Vampyres (José Ramón Larraz, 1974)
Rather than moan about not having the opportunity to check out Robert Eggers' Nosferatu (2024/2025) yet, I'm doing what every other film blogger who hasn't seen it is currently doing; kicking off the new year by reviewing some other vampire film. Presenting José Ramón Larraz's cult erotic horror movie Vampyres (1974), AKA Daughters of Darkness (not to be confused with Harry Kümel's 1971 film of the same name, which also features lesbian vampires). Vampyres would wind up as the most salacious and bloody entry in the sapphic vampire films of its time. An era which gave us Jesús Franco's Vampyros Lesbos (1971), Vicente Aranda's The Blood Spattered Bride (1972), Hammer's Karnstein series and Kümel's aforementioned film.
Larraz, a Spanish comic book artist turned director was no stranger to shooting in the UK. His debut, Whirlpool (1970), was the first shot on British soil. In the same year as his sapphic vampire masterpiece, he also delivered Symptoms (1974), a slow-burn, psychosexual horror starring Angela Pleasence, which took some inspiration from Roman Polanski's Repulsion (1968). Various elements from Symptoms, e.g. its lesbian theme and a remote house of horrors in the English countryside setting, would also find their way into his very next film Vampyres.
The premise of Vampyres is simple yet effective: a pair of beautiful vampires, the buxom brunette Fran (Marianne Morris) and blonde bombshell Miriam (Anulka Dziubinska), traipse through the English countryside and lure motorists to their secluded, dilapidated manor (a personal favourite film location -Oakley Court) under the assumption of it being their lucky night. The more than willing hapless men are gruesomely murdered and feasted on by the sexy pair. These seductive temptresses are just as savage in their blood lust as they are in their carnal actions. Resulting in Vampyres being equally as much a disturbing horror film as it is seventies softcore erotica. Vampyres is arguably a primal film.
Beginning with a cold open scene where Fran and Miriam are both in bed naked and sensually kissing each another, the pair are brutally gunned down by a mysterious intruder. Cut to the title sequence of flying vampire bats and James Kenelm Clarke's psyche rock theme to set the tone of the film. It's followed by the introduction of brown tweed suited Ted (Murray Brown), the film’s male protagonist, arriving in a hotel reception wanting to book a room for the night. The elderly hotel manager seems to recognise Ted. "The gentleman is an old client. We haven't seen you down here for years. Years have gone by since then. Do you remember me?" A mildly annoyed Ted denies knowing him. Which is the first clue in the film that there's something more to Ted than we might think.
Following on, the next two supporting characters are introduced. Caravanners John (Brian Deacon) and Harriet (Sally Faulkner) spot the two femme fatales looking suspicious along the roadside. The young couple decide to spend the night near the grounds of what they assume is the abandoned building featured in the prologue. Harriet is still concerned by the two women she spotted earlier, while hubby John is completely nonchalant about the whole thing. Call it female intuition, but Harriet is the only one grossly worried about the mysterious women. During the middle of the night, Harriet sees both Fran and Miriam in her dream, only for her to be suddenly awoken by a man's scream outside. It's followed by a bloody hand thudding against her window. Totally freaked out, Harriet does what any married woman always does, and wakes her fella up to go outside and investigate in the pissing rain. Soaked to the bone, John finds no signs of anything outside. Returning to the caravan, John tells Harriet that she was only dreaming.
The following morning, a dead naked man is found inside a wrecked Mini Cooper by the police. At this point John spends much of his day fishing by the nearby lake, while Harriet paints the seemingly abandoned building on her canvas. Coincidentally, Ted is back on the scene and picks up Fran looking for a lift back home. Instantly attracted to the mysterious hitch hiker (and who wouldn't?), Ted tells her, "You remind me very much of someone I knew a long time ago. Yes, very much indeed." Echoing what the hotel manager said to Ted earlier.
Despite the obvious suggestions that Ted possesses a past history with the lustful femme fatales, the character really does serve as the every man in this tale. What would you do if you picked up a hot hitch hiker and drove her home? It's the typical thirst trap. Ted telling Fran,"You arouse me more than any woman I've met for a long time." after she's went AWOL on him during the day, spells how deep in the hole he is in without realising it. The trouble is, it's so hard wired in most men's brains, they'll risk their ultimate doom if it means they have a shot with beautiful women like Fran and Miriam. Therefore, Ted is physically and mentally trapped by the vampires (much like Jonathan Harker). As our protagonist goes without food, consuming only booze and a pack of Rothman's for three days, whilst being completely drained (figuratively and literally!) by the lustful vampire wenches, is a sympathetic, yet comical doom for many a poor randy bloke.
It's worth noting that although the sex and violence are high off the lesbian vampire equivalent of the Richter scale, Vampyres is blessed by an incredible atmosphere throughout. This in turn stops the film feeling repetitive whenever new potential male victims are lured to their doom. The cluttered, cobwebbed decor of colonial bric-a-brac around the neglected manor lend to the gloomy feel of the home. Which in turn adds to how much these men will forego any obvious red flags if it means they manage to score with the blood-sucking babes. Hence, more dead naked men being found along in their crashed vehicles. There's also the fantastically eerie drone sound emanating from the wine cellar beneath the manor, where Fran and Miriam sleep during the day. The cellar is surrounded by old bottles of wine and decayed cadavers.
A hidden layer that might be overlooked upon the first viewing is how time passes in the film; most specially, inside the antagonists' home. Ted discovers his watch has stopped while there. The morning after his night with Fran (spent, hungover and with a nasty gash on his arm...what a night!!!), who's left him alone in the manor, Ted spies a grandfather clock is not working either. Additionally, when the pair lure a playboy wine expert (Michael Byrne - perhaps the most recognisable cast member in the film) to their cellar, his watch too has stopped.
Vampyres is impeccably well shot, thanks to Harry Waxman, the director of photography for genuine classics The Nanny (1965), Twisted Nerve (1968) and The Wicker Man (1973). Which is definitely advantageous for Vampyres, as its budget was only around £42,000 at that time, and yet it looks superb. The scenes of Fran and Miriam wondering around a graveyard could have easily been lifted from a gothic Hammer production, or one of Rollin's early films. Sun rays piercing through the morning mist and tree branches are reminiscent of Larraz's autumnal look in Symptoms. At its core, Vampyres definitely has more to offer than the sleaze horror it's labelled as.
Considering Marianne Morris and Anulka Dziubinska were inexperienced actresses and only got their roles for being attractive women willing to appear in the buff on film, they're still rather good as performers. Their lack of acting experience doesn't seem to affect the film much. An anecdote shared by Dziubinska was a chance meeting of the esteemed actor John Mills at a party, where she asked him for any tips for her fledgling acting career. His answer was to accept any role she was offered. This was the first film which landed on her lap. Thank you very much, John Mills. In an interview with Morris, she admitted to needing a few drinks to loosen her inhibitions during her shower scene with Dziubinska, but it’s very erotically charged, regardless.
Sadly, Vampyres doesn't get the love it deserves as one of the superb British horror films from the seventies, nor does it get the recognition of it being the best of the lesbian vampire movies out there, in my humble opinion. It's not compelled to dwell on some poetic existentialism you might come across in Rollin and Franco's erotic horror films. Vampyres is an unadulterated and unapologetic primal savagery, and it's why I rank it above the rest.
Larraz's later films don't hit in the same way as Vampyres (of the ones I've managed to watch at least). The satanic themed Black Candles (1982) is noteworthy for its outrageousness, but nowhere near as engrossing as his earlier films. He would also helm a bunch of forgettable slashers like Edge of the Axe (1988) which further highlighted his decline in quality as a director for me. Regardless of his descent, it's Larraz's early films which are most appealing, and Vampyres is undoubtedly his best, in my opinion. Some words of warning: avoid the atrocious 2015 remake!
