"Vampiros Lesbos" tells about a passionate love/death relationship between two women. A young couple - Linda Westinghouse (Ewa Stromberg) and Omar - is in Istanbul. Linda has constant dreams where a mysterious woman appears. One night they are watching a show in a nightclub and there Linda meets the woman that made such frequent appearances in her dreams - she (Countess Nadine - played by Soledad Miranda) is on the stage, dancing and seducing. Linda falls completely under her spell, but very strange rumours circulate about the Countess Nadine. She lives in a mansion somewhere in an island and.........
Most of the story takes place in the daylight, something unusual for a Dracula film. The opening shots - Countess Nadine (Soledad Miranda) performing her show in a nightclub - a ship out in the sea (soundtrack: radio signals being transmitted) - a scorpion crawling... / A bizarre/trippy soundtrack enhances everything.
Personally I think that Jess Franco is not as visually sophisticated as Jean Rollin for instance, but Franco's visual anarchism is one of his better assets - he mixes effortlessly a lot of symbols in the film - the scorpion, the kite flying in the sky, the ship, the radio signals, a staircase bathed in red light... Some of these images/symbols appear and reappear as leitmotivs. And Jess Franco obviously had fun while making the film. Check out his scenes with Ewa Strömberg. Unfortunately sometimes the film falls flat, especially when there's no soundtrack and Soledad Miranda is not on screen.
The way the story is told is nothing to brag about and excepting Soledad Miranda (whose charisma and sensuality prevail) the rest of the cast is just average. Ewa Strömberg is alright (I wouldn't say no to her) as the buxom, pale and innocent blonde that falls under the spell of Soledad Miranda, but.... even if she's OK and nice-looking, there were other actresses that could have been chosen instead of her. Just imagine if (for example) Barbara Bouchet had been chosen to be the innocent and unaware prey of Countess Nadine (Soledad Miranda). What a feast it would have been for the senses!
Anyway "Vampyros Lesbos" is a film to be seen more than once, and if you see it in an altered state of mind, you might enjoy it more. It's difficult to classify it. Sometimes the film seems to crash on the ground and be just empty image drivel and then suddenly it rises again and soars to the skies. Don't try to judge the film, flow with it - the floating images, Soledad and the wonderful soundtrack by Hübler & Schwab may lead you somewhere.
Most of the story takes place in the daylight, something unusual for a Dracula film. The opening shots - Countess Nadine (Soledad Miranda) performing her show in a nightclub - a ship out in the sea (soundtrack: radio signals being transmitted) - a scorpion crawling... / A bizarre/trippy soundtrack enhances everything.
Personally I think that Jess Franco is not as visually sophisticated as Jean Rollin for instance, but Franco's visual anarchism is one of his better assets - he mixes effortlessly a lot of symbols in the film - the scorpion, the kite flying in the sky, the ship, the radio signals, a staircase bathed in red light... Some of these images/symbols appear and reappear as leitmotivs. And Jess Franco obviously had fun while making the film. Check out his scenes with Ewa Strömberg. Unfortunately sometimes the film falls flat, especially when there's no soundtrack and Soledad Miranda is not on screen.
The way the story is told is nothing to brag about and excepting Soledad Miranda (whose charisma and sensuality prevail) the rest of the cast is just average. Ewa Strömberg is alright (I wouldn't say no to her) as the buxom, pale and innocent blonde that falls under the spell of Soledad Miranda, but.... even if she's OK and nice-looking, there were other actresses that could have been chosen instead of her. Just imagine if (for example) Barbara Bouchet had been chosen to be the innocent and unaware prey of Countess Nadine (Soledad Miranda). What a feast it would have been for the senses!
Anyway "Vampyros Lesbos" is a film to be seen more than once, and if you see it in an altered state of mind, you might enjoy it more. It's difficult to classify it. Sometimes the film seems to crash on the ground and be just empty image drivel and then suddenly it rises again and soars to the skies. Don't try to judge the film, flow with it - the floating images, Soledad and the wonderful soundtrack by Hübler & Schwab may lead you somewhere.