Starring Walter Brandi, Graziella Granata, Luigi Batzella, Dieter Eppler, Edda Ferronao
Directed by Roberto Mauri
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
A count and his bride move into an old castle, unaware that it still remains the home of an ancient vampire, who has eyes for the countess.
An Italian vampire film, also released under it's original title La strage dei vampiri as well as Curse Of The Blood Ghouls in America, per Wikipedia, the picture is a solid night's entertainment for vampire film fans, although it doesn't offer a whole lot that's new or different. All the stock characters from the Dracula films are here, from the virginal beauty to her supportive husband to the undead count and the vampire hunter imported to battle the fiend, and essentially retells the same story. What the film does offer is impressive sets, filmed at a real castle in Italy, according to IMDB, and a moving camera well used by cinematographer Ugo Brunelli to create suspense in the nighttime scenes. Granata is breathtakingly gorgeous as the countess and the vampire's primary victim, and has a real screen presence, dominating the scenes she's in, while Brandi is fairly bland as her husband. Eppler, as the vampire is okay but not distinctive or memorable enough to rank with other classic portrayals of bloodsuckers. I enjoyed Aldo Piga's driving score and the way it incorporated the countess' moody piano waltz, which apparently everyone in the castle knows how to play! It's a great looking film, and a fun enough diversion, but for me, it was really just stepping in the same footprints of earlier classics.
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