The Slaughter of the Vampires (1962)

While trying to take care of an abandoned castle they're going to inherit shortly, a man and his fiancée find themselves under a vampire's deadly spell and try to break his hold over her before he can fully turn her into a vampire.An admittedly fun and enjoyable Italian Gothic horror romp, filled with all the usual trimmings and trappings of the genre: the large, mostly vacant castle going off in every direction, filled with hidden passageways, vaults and crypts riddled with cobwebs and dust accumulated for years, talk of curses and the dead coming back to life. It's all here, as well as the ever-approved women running around in low-cut blouses and lingerie, which considering who's doing that for the most part makes for some really enjoyable moments to come from ogling the women. As well, with such a frenetic and thrilling finale it certainly ends on a high note as well since this features so many great moments during the final chase through the castle and onto the grounds outside leading to a wild climax, so this has those areas going for it as well. There's only one real flaw here, and that it tends to be a bit too short, mostly though the second half which seems to be running through "Bram Stoker's Dracula" at a fevered pace in order to keep the film going, but the Gothic atmosphere and action make this one a real blast to watch.Today's Rating-Unrated/PG-13: Violence.

Okay, this is a second- (maybe third-) rate Italian black-and-white horror flick from the early Sixties which is WELL below the already shaky standards of other similar attempts of that time.And although the heroine is gorgeous, she's no Barbara Steele.But FORGET about the casting, plot, dubbing, acting, direction - and the fact that about eleven minutes of the film's then-typical sauciness is missing (by all accounts permanently - but maybe the footage'll show up some day).Forget all that - and listen to the SCORE. Aldo Piga is no Morricone, but his lavish music, with it's piano - and even Theremin - solos, is a TRIUMPH. (And forget the fact that the music doesn't PARTICULARLY enhance the "action").Between '59 and '68, Piga wrote 36 movie scores - all for Italian low-budgeters - and was just 34 when he wrote THIS one. But being English, this is the only one I've heard. Which is sad.Ennio Morricone, who is mostly only known for his spaghetti-western scores and later Hollywood work, has written some FOUR HUNDRED scores in HIS life-time. And like Piga, most have never been heard outside central Europe.But whilst Piga can only be heard in THIS half-baked hodge-podge, Morricone's early work IS available, thanks to fans of Edda Dell'Orso, the 3-octave session vocalist who appears on most of his work from '64 to '75, and whose following still BUYS it.If you want to hear some of Morricone's early work, go to You-Tube and punch in "ennio morricone edda dell' orso" and you can hear about 40 tracks of the greatest music of this type you will ever hear.But alas, of Aldo Piga, there is NOTHING. So check out THIS movie - and any others you can find featuring his 36 scores (they're listed in IMDb). They don't WRITE stuff like this any more.

Although this movie sports the cool word "slaughter" in its title, this movie is very much the old Dracula story all over again (with only a minor twist at the end). While there are a few differences (such as the vampire looking pretty weird--a bit like a blond Liberace with raccoon eyes) as well as more cleavage than usual, the essence of the film is the same old same old--though the names have been changed. Although there is no one named Van Helsing or Nina Harker, the characters are still there but with different names. The biggest difference is that the entire first portion of the book and original movies is absent--and it begins later in the story. The only serious negatives are the silly music (which might have sounded better in a sci-fi flick) and the silly look of the vampire. Because the story is so similar and there isn't any new innovation to make it memorable, this is a story horror fans don't need to rush out to see, as the Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee versions cover the same territory but do it much better.By the way, there were some complaints about the dubbing, though for a 1960s import, the quality isn't bad (except for the little girl--which sounds like an adult trying to sound like a girl). The voices seem appropriate and it wasn't a noticeable problem. Still, like many viewers, I would have preferred this to have been subtitled instead of dubbed into English.

I first watched this film on TV in the late 60's, early 70's. At that time i thought that it was a pretty good film. Recently, i purchased it on DVD and have, somewhat, changed my mind. The atmosphere, castle and surrounding settings are very good, however, the acting could be better. The opening sequence is great, however, the movie goes downhill from there. Graziella Granata, is drop dead gorgeous and Walter Brandi, her husband/male lead is OK. My main problem is with Dieter Eppler, the Vampire. He is way too stiff and his makeup is overdone. He,i assume, does his best with what he has to work with but looks like an extra in a stage play, who just comes in and out. The music is fine and the film, overall, is worth watching. I just feel that it could have been so much better. John R. Tracy