Lust of the Vampire

Vampiri, I (1956)

** (out of 4)

Riccardo Freda directed horror film about the police investigation into the discovery of several dead women whose bodies have been drained of blood. Today this film is best remembered as being the first Italian horror film of the sound era as well as being the first film directed by Mario Bava who took the chair after Freda walked away from the project. As with many other Gothic horror films, this one looks nice but while trying to create atmosphere, the director(S) seemed to have forgotten the story, which isn't too interesting. Like many others, the film also features way too much talk, which gets tiresome after a while. The cinematography by Bava is certainly the highlight. Paul Muller has a small role.

As much as Italy is revered as a bastion of horror cinema, it wasn't always so; while there are always exceptions, the 50s weren't generally known for high quality genre fare. Entering the world on the cusp of Italy's renown, 1957's 'I vampiri' doesn't necessarily fall on the higher end of the spectrum, and if it does, then only just so. It's well made overall, including outstanding, detailed art direction, sharp and admirable cinematography, and - usually less important in the grand scheme of things, but of especial significance here - fantastic costume design, hair, and makeup. I also think that between Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava, the direction is firm and commendable. The film-making and craftsmanship is broadly superb. I am, however, a little less sold on the storytelling. I think this is enjoyable and worthwhile, but not necessarily a must-see.

We absolutely get the genre flavors we crave, with murder being adjoined by the tropes of experimentation and the mad scientist, and transformation at a great cost. The tale at large is dramatic and compelling, carrying dark airs that are accentuated in Roman Vlad's excellent score. Yet I also think the narrative feels a tad scattered, as if it lacked a wholly cohesive or unified vision; not all the parts seem to fit together. Just as much to the point, I believe there's a marked disparity between the strength and sinister grandiosity of the otherwise efforts behind the scenes - the sets, props, music, and so on - and that which the plot has to offer; the look and feel of the production portends a saga more intense, grim, and captivating than the one we get. 'I vampiri' is a splendid time, by all means, but it just doesn't strike a chord in the way it ideally should.

Maybe I'm nitpicking, though. One way or another this isn't the top of the line, but it earnestly and meaningfully explores the space it intends to, and it's entertaining. Nowhere is it written that every feature has to be perfect. For that matter, I want to like it more than I do, and I wonder if I'm not being too harsh. At the end of the day this isn't something you need to go out of your way to see, but it's certainly sufficiently fun to warrant checking out if you have the opportunity. 'I vampiri' is no exemplar, but it still stands well on its own merits, and is notable as an early entry in the career of Bava, who would go on to make a big name for himself, and as an example of Italian horror cinema before the industry really came into its own in that regard. It's a good time, and sometimes that's all a flick needs to be.

This frightening movie is plenty of thrills, chills, high body-count and an expressionist photography with phenomenal results . The picture is set in Paris, France, where a mad scientific captures and kills various young girls and draining their blood for her illicit use . He drains their blood , in order to keep alive an ancient, nasty duchess (Gianna Maria Cannale who starred ¨Teodora¨ directed by her husband Freda) . While a smug reporter (Michaelis) and a Police Inspector (Carlo D'Angelo)seek out clues for the so-called 'vampire murders' and links to the case a local drug addict (a junkie well played by Paul Muller , usual of Italian B series) whom is connected to the evil scientist and at the same time kidnaps a beautiful young woman (Wandisa Guisa who starred various Peplum).

Freda's first great success is compellingly directed with startling visual content . This film, also known as "The Devil's Commandment", was the first Italian made horror film of the sound era and inspired a wave of Gothic Italian horror films . The picture was sadly censored in Italy and other countries . Strong on visual style and plenty of thrills, chills and suspense . The movie belongs to Italian Horror genre , Riccardo Freda (¨Secret of Dr. Hitchcock¨ , ¨Il Vampiri¨) along with Mario Bava (¨Planet of vampires¨, ¨House of exorcism¨) are the fundamental creators . In fact , both of whom collaborated deeply among them , as Bava finished two Fedra's films , this ¨Il Vampiri¨ and ¨Caltiki¨ . These Giallo movies are characterized by overblown use of photographic effects , usual zooms and utilization of images-shock . Later on , there appears Dario Argento (¨Deep red¨, ¨Suspiria¨,¨Inferno¨), another essential filmmaker of classic Latino terror films . ¨The vampires¨ packs a good acting from Gianna Maria Canale , directer's wife , as a crazed duchess, obsessed with retaining her youth. There also appears a cameo director , Riccardo Freda as autopsy doctor . The movie has a splendid cinematography by the terror genius , Mario Bava , while working with Freda on The vampires (1956) , the director left the project after an argument with the producers and the film mostly unfinished , then Bava stepped in and directed the majority of the movie, finishing it on schedule.

The motion picture was well directed by Riccardo Freda who used a number of aliases during his career, including Robert Hampton or George Lincoln and as screenwriter Riccardo Fedra . His artistic spirit led him to a strong belief in the importance of visual composition in filmmaking . Freda worked in many popular genres, including viking films, Peplum, spaghetti westerns, action, and even Softcore, but it is his horror films and Giallo mystery films which stand out and for which he is best remembered . Freda along with Vittorio Cottafavi continued to realize films in the historical-spectacular style , at which he developed a considerable skill and mastery . From the mid-50s Freda's liking make for atmospheric and colorful scenes of shock began to itself apparent , especially in such Musclemen epics as ¨Teodora¨ , ¨Spartacus¨ , ¨Giants of Thessaly¨ , ¨The seventh sword¨ , ¨Maciste all's inferno ¨, the latter a gripping/horror Peplum and of course ¨Maciste in the court of the Great Khan¨, one of his best films . In the early 60s , he was a pioneer in Italy of horror-fantasy films frightening audiences the world over , especially with ¨I Vampiri¨ and ¨L'Orrible Segreto del Doctor Hitchcock¨ as he combined with that wide-staring of actress , the British-born Barbara Steele . He also made adventures as ¨Black Eagle¨ , ¨The son of Black Eagle¨ , ¨White devil¨ , ¨Son of D'Artagnan¨ , and uncredited ¨Daughter of D'Artagnan¨ ¨. From there he went to melodrama and spy films as ¨¨Mexican Slayride¨and ¨Coplan FX18¨ and even made some western as ¨No killing without dollars¨ with Mark Damon and signed under pseudonym as George Lincoln . Freda's movies had popular appeal , and were usually commercial hits . Several were French/Spanish/Italian or other European co-productions . He has been called a filmmaker "who brings some style to exploitation pictures", and has something of a cult following . Rating : 7 , better than average horror movie .

Paris is plagued by a murder spree. French reporter Pierre LaSalle (Dario Michaelis) is hot on the trail of what he thinks is a vampire killing off young strippers. LaSalle is also being courted to his dismay by his ex-lover, Giselle du Grand (Gianna Maria Canale - Goliath vs the Vampire), granddaughter of the mysterious Duchesse du Grand. Meanwhile, across town at the Institute of Experimental Surgery, the Duchesse is working with professor Julien du Grand (Antoine Balpêtré) to help develop artificial blood. Soon enough, reporter LaSalle gathers enough clues to confirm his crazy theory, and soon learns the truth about the Duchesse, the professor and even Giselle.

This film is the foundation of the short-lived Italian gothic horror sub-genre. Containing much of the elements of the classic American horror films of the 40s (dimly lit corridors, musty dungeons, mad doctors, rotting skeletons etc), this atmospheric production didn't do well in Italy. Only years later, after the success of the Hammer Studios (England) gothic horror revival, was this movie rediscovered and appreciated for what it was. Director of photography Mario Bava (Black Sunday, Lisa and the Devil) gives a great look to this Elisabeth Bathory-inspired tale, using low angle shots and highly contrasted lighting. Bava also took over direction when Freda left the set halfway through production. Look for a young Paul Müller (Nightmare Castle, Bram Stoker's Count Dracula) as the hired killer.

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)!!