Audience Member
A truly terrible film. I give it three stars because I am always intrigued by these 70s films and enjoy seeing the old actors popping up.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/09/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I liked it. Might be boring to those who don't want a plot or actual dialogue, and are only looking for action/blood/gore. Interesting story line and unusual take on the typical vampire tale.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/24/23
Full Review
Audience Member
"What the hell was the name of that vampire movie where Steed out of the Avengers was killed by polystyrene boulders?"<br/><br/> That was a question I constantly bugged my mates with, yet it seems this old, forgotten duffer was released under a multitude of different titles, none of which seemed to do it much good. So little enamored with the project was director Robert Hartford-Davies, he ended up disassociating himself with it completely.<br/><br/> Never mind, this British effort from the little-known Lucinda Films (?) features some stellar native horror alumni (Cushing! Woodward! MacNee! Mower!). Alas and alack, the discerning viewer is entitled to feel a wee bit diddled; Cushing's 'starring' role takes up about five minutes of screen time and Woodward's cameo could easily be missed altogether if you nipped out to make a cup of tea. Neither of the star's roles either sadly matter a tinker's cuss to the storyline; which involves an Oxford student (Mower) mysteriously disappearing on a working holiday in Greece and the inevitable rescue expedition that ensues.<br/><br/> It starts badly, with a tepid, needless voice-over and a minging credit sequence (yellow letters on grey background, eww) and a bit of a wait 'til we get to the 'action'. Unfortunately, the half-arsed vampire fisticuffs are scrappily edited (presumably with the prop weapons from the fights), and mistakenly leave in a scene where a guy is tonked on the head by a boulder to no evident effect. Poor old Patrick MacNee takes the film into the upper echelons of comedy as he gives chase to the villainess - his face a rugged mass of determination - while riding a donkey.
If the wobbly sets and barely co-ordinated action are a given, then so is the hokey dialogue, which aims at titillation in an era of relaxing censorship regarding erotica.
"Are you trying to tell me that a girl sucking blood from a man's neck... could induce orgasm?!" our incredibly worried looking 'hero' quizzes Woodward. Woodward himself (professionally straight-faced as ever) has some choice gems too, despite his tiny part: "Sado-Masochism, my dear man, is no joke..." before procrastinating on the fact that some men can only make love whilst in a coffin. Such sex-based tittle-tattle eventually leads to the seduction of Mower on his travels by the vampiric villainess Chriseis (Imogen Hassall- exotic and sexy, but woefully undercharacterised) and a tedious orgy scene that was tacked on for the French market. The distracting 'psychedelic' lighting and camera flourishes in these scenes is a wasted attempt at hipness - especially in view of the fact that it was shelved for years and was already badly dated by the time of its release.
The unfortunate pang you get from all these blood-soaked S & M shenanigans is the impression that there is a really rather interesting vampire movie in here somewhere; perhaps in other hands and with a better use of its acting talent it could have been something special.
<br/><br/> By the way, MacNee's character in this guff is called 'Derek Longbow'. Yes!
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
02/17/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Absolutely bonkers vampire movie, shot partly in Greece where Patrick MacNee sports a terrible array of cravats and rides a donkey. Patrick Mower is under the spell of a Greek vampire and his Oxford University friends go to rescue him - MacNee is the British minister who ends up dodging a polystyrene rock slide hanging off a cliff for helping them. Peter Cushing has a small role as the Provost of Lancaster College, Oxford and Edward Woodward cameos as an unlikely expert on vampiric sado masochism!? Johnny Sekka, Alex Davion and David Hodge all give uniquely bizarre performances. Mostly memorable for it's fantastic opening theme tune, Peter Cushing and the absurdity of the whole thing. A terrible orgy/hallucinogenic trip scene was included on the DVD extras as a deleted scene - thank goodness it never made it into the film! Mad, but an enjoyable curio.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/24/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I saw this as a fan of Cushing, and was disappointed, he has an extremely small role. The movie is also very slow and boring, and we don't get to know much about the characters either. And it's supposed to be about vampires, but it's not about them hardly at all.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
01/22/23
Full Review
Audience Member
This movie is slow and uninteresting, there isn't even anything about vampires until close to the ending, and the audience just isn't given enough about the characters to really care at all. I wouldn't recommend seeing this movie unless maybe you're a huge fan of Cushing, who plays a small role in this.
Rated 1/5 Stars •
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
02/17/23
Full Review
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