Unlimitedia Sick Product of a Sick System

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Leofwine_draca Hmm. When watching this film you might be forgiven for forgetting that you're actually supposed to be viewing a horror film. I mean, yes, the theme is vampires, but there is no actual horror in this film - one graphic and a couple of implied deaths, yes, but nothing else that would disturb you. The fact is, that director Jess Franco was out to make a film where he could show the world as much of his wife Lina Romay in the nude as possible - and he succeeded. The horror, unfortunately, only comes second.As you might expect from a director with Franco's reputation, this isn't a film for all tastes. Most film fans will likely be put off by the lack of an actual plot or story to THE FEMALE VAMPIRE - instead, it's just a number of scenes linked together with some added filler in-between to stand in for the plot. All of these scenes are sexual in nature, which quickly became boring for me but might appeal to other viewers. Romay is actually not bad as the vampire herself, a mute, waif-like figure who walks about in a see-through nightie. It's clear that Franco desperately wants to make a film in the style of Jean Rollin and he does succeed to some degree - scenes of Romay stalking the woods looking for victims are done quite effectively. It's just a shame there are only a couple of them.One thing this film has in its favour is the music. There's a main theme which plays constantly, a kind of lyrical piece with a mournful woman wailing. It's actually very good and gives the film an effectiveness that it really shouldn't have. Aside from the passable Romay are some stock wooden actors and poor dubbing; turning up in one role is the director himself, playing a doctor who obviously models himself every night on Dracula's Van Helsing. Elsewhere we have some hairy French macho-types to give you nightmares and a character named Dr. Orloff but who is totally unrelated to the mad doctor of Franco's first horror film, THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF (this guy is blind, for a start).Infuriatingly, just when it looks like something interesting is going to happen in this film, it abruptly cuts to the closing titles and fails to tie up any of the loose ends - in fact, nothing happens! Fans of female vampires should be sure to check out Hammer's Karnstein trilogy in place of this dull affair. It's clear that this film is a rip-off of that trilogy (the naming of the vampiress as KarLstein kind of gives the game away) but it lacks the necessary pacing and action to make it entertaining. A brief spot of gore or a cheesy special effect would have helped come to think of it. As sex films go, this explicit exercise in voyeurism would probably fit the bill quite nicely, but for a horror film, it just doesn't cut it.

pmcguireumc Years ago on "Bob and Tom," a morning radio show, i heard a comedian say, 'You know the other day, i watched a really boring porn. Did you know those things have credits?" In a way, that is how i feel about this film. The women are attractive, yes (if you like the really furry type). i am not necessarily opposed to the natural look, but sometimes, too much of a good thing can begin to become tiresome. This is a film of excessive closeups, no plot, soft focus camera-work, actors who's heads are cut off by the camera in various shots, and enough boobs and sex scenes to satisfy most any viewer of adult films. for myself, once was enough - not sure i will watch anymore Jesus Franco films, as i have a feeling, when you have seen one, you have seen them all.

Witchfinder General 666 Personally, I am a huge fan of Jess Franco, who has enriched the world of Eurohorror/Exploitation by a vast variety of films, including masterpieces such as "Gritos En La Noche", ("The Awful Dr. Orloff", 1962) and Miss Muerte" ("The Diabolical Dr. Z", 1966), a vast amount of entertaining sleaze, as well as big-time stinkers (such as "Sadomania"). With a repertoire of over 190 films, Franco must be the most prolific Exploitation director of all-time; and while I can understand those who do not share my admiration for the Spanish Trash-deity, one has to give it to Franco that even his lesser films always have a certain weird style, which is almost impossible not to like for a cult-cinema fan. Take this film, for example: "Les Avaleuses" (aka. "Female Vampire"/"Bare Breasted Countess"/"Erotikill") of 1973 is, without any doubt, an incredibly nonsensical film that is more Porn than it is Horror and ranges among the most shamelessly plot-less Euro-Exploitation features ever produced. And yet I cannot claim I didn't enjoy it.The main attraction is Franco's Nr. 1 muse (and real-life wife) the stunning Lina Romay. Sexy Lina plays Countess Irina Karlstein, a female vampire who walks around wearing only a cape and a belt, who kills her victims (of both sexes) during sex, and who does not limit herself to sucking blood exclusively. Then there's also a weird-looking pathologist (played by director Franco) who desperately tries to convince the police that the mutilated corpse are victims of a vampire, not a madman... This may not sound like a proper plot-description, but fact is that this confused little film does not really have a proper plot. About 90 per cent of the film are soft-core porn (or hard-core porn, depending on which version you see), sleaze, and shots of beautiful Lina Romay walking naked through the forest. The 'Horror' is quite ridiculous, and the dialogue ranges among the most nonsensical things ever written. Lina Romay's leading character is mute, but her communicating through body language is quite welcome! There is also a character named Professor Orloff (is it Franco's own Dr. Orloff?) who only talks truly bizarre nonsense. The rest of the cast includes Eurocult regular Jack Taylor (who was in many Franco films, and also starred in many other Spanish Horror productions including many films in which he played alongside the late Paul Naschy), as well as the weird-looking Franco-flick bit-part-player Luis Barboo.Basically, this film is recommendable for two reasons, the first and most convicting one being Lina Romay who walks around naked for almost the entire film. The second reason is that it is a Jess Franco film, and therefore delivers the nonsensical plot in a particular, stylish manner. It is obvious that Franco didn't even bother about the plot, and he certainly doesn't give a crap about people nagging about the lack of it. In typical Franco-fashion, the film is atmospheric, nicely shot in beautiful locations and accompanied by a nice score. The plot may be almost non-existent, and the film may be a mere repetition of sleazy sequences - one still doesn't get bored. The sequences shot in the car, by the way, are a nice tribute to Tod Browning's 1931 "Dracula" with Bela Lugosi.Overall, I can only recommend "Female Vampire" to my fellow enthusiastic fans of Jess Franco. To anybody not familiar with Franco, I would recommend to check out his brilliant early works, such as "The Awful Dr. Orloff", "The Diabolical Dr. Z" or "Venus in Furs" and skip this one. While it does range in the lesser half of his repertoire, it isn't the worst film he has ever made, though. Once asked about the reason for film-making, Franco replied: "Showing the female body naked." How can one not appreciate such honesty?

Red-Barracuda Well this is pure Franco that's for sure.The story, to put it mildly, is not it's strong point - a female vampire goes around killing people by means of oral sex and that's basically about it.Female Vampire shares many of the traits of Franco's earlier Vampyros Lesbos, i.e. a stultifying pace, an iconic female lead, uninteresting male characters, lots of sex, half-hearted horror, low production values and a persistent score. However, on every count, this is an inferior movie. Lina Romay is this movies strong point but she does not have the sheer magnetism of Soledad Miranda; where Vampyros Lesbos had a definite erotic style, Female Vampire is mostly endless ugly softcore scenes; and this film's very turgid score is simply not in the same league as the lounge classic that accompanies Lesbos.This is effectively a softcore sex movie with a very loose horror angle. Franco does deliver his somewhat unique sensual approach to proceedings and it is quite effective at times. And with Lina Romay he does have a leading lady with a definite screen presence - without her, this film would most probably be worthless; however, even the gratuitous naked shots of her become wearisome after a while. And as for that dull and repetitive soundtrack! The production values are incredibly low and my guess is that Franco must've shot this one in under a week.It's really pretty bad but if you are a Franco die-hard and/or a Lina Romay fan then it might be worth a look. Other viewers should be warned that this is, to say the least, not for everyone...