Jesus Franco originally made three different versions of the film.... a straight vampire film called La comtesse noire (The Black Countess), a horror-oriented erotic film entitled La Comtesse aux seins nus (The Bare Breasted Countess), and the hardcore pornography version Les avaleuses (The Swallowers). These 3 versions ran at 72 minutes, 82 minutes, and 96 minutes respectively.
According to Lina Romay, Jesus Franco went into production on the film after winning the Christmas Lottery, shooting various pieces of footage before Eurocine came on board.
After the death of Franco's previous preferred lead actress Soledad Miranda, he cast 19-year-old actress Lina Romay as the Countess Irina. Romay was more open about her sexuality than Miranda, which allowed Franco to focus on his more sex-based themes in this and other films.
Lina Romay's first role and first nude scenes. She met director Jesus Franco (who she married in 2008) just before making this movie and went on to appear in more than 100 films, most directed by him. All of her roles involved full nudity and explicit sex scenes with men and women.
Jesus Franco's original title for the film was The Bare Breasted Countess, but it was released under many different titles over the years. To assuage Franco, the film was screened as The Bare Breasted Countess at the 2009 Fantastic Fest in the United States, which Franco attended as guest of honor. The film's title was later changed to Female Vampire for its DVD release.