THE
VAMPIRES' NIGHT ORGY (1973)Director: Leon Klimovsky
Pagan (U.K. - PAL Region 0)
THE
VAMPIRES' NIGHT ORGY (1973)Argentinean-born director Leon Klimovsky was no stranger to vampires, having done Paul Naschy's WEREWOLF VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMAN (aka THE WEREWOLF'S SHADOW) (1970) and SAGA OF THE DRACULAS (1972). Pagan, a U.K. DVD company, has released a fine disc of Klimovsky's third vampiric effort, THE VAMPIRES' NIGHT ORGY. While not his best work, it's still a considerable slice of Spanish horror, and it still evokes a chill or two.
A bus carrying a group of new employees winds up in a small village after their driver has a sudden heart attack. The passengers stay at an old inn where the food, drink and service all seem great until strange things begin to occur. When there's not enough meat to keep the guests' appetite satiated, various extremities are axed from locals by a massive woodsman. The cuisine turns out to be leg of man, and one hapless woman (Dianik Zurakowska) finds a finger on her plate!
A sexy Countess (Helga Line) appears to be the village matriarch and she bribes the visitors with cash for their inconvenience as their bus is stranded. She seduces a young tutor, and then puts the bite on him as we discover the monster that she really is. In the meantime, most of the other guests pay with their lives, as they quickly become vampirized. Only two manage to escape from the ghoul-infested community with their lives. They bring the police back to the scene, but all has mysteriously disappeared, all but the now totaled bus that they drove in with.
Klimovsky here gives us a minor endeavor, not the classic that his two previous vampire films were. Stagy shocks and silly antics replace the usual eroticism (when one character unknowingly eats human meat and says, "I've never tasted anything like it," another knowingly replies, "If it's one thing I'm sure of, it's that"), but it still manages to be fairly eerie.
Pagan's DVD of THE VAMPIRES' NIGHT ORGY presents an alternate "clothed" version as opposed to the one released in the States on VHS by Sinister Cinema. Several nude scenes are now replaced, including Dianik Zurakowska's undressing for Jack Taylor--the film's hero, a peeping tom who spies through a tiny hole. In Pagan's version, she appears in a rather see-through blue nighty, while Sinister's displays her fully nude. Her second stripping fares better in the Pagan version, allowing for more onscreen nudity not visible in the Sinister tape.
Another altered scene occurs when the Countess (Line, no stranger to nudity) seduces the pretty boy tutor. In Sinister's version, she is topless and there is some extended petting, while the Pagan cut has her in a black nightgown. It's also worthy to note that this scene on the Sinister tape is accompanied by different music; a pop tune containing a female singer moaning and groaning on the soundtrack ("kiss me!"). Pagan's disc represents the original Spanish cut (with the original Spanish credits), while Sinister's tape is the more extreme import version which played at American drive-ins in 1974 on a double-bill with Naschy's erotic-charged COUNT DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE.
Pagan's DVD transfer is a vast improvement over the old Sinister cassette rendering. The latter was taken from a rather beaten, slightly faded 35mm print, filled with jump cuts, scratches and water damage marks, and although it was slightly letterboxed, the image was still noticeably squeezed. The DVD finally presents the film in its original 2.35:1 anamorphic ratio, and the composition is very complimentary. The print source is in nearly flawless shape, but the colors are slightly dull and darker scenes look a little too dark. There are extras in the form of informative cast and crew bios, and a nice still gallery. Overall, it's a very nice disc to add to you collection of Euro schlock. (George R. Reis)