Director Jesús Franco had already directed an impoverished international adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula" the prior year. At least, that film managed to attract two acclaimed actors in Christopher Lee and Klaus Kinski, both of whose careers would include being in better Dracula movies made by others (Lee had and would continue to star in Hammer's series, and Kinski went on to be in Werner Herzog's 1979 "Nosferatu"). "Vampyros Lesbos" has lesbian vampires and nudity. The 1970 Dracula was closer to Stoker's text than most adaptations; "Vampyros Lesbos" is a very loose reworking or continuation of the novel. Neither one does anything especially intelligent, though.
Here, Linda repeats, from Stoker, Jonathan Harker's business trip to a vampire's lair (this time on an island, presumably Lesbos), where the Countess Nadine Carody, perhaps intentionally, offers a twist on Bela Lugosi's famous line ("I never drink... wine.") from the 1931 "Dracula," saying, "I love red wine." Apparently, Linda is overseeing the Countess' inheritance from Count Dracula. Not that it matters; the story is poorly developed, and this Dracula connection only serves to bring the women together. There's another woman named Agra who plays the Renfield-type character here in Dr. Seward's asylum. Seward, meanwhile, doubles in the role of his namesake from Stoker as well as the Van Helsing type. Appropriately, Agra isn't a bug eater like Renfield. She's another lesbian, but frustrated by the celibacy of being locked in a cell. Agra and Linda are both blondes, which is a bit confusing for a moment, because, for a while, they're both committed to Seward's asylum.
This rehashing of Stoker's book is enough story for a short film, but Franco and company add a bunch of filler to drag it out to feature length. There are long stretches that rely too heavily on the musical score—making this, at times, appear more like a music video rather than a film. There are numerous location shots serving no narrative purpose. The many insert shots of a scorpion are loosely connected to the story in the end, but would have been better left out. The shots of a moth never make sense. Franco himself has an on-screen role as a woman killer, a part that seems as though it were filmed as an afterthought for further runtime padding. It has nothing to do with the main Sapphic vampire plot, and it should've been entirely excluded.
Besides being a countess, Nadine also performs at a nightclub (yeah, it makes no sense), which she exploits to suck the blood from her nude-female counterpart on the stage. Linda watches this performance in the film's beginning, and the performance is again replayed later. I guess, though, that Linda's viewing of it may've been explained as a dream. There's also a repeated voice-over of Nadine saying Linda's name. Some have claimed this filler to add to the film's dreamlike and psychedelic atmosphere, but in my sober state, I fail to appreciate it. This isn't a poor-man's or an exploitative edition of Carl Theodor Dreyer's "Vampyr" (1932); it's just bad.
Which can be good, but I prefer trashy, poorly-made movies to be funny. This one isn't; instead, it flails between the artsy and erotic and mostly fails at both. Somewhat funny, however, is the non-Seward shrink business. Not only does Linda see one, but there's also a scene where the Countess lies on a bed submitting herself to the mute psychotherapy of a male vampire, as she, ironically, talks about how she hates men. Linda's quack, meanwhile, doodles a diagram seemingly depicting the filming of a vampire movie! This one, perhaps. Too bad the doodle doesn't offer any rationale for Franco's obsession with zoom shots. I would've enjoyed his Dracula movies much more without the constant zooming in and out. Especially bad is how some of the zooms are telegraphed by the shots, at first, being out of focus. Narratively, "Vampyros Lesbos" likewise lacks focus; it's soft- focus, soft-core erotica.
(Mirror Note: The Countess uses a mirror, which casts her reflection, in the nightclub performances. The male vampire's reflection is also seen in the finale. Franco demonstrated that he knew Dracula didn't cast reflections in his 1970 adaptation. "Vampyros Lesbos" isn't a strict adaptation, so I'm not especially offended by these vamp reflections, although the mirror shots aren't interesting otherwise.)
Here, Linda repeats, from Stoker, Jonathan Harker's business trip to a vampire's lair (this time on an island, presumably Lesbos), where the Countess Nadine Carody, perhaps intentionally, offers a twist on Bela Lugosi's famous line ("I never drink... wine.") from the 1931 "Dracula," saying, "I love red wine." Apparently, Linda is overseeing the Countess' inheritance from Count Dracula. Not that it matters; the story is poorly developed, and this Dracula connection only serves to bring the women together. There's another woman named Agra who plays the Renfield-type character here in Dr. Seward's asylum. Seward, meanwhile, doubles in the role of his namesake from Stoker as well as the Van Helsing type. Appropriately, Agra isn't a bug eater like Renfield. She's another lesbian, but frustrated by the celibacy of being locked in a cell. Agra and Linda are both blondes, which is a bit confusing for a moment, because, for a while, they're both committed to Seward's asylum.
This rehashing of Stoker's book is enough story for a short film, but Franco and company add a bunch of filler to drag it out to feature length. There are long stretches that rely too heavily on the musical score—making this, at times, appear more like a music video rather than a film. There are numerous location shots serving no narrative purpose. The many insert shots of a scorpion are loosely connected to the story in the end, but would have been better left out. The shots of a moth never make sense. Franco himself has an on-screen role as a woman killer, a part that seems as though it were filmed as an afterthought for further runtime padding. It has nothing to do with the main Sapphic vampire plot, and it should've been entirely excluded.
Besides being a countess, Nadine also performs at a nightclub (yeah, it makes no sense), which she exploits to suck the blood from her nude-female counterpart on the stage. Linda watches this performance in the film's beginning, and the performance is again replayed later. I guess, though, that Linda's viewing of it may've been explained as a dream. There's also a repeated voice-over of Nadine saying Linda's name. Some have claimed this filler to add to the film's dreamlike and psychedelic atmosphere, but in my sober state, I fail to appreciate it. This isn't a poor-man's or an exploitative edition of Carl Theodor Dreyer's "Vampyr" (1932); it's just bad.
Which can be good, but I prefer trashy, poorly-made movies to be funny. This one isn't; instead, it flails between the artsy and erotic and mostly fails at both. Somewhat funny, however, is the non-Seward shrink business. Not only does Linda see one, but there's also a scene where the Countess lies on a bed submitting herself to the mute psychotherapy of a male vampire, as she, ironically, talks about how she hates men. Linda's quack, meanwhile, doodles a diagram seemingly depicting the filming of a vampire movie! This one, perhaps. Too bad the doodle doesn't offer any rationale for Franco's obsession with zoom shots. I would've enjoyed his Dracula movies much more without the constant zooming in and out. Especially bad is how some of the zooms are telegraphed by the shots, at first, being out of focus. Narratively, "Vampyros Lesbos" likewise lacks focus; it's soft- focus, soft-core erotica.
(Mirror Note: The Countess uses a mirror, which casts her reflection, in the nightclub performances. The male vampire's reflection is also seen in the finale. Franco demonstrated that he knew Dracula didn't cast reflections in his 1970 adaptation. "Vampyros Lesbos" isn't a strict adaptation, so I'm not especially offended by these vamp reflections, although the mirror shots aren't interesting otherwise.)