The Playgirls and the Vampire

Titillating Italian vampire tale looks great on DVD
Having been fairly unimpressed by the censored, interrupted-by-a-dozen-commercial-breaks version of this (Curse of the Vampire) on USA channel years ago, I was curious to see how the original would hold up. Perhaps I've simply matured, but uncut and uninterrupted on disc, Playgirls is much more entertaining than I remembered. The plot is standard issue: a bus carrying a troupe of showgirls breaks down, stranding them at the castle of one Count Kernassy (Walter Brandi [Slaughter of the Vampires, Vampire and the Ballerina]) who reluctantly allows them to stay the night, whereupon they move in and sponge off of him seemingly indefinitely. The movie provides some occasional unintentional amusement, but it's certainly no Bad Film atrocity; it's competently produced and fairly absorbing, if you're not too demanding of the logic of the script. There are a number of "wandering the castle corridors at night" scenes (requisite in Italian horror films), a few effective shocks, some icky-cheesy...

ENJOYABLE EURO-CAMP TRASH GEM....
Hilariously awful movie about a busload of showgirls and their disreputable manager who break down outside a spooky castle after running out on their hotel bill. Little do they know the hospitable count who owns the castle is a vampire. The girls wander around in various states of undress and practice their tacky "dance routines" while the count eyeballs them and his spinsterish housekeeper mutters snide remarks. One girl falls prey to the vampire and comes back in the nude! Wearing nothing but fangs, she attempts to vampirize the manager. The heroine becomes the object of the vampire's lust because she resembles his long lost lover. Of course it all wraps up neat and tidy. There's no gore but lots of cheap lingerie and atmosphere. This is a wonderful example of sixties EuroTrash at it's most silliest. I love this movie on terms that are hard to explain to the uninitiated. It's released by Image and the print is good and the soundtrack adequately clear so you can relish the cheesy...

Oddly effective
PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE is actually quite an eerie and atmospheric horror film, if you can get past the out-of-place striptease scenes and the talentless dance scene. Though the story is pretty run of the mill (sexy showgirls trapped in a castle of evil), the cinematograhper and director actually create some fairly tense moments. Throw in the overly-used element of the "scientist looking to cure an age-old evil" and you have a fun night at the movies! The DVD is wonderfully compiled and chaptered, including the trailer at the end of the film. The picture quality is quite clear and articfacts minimal. The soundtrack, however, is terribly dated with lots of cracks and pops. This is ideal for any lover of Italian horror.

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