look at the extras on Arrow's marvellous DVD of auteur director Mario Bava's Black Sabbath,I was thrilled to find that the first ever surviving Italian Gothic Horror film, (with all that remains of the Eugenio Testa 1920 movie The Monster of Frankenstein sadly being just a few production photos)had been included as a bonus feature,which led to me getting ready for the iVamp.The plot:As a number of women are found left dead in the rivers of Paris,the police are horrified to discover that each of them appears to have been completely drained of blood.With the country being gripped in the terror of a serial killer walking the streets,investigating journalist Pierre Lantin decides that he will do the polices work,and try to track down the killer.Whilst discovering from the autopsy reports that each victim was drained of their blood via needles, Lantin finds himself having to withstand romantic advances from Giselle du Grand,who is the daughter of elusive countess Duchess Du Grand.Getting asked by Giselle about why he is constantly turning her down,Lantin reveals that he does not want to make the same mistakes that his dad made,who got left with a broken heart by Duchess.Investigating the last sightings of each victim,Lantin uncovers a photo of a man covering his face shortly before the victim was to "disappear."After running into a group of students who recognise the man in the photo,Lantin begins to notice that a lot of activity appears to suddenly be taking place in the old castle that Duchess Du Grand lives in.View on the film:For the first attempt at a Italian Gothic Horror,the film was faced with a number of stiff challenges,from the producers giving just 12 days to shoot the movie,to director Riccardo Freda quitting due to only having filmed half the script in 10 days,which led to cinematographer Mario Bava taking over to complete the film in the remaining 2 days,that ended up bombing at the box office. Despite the behind the scenes nightmare,Bava & Freda deliver a chilling Gothic Horror with strong hints towards the Giallo genre of the future.Opening up the Du Grand castle,Freda & Bava scan the location with elegant tracking shots which open each compartment to reveal the strange events taking place.Casting the long shadow of the Du Grand castle across the screen,Bava and Freda cook up a chilling Film Noir atmosphere,by covering Lantin's face in a rich darkness,which also gives the spellbinding in-camera special effects a nerve-wrecking tension.Getting extensively re-written by Bava during the final 2 days of production,the screenplay by Bava/Piero Regnoli & Rijk Sijöstrom is a surprisingly solid work,thanks to the writers giving the Gothic Horror elements a creepy calmness,as Lantin finds himself to be the only one prepared to face the horrors that the cops are desperate to keep unpeeled.Keeping a light grip on the Gothic Horror edges,the writers superbly dip the title into early Giallo waters,by making Lantin's search for the murderer involve precise clue gathering,and stealth investigating over what is taking place in the Du Grand castle.Crossing the Giallo over with the mad scientist Gothic Horror,the writers smartly make each discovery that Lantin makes be one which sinks him deeper into the Du Grand's shrieks,as Lantin discovers the "I" in VampIre.

The way this movie is played out makes it more or a mystery than an horror really. It was also an early Italian horror production, so they were still mostly trying out some new stuff in this one. It was also the first one to involve the later to become legendary Italian horror director Mario Bava, who had some major influences on the future development of the genre.The movie its title might be a bit misleading. It's not really your average vampire flick, featuring blood sucking villains. It features a vampire like creature but she hardly gets her hand dirty in this movie. the movie picks more a detective like approach, in which the police is investigating the strange disappearances and murders of young women. Nothing wrong with this approach of course but you sort of have to know what to expect, in order not to end up disappointed.Can't always say that the story played out too well. They could had definitely done something better and more interesting with its premise at times. But like mentioned earlier, this was still being an early Italian horror production, from the time they were still searching for the right tone and balance. The movie is still lacking in its atmosphere, which is also one of the reasons why this movie doesn't really feel like an horror. It's definitely not an horrible movie, it's still being quite good to watch for most parts. It's a movie that knows to hold your interest and also still works out quite original, due to its unusual approach, for a movie of this sort.Definitely a good movie but be sure what to expect from it.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

This is notable for being the first Italian horror film, thus spearheading a rich Gothic vein which ran well into the 1970s (one of three strands of horror which emerged simultaneously – the others being the so-called "Mexi-Horror" and Britain's Hammer brand-name). Curiously enough, I had never heard of the film when it turned up on late-night Italian TV some years ago but loved it immediately and, having erased the tape, I'd been pondering the idea of picking up the Image DVD ever since its release – but, only now, with Anchor Bay's recent issue of THE MARIO BAVA COLLECTION VOL. 1 Box Set did I determine to spring for it! Rewatching I VAMPIRI now and, having in the meantime amassed quite a few titles made in this style, I can safely say that it was a tremendous start to the subgenre and remains one of its finest examples.Due to a dispute with the producers, Freda left the project after 10 days' shooting; Bava eventually completed the film and, during the remaining 2 day's work, reportedly made considerable changes to its plot structure (which should have allotted him a co-director credit – a similar situation subsequently arose during the making of the horror/sci-fi CALTIKI, THE IMMORTAL MONSTER [1959]). Bava's cinematography lends the film a real class – transcending its obvious low-budget and tight schedule – with any number of sweeping camera moves (to take advantage of the Cinemascope format) and incredible lighting effects. Besides, the transformation of the villainess from a beautiful woman into an old hag are masterfully accomplished in-camera through the use of filters (pretty much in the style of DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE [1931]). The sets, especially the elaborate castle interior, are suitably impressive; Roman Vlad's powerful score may have been re-used in later films, as it felt oddly familiar to me.The script does seem to naively approach the new genre by piling on typical elements from the American horror films, such as the mad scientist and his sinister-looking 'zombie' acolyte. However, there's no real vampire at work here – but rather rejuvenation by blood transfusion; perhaps, it was thought that the traditional bloodsucker would seem incongruous – or, worse, laughable – amidst a modern-day Parisian backdrop, but this clash of settings actually works very nicely (and may well have influenced EYES WITHOUT A FACE [1959] which, in its way, proved even more seminal to the horror genre). Besides, we get an unusual emphasis on the antagonistic rapport between the reporter hero and the police inspector in charge of the crime spree; following a splendid climax, the latter provides a long-winded last-minute explanation for the benefit of the viewer – which, basically, became a fixture of Italian horror/thriller efforts.It's also interesting that the hero, ultimately, establishes the source of evil as being much closer to home than he could ever have imagined; in fact, he represents the object of desire for wicked noblewoman Gianna Maria Canale (probably cast because she was Freda's lover at the time, but there's no denying that her classical looks and natural sophistication are perfect for the role). Still, even if the reporter falls for a lovely ingénue and does bear a grudge against Canale, his aggressive aversion to the latter isn't credible: he should have been fascinated by her in spite of himself, thus creating an inner conflict for the hero. As it stands, one is merely moved to see Canale cling pathetically to an unrequited love – for which she debases herself by being driven to crime in order to re-obtain a semblance of youth (a scheme which still backfires on her, as the effect only lasts for short periods of time)!The latter drawback leads, incidentally, to a head-scratching scene towards the end of the film: Canale runs into the hero, who accompanies her to buy a painting – she starts reverting to her true decrepit age while writing a cheque, excuses herself and hurries away to 'safety'. This, somehow, arouses the reporter's suspicion (why he should care whether she is right or left-handed is beyond me, but her behavior appears odd even to the shop-owner) and he promptly phones a colleague who had accompanied him the night before to a party given at the castle – the latter, smitten with the lady, had stayed behind – and, consequently, discovers that his friend has vanished! Euro-Cult favorite Paul Muller's haunted, hunted look makes him ideal for the role of the hapless junkie who's, basically, blackmailed into complying with the doctor and the Duchess's perverse experiment. Curiously enough, Freda had originally intended him to be guillotined and subsequently reassembled; this grisly end, however, was dropped when Bava took over – but the stitching marks on his neck are said to be still visible in a scene where the re-animated Muller is grilled by Police (still, not being aware of his altered fate beforehand, I can't say that I noticed)!Interestingly, I VAMPIRI fared poorly at the box-office; this has been attributed to the Italian people's innate skepticism of a home-grown horror product, thus giving rise to the long-running – and often highly amusing – practice of bestowing cast and crew members with English-sounding names! With respect to the American market, then, the film was bafflingly retitled THE DEVIL'S COMMANDMENT and included additional scenes featuring Al Lewis (later of the horror-spoof TV series THE MUNSTERS)!!

Today's review we go back in the day a bit with the 1956 film "I Vampiri". From the title you would assume that this is going to be a vampire movie however what we get is a 1930's/40's style mystery film made in the late 50's, stirred up with some scientific experiments, dead/missing women and some very nice cinematography by none other than Mario Bava (who also helped complete the film in a director's capacity) to make an enjoyable view for those interested in this kind of film.The movie starts off with a dead girl found in a river. As we come to find out she is the 4th in a string of recent killings of young women. The killer has been branded "The Vampire" by the police and the press as there appears to be puncture wounds on the dead girls bodies (needle marks). Enter the young newspaper reporter looking for a clues to get the story of the century who is always one step ahead of the police but always appearing to cry wolf when he asks for their assistance.The movie goes through several red herrings as it has you to believe that it's one person or another that is doing it however if you've seen enough horror/thrillers and mystery movies you will know that they are obviously the pawns for something greater. You will more than likely figure out what is going on after the first half of the movie however the way the film is set up and the story is delivered you will not care.One part horror/ one part mystery/thriller I Vampiri is a solid 50's film. Some things of note, the effects that are used to show the Countess/Giselle are well done. You actually get the since of her "aging" right in front of your eyes. Also the sets are very nice to look at from it's big aboding castle to cemetery sequences (shades of Bava's future film "Black Sunday") all things are of a high standard here.Despite all the positive's the movie in its own right may be a little too by the numbers. Though I enjoyed it and would recommend at least a rental of this film, it really does not break any new ground, which some will find a bit disappointing. I on the other hand liked this film and think that fans of Bava and old mystery/thrillers will have a good time with this one. My score for I Vampiri: 6/10: above average. Yes you may have seen this kind of thing before but with above average production values among other things, this is a highly recommended rental and for fans of this sub genre a purchase. Just another reason why Bava is so revered by the Horror/Thriller community.Until next time, when dating a girl know matter how young she looks, ask her age she may be essence stealing grandmother super freak...GM Out!!