Vampyros Lesbos (1971)
Vampyros Lesbos (Spanish: Las Vampiras) is a German-Spanish erotic horror film from 1971 directed by Jesús Franco. The film stars Ewa Strömberg and Soledad Miranda.
Plot
Linda Westinghouse is a lawyer and stationed in Instanbul, Turkey.
She has an erotic dream about a beautiful woman every night.
Her analyst Dr. Alwin Seward suggests her to explore her lovelife.
Linda is assigned to resolve an inheritance issue with the Hungarian Countess Nadine Oskudar that has inherited a real estate from Count Dracula. Linda leaves her boyfriend Omar in the Istanbul Hilton and travels to the Kadidados Island.
While waiting for transportation in the continent, Linda is advised by a local that the island would be a place of death and insanity and she should not travel to there. However, she does not pay attention to the man and meets Countess Oskudar that is a lesbian vampire fascinated by Linda. The Countess drinks the blood of Linda and she has amnesia and is sent to a mental institution where Dr, Steiner, who is also a vampire expert, treats her and puts an advertisement in the newspapers. Omar finds Linda and Dr. Steiner teaches her how to kill a vampire. Linda has to be very powerful to resist the spell of Countess Oskudar that has a crush on her and destroy the vampire.
Notable scenes
the vampire dance performed by Soledad Miranda.
Making of Vampyros Lesbos
The film was shot in 1970 in Turkey. It was a popular success in theaters in Europe on its release and was the first film to have a more psychedelic score for a Franco film and the first to have a lesbian theme as a prominent feature of the film. The film’s score became popular in the mid-1990s when it was included on the compilation Vampyros Lesbos: Sexadelic Dance Party, an album that became a top ten hit on the British Alternative charts.
Our view on Vampyros Lesbos
‘Vampyros Lesbos’ is one of the high points of 1970s exploitation movies. This movie has something for everybody! Vampires, gratuitous nudity (especially memorable from the stunningly beautiful and ill fated Soledad Miranda who died in a car accident shortly after the movie), violence, pretentious symbolism, some aesthetically pleasing scenery and camera work, all bound together by one of the most unique genre-busting rock scores ever, chock full of fuzz guitars and electric sitar.
Trailer
Where to buy
DVD/VHS/Betamax/VCC
Watch on Youtube
Details
Genre: sexploitation
Released in: 1971
Era: seventies
Actors: Soledad Miranda, Ewa Strömberg
Director: Jesus Franco
Poster artist: Unknown
Musical score: Manfred Hubler, Siegfried Schwab
Country: Spain, Germany
