ATOM
AGE VAMPIRE (1960)/BLOODLUST (1959)Directors: Anton Giulio Majano, Ralph Brooke
Madacy Entertainment
ATOM
AGE VAMPIRE (1960)/BLOODLUST (1959)Madacy Entertainment strikes again with a delirious double-bill of this cult vampire classic with a 50s/early 60s reworking of the "Most Dangerous Game" story that will not disappoint. Thus far Madacy has released a number of these double-bills that range in quality from pretty decent, to mediocre and then all the way to horrendous. However, these DVDs are so moderately priced that one really doesn't lose either way. A number of the films are truncated versions or taken from fair to middling source prints but that's another chapter in itself. This particular coupling is one of the better efforts, the other good effort being the combo of BLOOD CREATURE with WEREWOLF IN A GIRL'S DORMITORY.
ATOM AGE VAMPIRE was an interesting little Italian hybrid effort that combines a bit of Franju's LES YEUX SANS VISAGE, a bit of the Jekyll/Hyde theme and even rehashes a bit of the Freda/Bava masterpiece (and genesis of Italian horror), I VAMPIRI.
Our story commences in an Italian sea town at a neon lit venue known as the Club Hoggar where a stunning dancer, Jeanette (Susanne Loret), is dumped by her boyfriend Pierre (Sergio Fantoni). The despondent girl gets behind the wheel of her car, has a near-fatal accident, and is scarred for life on one side of her face. She recovers in a convalescent hospital but is driven to near madness at the sight of her once-beautiful mug.
At the hospital Jeanette meets Monique Riviere (Franca Parisi Strahl), the ravishing, feline assistant of a certain Professor Levyn (Alberto Lupo). The woman provides for Jeanette's escape from the confines of the institution and promptly arranges an interview with Levyn. The scientist is transfixed with Jeanette's blond good looks and decides that she is the perfect subject for his serum called Derma 28. Once the serum is injected in Jeanette's veins, her former beauty is restored. The only dilemma is that the drug wears off after a certain amount of time and in order to synthesize the elixir it is necessary to use fresh pituitary glands. This means the prematurely gray but handsome professor must procure new bodies by going on a murder spree through the city.
The police inspector (none other than BLACK SUNDAY's elder Prince Vaida, the ever-fantastic Ivo Garrani) gets involved in the story and attempts to solve the killings that are completely out of control.
Hopelessly horny Professor Levyn enters a domed glass chamber which fills up with gases and -- voila! -- transforms into a fanged, vampire-like, creature with talons on the loose. The shit really hits the fan when he begins to transform into the monster involuntarily. This is great fun for all 60s Italohorror-enthusiasts yet one can only hope the future may hold a stellar print of this complete with subtitles and in its original language. Are you listening, Image Entertainment?
The musical score is courtesy of Armando Trovajoli consisting of great jazz riffs laced throughout this wonderful little horror opus. Trovajoli also composed otherworldly melodies for the classic cult sci-fi/mythological film GIANT OF METROPOLIS (1962) and the dreamlike, hypnotic prose of HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD (1961). This gifted master of melody is worthy of far more attention and we shall hopefully see CDs of his work in the months and years to come.
However, buyer, beware. This is a severely truncated print, but it does include the Hiroshima stock footage at the beginning. Nonetheless, the print quality is beyond acceptable though far from perfect. Thank you, Madacy Entertainment and please don't stop churning these out!
Certainly the campiest rendition of THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932), in BLOODLUST, Wilton Graff spends most of the film doing a Vincent Price imitation in a smoking jacket frightening and murdering a group of youths that has conveniently shipwrecked on his island. One by one these unfortunates drop by the wayside and through the taxidermy of Mr. Graff's Dr. Balleau are kept behind glass in various grizzly postures and hunting scenes within the walls of his estate.
Graff gives a divinely over-the-top performance here and is the best thing about the film (though the tableaux d'horreurs gives him a bit of competition). Just imagine a Paul Lynde forerunner on Vicodin chewing scenery on a "Gilligan's Island" like soundstage and you'll get the drift. The other actors include the future Mr. Brady of "The Brady Bunch" who acts very contained and macho throughout. The rest of the cast is fairly acting-school dropout quality and it is fun to see the doctor's henchmen doing his bidding as if they were all heading for Fire Island.
BLOODLUST! was shot by the 50s monsterpiece director Richard E. Cunha, who gave the world FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER (1958), easily and hands-down (in this reviewer's not-so-humble opinion) the most classic horror/sci-fi flick of that decade. His camerawork is outstanding in all of his films and this is no exception. Why Ed Wood gets all the accolades and not Cunha is a total injustice that should in time be corrected.
Yes, it's cheap claptrap but it's fun! Print sources are always a problem with this company and the sound does contain some hiss and crackle, but remember, sports fans, except for being double-billed at the time of its release this is an almost impossible title to find.
Thank you Madacy Entertainment and keep these coming! (Christopher Dietrich)