No, no, NO! Just when the ice was starting to thaw on my indifference toward Mario Bava, I pop in "I Vampiri" (on which he retains an unofficial co-director credit) only to be reminded why I thought his films were boring and pretentious in the first place. I don't care how influential a work is--if it bores me, it bores me, and will take a hit as a result. The credited culprit behind the camera of "I Vampiri" is Riccardo Freda (though, for all practical purposes, the film's mood and appearance is pure Bava), and even though he finds a (then-) fresh spin on the classic vampire lore (that would be extended in George Romero's "Martin"), it can't help this film from going terminal in the ever-important Interest Department. So an old woman lives in a moodily-lit and -furnished mansion. So a younger woman occasionally shows up. So a scientist's death is faked so he can carry out vaguely-defined experiments on a local smack addict. So what? "I Vampiri" (translation: "The Vampires") aims for atmospheric shocks and mood, but underneath the decent plot and excellent photography lies a film that has very little to offer, save for a bunch of forgettable characters and a lot of talk. And perhaps I'm being a jerk, but is influence alone reason enough to hail a film? Bava fared much better with the colorized Gothic stylings of "Kill Baby Kill" and "The Whip and the Body," plus the contemporary haunted-house/possession flick, "Shock" (one of the finest in the genre)--seek those out instead. "I Vampiri," well, kinda sucks.
Review of Lust of the Vampire
