Female Vampire (1973) (Remastered Blu-ray Review)
Director: Jess Franco
Where to get it: Lorber Films
Lina Romay stars as the mysterious Countess Irina Karlstein, a beautiful vampiress who feeds on victims at their moments of sexual climax. Because she destroys those whose essence she consumes, Irina is doomed to a life of solitude, wandering through the Western Coast of Europe in a dreamlike state, shrouded in a lush musical score by Daniel White. This Redemption edition includes the extended erotic version (FEMALE VAMPIRE), as well as the shorter horror version (EROTIKILL), in which Irina draws her liquid sustenance from more conventional parts of the human anatomy.
Long before the days of having women fall in love with sparkly vampires we had this Jess Franco film where a poet decides that an evil vampire woman is the only woman for him. And I am at least happy to say this evil harlot doesn’t sparkly. But she does have her fun sucking folks dry as any true vampire should. Of course this being an older film means it depends a lot on mood and environment and for that it does a dandy job. The acting is fine and the plot is one that I oddly found amusing and very good.
No matter if you pick the erotic or more horror based version you’ll notice that Lina Romay shines in her role here. Franco liked her so much he married her, which says a lot. The film looks good for what it is as well in its 1080p presentation. As with most Kino films they don’t bother touching things up, as a result they don’t mess anything else either. Out of all the Franco films I have ran across these days, I believe it is safe to say that I am pretty fond of this one and most of you will dig this little twisted story as well.
(7/10)
Features
– Erotic version: Lady Vampire (104 minutes)
– Standard horror version: Erotikill (74 minutes)
– Interview with Franco
