Lust of the Vampire (1957)

A mad scientist captures young women and drains their blood, in order to keep alive an ancient, evil duchess.

Directors:

Riccardo Freda, Mario Bava (uncredited)

Writers:

Piero Regnoli (story), Rijk Sijöstrom (story)

Stars:

Gianna Maria Canale, Carlo D'Angelo, Dario Michaelis

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Gianna Maria Canale	...	Giselle du Grand
Carlo D'Angelo	...	L'ispettore Chantal (as Carlo d'Angelo)
Dario Michaelis	...	Pierre Lantin
Wandisa Guida	...	Laurette Robert
Angelo Galassi	...	Ronald Fontaine (as Angiolo Galassi)
Renato Tontini	...	L'assistente del professore Grand
Charles Fawcett	...	Signor Robert
Gisella Mancinotti	...	Amica di Laurette
Miranda Campa	...	Signora Robert
Antoine Balpêtré	...	Professor Julien du Grand (as Antoine Balpetré de la Comédie Française)
Paul Muller	...	Joseph Signoret

Storyline

In Paris, France, a crazed duchess, obsessed with retaining her youth, has her scientist lover kill various women and draining their blood for her use while a smug journalist seeks out leads for the so-called 'vampire murders' and links a local drug addict to the case whom is connected to the mad scientist.

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Plot Keywords:

mad scientist | paris france | drug addict | vampire | italian gothic | 

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Taglines:

Beautiful Parisian girls were his victims!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

16

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lust of the Vampire

Filming Locations:

Titanus Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Titanus, Athena Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the first Italian made horror film of the sound era.

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Crazy Credits

English dubbed version 'The Devil's Commandment' is credited to director Riccardo Freda's pseudonym Robert Hampton.

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Connections

Referenced in Delirium Italian Style: Ruggero Deodato on Mario Bava (2013)

User Reviews

a Gothic sunset boulevard

This one mainly works because of the amazing set direction and Gothic spaces. As it gets going it feels like a typical 1940s style murder mystery, with young women having gone missing, but hardly a horror movie at all. But when another girl disappears the search leads to an empty apartment building and then to the castle of a certain Countess du Grand, who happens to be enamored of the lead detective on the case. Though the castle appears to be of evil repute, the countess attracts guests to a ball, and the affections of another reporter. She is a mysterious figure, living in adulation of a portrait of the reporter's father, playing antique record players. The castle sets are stunning productions, drawing one into the horror that sustains her beauty (a storyline explored further in Eyes Without A Face, The Awful Dr Orloff, The Faceless Monster, Mill of the Stone Woman and Countess Dracula) . The movie literally gets gobbled up by the Gothic atmosphere of the castle, with its incredible gargoyles, elaborately Gothic crypt, secret passages, baroque cobwebs, pillars marked with demonic images, and a Sleeping Beauty tangle of vines on the grounds. The reliance on scenery alone to communicate a descent into a sadistic unconscious reminds one of Cocteaus Beauty and the Beast though the strategy was tried too in 40s Hollywood. When at last the mystery is discovered, here too the special effects are quite well done. Mario Bava was involved in the photography, just testing his fogbound vision of Gothic mystery, and it shows. After starting out all cops and robbers, this one ends up with a completely satisfying expression of pure demented horror.